China’s Zhurong rover reveals how weather and ancient water altered rocks on Mars

China’s first Mars rover reveals how weather and ancient water changed the surface of the largest impact basin on Mars. China’s Zhurong rover landed in the Utopia Planitia, a 2,000-miles-wide (3,300 kilometers) basin in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, in May 2021. Since then, the rover has been studying local geology, chemical composition of rocks, … Read more

Extremely Hot, Humid Weather Could Kill a Person Far More Easily Than We Thought

The human body might not cope with nearly as much heat and humidity as theory predicts. One of the first studies to directly assess humid heat stress among young people has found that when humidity is at an absolute max, the upper limit of human adaptability is just 31°C (87 °F).   That’s four degrees … Read more

An Expert Explains How Solar Storms Can So Easily Destroy Satellites

On Feb. 4, 2022, SpaceX launched 49 satellites as part of Elon Musk‘s Starlink internet project, most of which burned up in the atmosphere days later. The cause of this more than US$50 million failure was a geomagnetic storm caused by the Sun.   Geomagnetic storms occur when space weather hits and interacts with the … Read more

Powerful GOES-T satellite launches to eye Earth’s weather, climate

Scientists will soon have a powerful new set of eyes in the sky to study Earth’s weather and climate. The GOES-T satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 1) at 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT), riding a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the final frontier. If all goes … Read more

Atlas V rocket will launch powerful GOES-T weather satellite today. Here’s how to watch live.

A powerful Earth-observation satellite will launch to orbit today (March 1), and you can watch the action live. The GOES-T weather satellite is scheduled to lift off atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today during a two-hour window that opens at 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT).  … Read more

Atlas V rocket rolling to launch pad with GOES-T weather satellite for NASA, NOAA (replay)

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying an advanced new weather satellite for the United States is rolling out to its launch pad today and you can watch a video replay from its morning trip.  The Atlas V rocket is carrying the GOES-T weather satellite for NASA and NOAA to its pad at Space … Read more

New GOES-T weather satellite to offer scientists sharper eyes on Earth’s climate

The GOES-T satellite is ready to take its place as part of the U.S.’s most sophisticated weather and environmental observation system. The satellite, which will be operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will launch on Tuesday (March 1) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral … Read more

Advanced new GOES-T weather satellite is ‘go’ for launch on March 1, NASA says

The next advanced weather satellite for the United States is officially ready to launch into orbit this week on an Atlas V rocket. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cleared the new GOES-T weather satellite for a planned March 1 launch, the two agencies announced Saturday (Feb. 26). Liftoff is set for … Read more

Mars helicopter Ingenuity aces 19th flight after historic Red Planet weather delay

The dust storm couldn’t keep NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity grounded forever. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity aced a 100-second sortie on Tuesday (Feb. 8), its 19th Red Planet flight overall but its first since Dec. 15. The flight had originally been targeted for Jan. 5. But on New Year’s Day, a big dust storm kicked … Read more