ScientistPankaj: NASA's asteroid spacecraft Lucy launches this week on ambitious 12-year mission

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

NASA's asteroid spacecraft Lucy launches this week on ambitious 12-year mission

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October 12, 2021

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The Launchpad

NASA's asteroid spacecraft Lucy launches this week on ambitious 12-year mission

(Ben Smegelsky/NASA)

NASA's next asteroid-bound mission to explore the earliest days of our solar system is nearly ready to launch. The Lucy spacecraft is targeting a launch window that opens on Saturday (Oct. 16). After blastoff, the spacecraft will make a 12-year journey to the outer solar system, where it will visit half a dozen ancient "Trojan" asteroids that orbit in the same path as the planet Jupiter.

Full Story: Space (10/10)

William Shatner's Blue Origin launch delayed to Wednesday due to weather

William Shatner will have to wait another day to reach the final frontier. Blue Origin has pushed the next launch of its New Shepard vehicle, which will carry Shatner and three other people to suborbital space, from Tuesday (Oct. 12) to Wednesday (Oct. 13) due to weather concerns. The mission, known as NS-18, will launch from Blue Origin's West Texas site, near the town of Van Horn. Winds in the area are expected to be unfavorable on Tuesday, prompting the 24-hour push, Blue Origin representatives said via Twitter on Sunday (Oct. 10).

Full Story: Space (10/10)

Spaceflight

Boeing's next Starliner test launch for NASA slips to 2022

(John Grant/Boeing)

Boeing's Starliner astronaut taxi won't get off the ground this year after all. Starliner was originally supposed to launch Aug. 3 on Orbital Flight Test 2 (OFT-2), a critical uncrewed trial mission to the International Space Station for NASA. But prelaunch tests revealed 13 stuck valves in Starliner's service module, pushing the liftoff back — all the way into next year, it now appears.

Full Story: Space (10/9)

Spaceflight companies set limit on carry-ons: souvenirs not for sale

Captain Kirk may have bucked the rules while helming the Starship Enterprise, but when it comes to flying in space for real, William Shatner is apparently abiding by the terms set forth by Blue Origin. The "Star Trek" actor-turned-soon-to-be-astronaut revealed one of the company's lesser-known restrictions while discussing the personal items he was packing for his New Shepard rocket ride this week.

Full Story: Space (10/12)

William Shatner hopes for no 'gremlins' on Blue Origin launch (video)

Famed "Star Trek" actor William Shatner is hoping to see magnificent views of Earth from space on his launch with Blue Origin this week. He just hopes the gremlins stay away. "I plan to be looking out the window with my nose pressed against window," Shatner said in a video released by Blue Origin featuring an interview with the actor and the company's Audrey Powers, who will also launch on the flight.

Full Story: Space (10/12)

Science & Astronomy

Nobel Prize winner shaped ground-breaking Earth-observing mission

(ESA)

This year's Nobel Prize in Physics laureate Klaus Hasselmann helped to shape a ground-breaking Earth-observation mission that paved the way for the modern study of our planet's environment. The German oceanographer and climate modeler was awarded the coveted prize for his contribution to the physical modeling of Earth's climate that has enabled scientists to quantify the climate's natural variability and better predict climate change. Hasselman won half of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physics last week, with the other half shared by scientists Syukuro Manabe and Giorgio Parisi for their own research on disorder and fluctuations in physical systems.

Full Story: Space (10/10)

People have long claimed to hear the northern lights. Are the reports true?

It's a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth's atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs near Earth's poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Reports of the aurora making a noise, however, are rare — and were historically dismissed by scientists. But a Finnish study in 2016 claimed to have finally confirmed that the northern lights really do produce sound audible to the human ear.

Full Story: Space (10/11)

Entertainment

'The Expanse' is back! Check out the first teaser for the sixth (and final) season

(Amazon Prime Video)

The first teaser for the sixth and final season of "The Expanse" premiered at New York Comic Con on Friday (Oct. 8). And, while it doesn't give much away, it clearly shows we can expect more of the same high-quality sci-fi that we saw in the last season.

Full Story: Space (10/8)

'Blade Runner: Black Lotus' new trailer and premiere date

During a panel at this year's New York Comic Con, a new trailer for the forthcoming series aired along with confirmation of the premiere date. First announced way back in November 2018, "Black Runner: Black Lotus" is the result of a partnership between Alcon Television Group, Adult Swim and Crunchyroll and it will consist of 13, half-hour episodes that will premiere with two back-to-back episodes at 12 a.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021.

Full Story: Space (10/12)

Star Trek

'Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds' exhibition is a must for every fan

(Scott Snowden/Space.com)

If you plan to be anywhere near Los Angeles between now and February next year, a trip to the "Star Trek: Exploring New Worlds" exhibition should absolutely, positively feature in your plans. Opening this week at the Skirball Cultural Center — located just north of the Getty Museum, in-between Bel Air and Sherman Oaks — the exhibition features a rare gathering in one place of equally rarely seen items from throughout the 55 years of "Star Trek" history.

Full Story: Space (10/9)

New 'Star Trek: Prodigy' footage lands at NYCC with cast announcements

The feature-length first episode of "Star Trek: Prodigy," the newest animated entry into the "Star Trek" universe on the streaming service Paramount+, warped into New York Comic Con on Sunday (Oct. 11) along with new footage of its hologram Janeway and all we can say is: it's really good. Really good.

Full Story: Space (10/11)