Fascinating video from Nature of how scientists have mapped our universe and shown where Earth fits into it. (Link came via futurism.com) I grabbed the video from YouTube: “Superclusters – regions of space that are densely packed with galaxies – are the biggest structures in the Universe. But scientists have struggled to define exactly where …
Category archives: Space
More stars in the universe than grains of sand on Earth
Love this tumblr post from the outstanding outreach crew of NASA: http://nasa.tumblr.com/post/136762377389/7-facts-that-will-make-you-feel-very-small
Aquanauts test space tools under water
A group of NASA aquanauts headed under water for 16 days to carry out research during a simulated space mission. The NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 21 mission began on July 21, 2016, as an international crew of aquanauts splashed down to the undersea Aquarius Reef Base, located 62 feet below the surface of the …
Juno reaches Jupiter’s magnetosphere
NASA’s Juno spacecraft entered Jupiter’s magnetosphere and recorded what it sounds like: Juno’s Waves instrument recorded the encounter with the “bow shock” over the course of about two hours on June 24, 2016. “Bow shock” is where the supersonic solar wind is heated and slowed by Jupiter’s magnetosphere. It is analogous to a sonic boom on …
This is how you test a launch system rocket booster
Just for the wow factor: NASA tested its new space launch system rocket booster in Utah. Watch to the end to see the ‘quench tool’ in action. Published on 11 Mar 2015 The largest, most powerful rocket booster ever built successfully fired up Wednesday for a major-milestone ground test in preparation for future missions to …
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Earth’s other ‘moon’ and its crazy orbit could reveal mysteries of the solar system
By Duncan Forgan, University of St Andrews We all know and love the moon. We’re so assured that we only have one that we don’t even give it a specific name. It is the brightest object in the night sky, and amateur astronomers take great delight in mapping its craters and seas. To date, it …
This is so good: “We are dead stars, looking back at the sky”
Can’t believe I hadn’t seen this before. It is the best video ever. Made in May 2014 by The Atlantic and The Really Big Questions, the video (3:57) features NASA astronomer Dr Michelle Thaller explaining, beautifully, how “the iron in our blood connects us to one of the most violent acts in the universe—a supernova explosion—and what the …
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“The exploration of outer space shall be the province of all mankind”
I love the language in the United Nations Treaties and Principles on Outer Space (related General Assembly resolutions and other documents) (PDF). Article Number 1 “The exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of …
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Visualisations of satellites orbiting earth
From Quartz, an interactive graphic of every active satellite orbiting earth – all 1200 of them (as at August 2014). The graphic’s based on data from the Union of Concerned Scientists, and lets you filter by age of satellite, launch country, purpose or primary user. You can also animate the satellites into their orbits, and see …
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4D printing and self-assembly – on earth and in space
“Scientists at Harvard, Pittsburgh and Illinois are developing materials that will “exhibit behavior that changes over time,” writes Quartz. At the most basic level, the objects simply change shape over time, as outlined by MIT’s Skylar Tibbits. Along with Stratasys, a leading maker of 3D printers, he is experimenting with materials that can assemble themselves once they’re printed …
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