WASHINGTON – The four instruments on NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft are returning scientific data for the first time since a computer malfunction last November, as scientists hope to keep the mission going for another decade. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced June 13 that four instruments on the spacecraft, which measure plasma waves, magnetic fields and … Read more
A rare burst of light from a dead star is likely to be visible to humans in earth this summer in a fleeting but potentially gloomy celestial display that scientists are calling “a once-in-a-lifetime event.” The technical term for the impending cosmic explosion is nova, which occurs when a white dwarf suddenly and often spectacularly … Read more
This artist’s concept shows the nova system HM Sagittae (HM Sge), where a white dwarf star is pulling material from its red giant companion. This forms a hot, blazing disk around the dwarf, which can unpredictably undergo a spontaneous thermonuclear explosion as the hydrogen inflow from the red giant thickens and reaches a tipping point. … Read more
On a visit to The Colbert Report in 2013, the eponymous host asked NASA scientist Ed Stone if he was ever annoyed that the agency’s astronauts got all the parades and fanfare while researchers toiled behind the scenes. “No,” Stone replied, “we’re having too much fun.” Indeed, Stone served as chief scientist for the space … Read more
Astronomers have spotted flashes and echoes coming from the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*). These “cosmic fireworks” and X-ray echoes can help scientists better understand the dark, quiet cosmic titan around which our galaxy orbits. The Michigan State University team of researchers made the groundbreaking discovery … Read more
The journey to the space should be an eye-opening experienceone that gives you a new perspective of humanity and its place in the cosmos. But while you might think that an experience like this would make a person infinitely wiser, a new report discovered that space travel can be real make you a little more … Read more
NASA has plans to return astronauts to the lunar surface in the near future. Next year, four astronauts will orbit the moon. “We don’t need to go back to the moon just for the moon. We’re going back to learn new things. So we can go to Mars and beyond,” said Administrator Bill Nelson. The … Read more