ScientistPankaj: Things are finally looking up for the Voyager 1 interstellar spacecraft

Friday, May 24, 2024

Things are finally looking up for the Voyager 1 interstellar spacecraft

Things are finally looking up for the Voyager 1 spacecraft | Space Quiz! What covers much of the surface of Pluto? | Russian space weapon ban shot down at United Nations

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May 24, 2024

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The Launchpad

Things are finally looking up for the Voyager 1 spacecraft

(NASA)

It is easy to see why Voyager 1 is among the most beloved robotic space explorers we have - and it is thus easy to understand why so many people felt a pang to their hearts several months ago, when Voyager 1 stopped talking to us.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Space Quiz! What covers much of the surface of Pluto?

Learn the answer in one of the stories below!

Russian space weapon ban shot down at United Nations

(Fatih Aktas/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The United Nations Security Council has voted against a resolution introduced by Russia and China that would ban member states from placing weapons of any kind in outer space.

Full Story: Space (5/22)

Skywatching

Where will the 2027 total solar eclipse be visible?

(skaman306 via Getty Images)

A total solar eclipse will occur on Aug. 2, 2027, when the moon's central shadow sweeps across the globe, bringing a few precious minutes of totality to the Atlantic Ocean, southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. At the point of greatest eclipse, totality will last 6 minutes and 23 seconds, the longest since 2009 and until 2114.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Spaceflight

Asteroid-bound Psyche spacecraft fires up ion thrusters

(NASA/JPL–Caltech/ASU)

They work by converting sunlight into electricity via the spacecraft's solar arrays that form its "wings." The resulting electrical current powers an electromagnetic field that accelerates and expels ions, which are charged particles, of xenon gas. As the ions are accelerated out of the four thrusters, creating an eerie blue glow, they impart a momentum upon the spacecraft, pushing it in the opposite direction.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Science & Astronomy

We could float effortlessly in Pluto's subsurface ocean

(NASA)

Pluto's surface, fitting for a world whose surface shivers at a cryogenic -364 F (-220 C), is frozen solid. But beneath that nitrogen ice may lie a subsurface ocean of liquid water. A recent study suggested what that ocean might look like: It might be deeper than Earth's crust and denser than Earth's seawater.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

SpaceX

SpaceX launches Starlinks on 3rd mission in 2 days

(SpaceX)

A Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 more of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday (May 23), at 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT on May 24). It was the third mission in the past two days for the company.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Technology

USSF wants 7 new telescopes in Hawaii. Residents say 'no'

(Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Many Hawaii residents oppose plans from the U.S. Space Force to build a suite of new telescopes designed to track satellites and prevent them from colliding in orbit.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Search for Life

TESS finds Earth-size world with moderate temperature

(Robert Lea)

Scientists using a NASA space telescope have discovered a tantalizing world. It's about the size of Earth, sits remarkably close to our solar system, and could be comfortable for life as we know it.

Full Story: Space (5/23)

Entertainment

'[When] I read the script, I sobbed.' J.Lo 'Atlas' exclusive

(Netflix)

Strap in for a heavy metal romp of interstellar proportions as Netflix's big budget sci-fi spectacle, "Atlas," stomps onto the streaming service starting today (May 24).

Full Story: Space (5/24)

Star Trek

'Discovery' s5e9 offers tense but questionable cliffhanger

(Paramount Plus)

Here we are then, just two episodes away from the very end of "Star Trek: Discovery," but we'll save the nostalgic look back over the last six years, eight months, one week and two days for next week. And no doubt there will be some kind of emotional farewell at the end of next week's installment, but just how cringeworthy that will be remains to be seen.

Full Story: Space (5/23)