Nearly a quarter century ago, four identical spacecraft launched into space. Now, they’re coming home. The European Space Agency sent a plane to capture footage of the first of four Cluster mission satellites reentering Earth’s atmosphere on Sept. 8. “The first recorded observation of a satellite reentry from a high-speed …
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THIS ARTICLE IS republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. How much do we really know about what else is out there in the universe? Let’s take an outlandish example. If there were aliens flying around our galaxy with the sort of warp drive technology we often see …
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The original version of this story appeared in Quanta Magazine. Nearly a century ago, Edwin Hubble discovered that the universe is getting larger. Modern measurements of how fast it is expanding disagree, however, suggesting that our understanding of the laws of physics might be off. Everyone expected the sharp vision …
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Following NASA‘s tense decision to pull its astronauts off Boeing’s spaceship for their ride home, lots of eyes will be on Starliner this evening to see how it performs a landing uncrewed. The capsule, which launched in June, took test pilots Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams to the …
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Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, stricken with thruster problems and helium leaks, has left the International Space Station, wrapping up a disappointing test flight that has clouded the long-term future of the Starliner program. Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who launched aboard Starliner on June 5, closed the spacecraft's hatch Thursday …
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Did the cosmos just hand us a meme that encapsulates our feelings about the universe and our place within it? At times it seems as though astronomers will forever find enigmas about space without ever providing satisfying answers.But in this case, the James Webb Space Telescope has found a riddle …
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“You have arrived at your destination.” This phrase, delivered with robotic cadence, is familiar to anyone who uses satellite navigation systems to guide them on sightseeing strolls, cross-country road trips, and all manner of journeys from point A to point B. But what if your destination is literally out of …
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UPDATE: Sep. 2, 2024, 7:00 p.m. EDT In a statement released to Mashable on Monday, Sept. 2, NASA said the pulsing sound astronaut Butch Wilmore heard coming from a speaker inside Starliner was the result of an audio configuration between the International Space Station and Starliner and has since stopped. …
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On Saturday, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore noticed some strange noises emanating from a speaker inside the Starliner spacecraft. “I’ve got a question about Starliner,” Wilmore radioed down to Mission Control, at Johnson Space Center in Houston. "There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker … I don’t know what’s making …
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As the Perseverance rover rumbled over Mars terrain scoping out rocks, seven companies spent the summer trying to figure out how to help NASA bring its samples back to Earth. The U.S. space agency’s mission to return bits of rock, dust, and even air from the Red Planet, known as …
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