December 28, 2016 Let’s be clear — “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” won’t replace “The Empire Strikes Back” as the best film in the beloved franchise. That doesn’t mean “Rogue One” isn’t both satisfying and grittier than any film in the “Star Wars” canon. … We finally learn how those Death Star plans were […]
September 20, 2016 It’s hard to believe that more than 4 years have passed since the Curiosity rover (a.k.a. NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory) dropped onto the broad floor of Gale crater and began its marathon exploration of Mars. Although the craft’s “primary mission” spanned only 23 months, the hope has always been that this durable, […]
September 11, 2016 David Dickinson, Sky and Telescope The dusk skies lit up over Cape Canaveral on September 8th, as NASA’s ambitious Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security and Regolith Explorer (Osiris-REX) mission started its long round trip journey. Its mission: meet up and explore Earth-crossing Apollo asteroid 101955 Bennu and bring samples of it […]
[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Cassini Imaging Team, SSI, JPL, ESA, NASA] How big is Jupiter’s moon Io? The most volcanic body in the Solar System, Io (usually pronounced “EYE-oh”) is 3,600 kilometers in diameter, about the size of planet Earth’s single large natural satellite. Gliding past Jupiter at the turn of the millennium, […]
[CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, Apollo 15, USGS, NASA] On July 31, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Jim Iwrin and Dave Scott deployed the first Lunar Roving Vehicle on the Moon. Using it to explore their Hadley-Apennine landing site they spent nearly three days on the Moon while Al Worden orbited above. This digitally stitched […]
Aug. 1, 2016 [CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION, NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute] What’s behind Saturn? The first answer is the camera itself, perched on the Cassini spacecraft currently orbiting behind the planet with the most grand ring system in our Solar System. The unusual perspective places Cassini on the far side of Saturn from the […]
A Chinese rocket body streaking across the night sky over the western United States lit up social media as people shared photos and video of the bright object. The Chinese CZ-7 re-entered the atmosphere Wednesday night, U.S. Strategic Command spokeswoman Julie Ziegenhorn confirmed. That’s when people in Nevada, Utah and California took to social media […]
July 15, 2016 The first mission to fly around the moon was Apollo 8 in 1968. … As they successfully went into lunar orbit, astronaut William Anders snapped the famous Earthrise photo that was printed in Life Magazine. As Apollo 8’s three man crew looked down on the earth from 250,000 miles away on Christmas […]
July 4, 2016 [CLICK ON IMAGE FOR HIGH RESOLUTION] NASA’s Juno spacecraft was to fire its main rocket engine late Monday to slow itself down from a speed of 150,000 mph (250,000 kph) and slip into orbit around Jupiter. With Juno on autopilot, the delicately choreographed move comes without any help from ground controllers. The […]
After nearly a five-year journey, Juno enjoys a perspective on Jupiter not often seen, even by spacecraft from Earth that usually swing by closer to Jupiter’s equator. Looking down toward the ruling gas giant from a distance of 10.9 million kilometers, the spacecraft’s JunoCam captured this image with Jupiter’s nightside and orbiting entourage of four […]
