April is set to have a Super Pink Moon on the night of Tuesday, April 7, but for those who want to explore Earth and other exoplanets in space, there’s an app for that. It’s called NASA Eyes, and this free software lets you venture through the galaxy and explore beyond our solar system like never before. You’ll be able to view asteroids, comets, planets and their moons and the spacecrafts exploring them. Read more for a video and additional information.
NASA, the European Space Agency, and the China National Space Administration (CNSA) want to eventually colonize the moon, but the first issue they must solve is creating livable habitats for humans. To accomplish this, they must use local resources rather than shipping building components across the stars, and ESA researchers have discovered that urea, a component of urine, could be the key. When it’s mixed with lunar material, a moon concrete is created. Read more for a video and additional information.
NASA officially announced that it has selected SpaceX as the first commercial provider to bring cargo, experiments and other supplies to the Gateway space station that will eventually assist humans’ return to the moon, starting with the Artemis missions. The agency is planning multiple supply missions in which the cargo spacecraft will stay at the Gateway for 6-12 months at a time. Read more for two videos and additional information.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) is planning to launch an Atlas V rocket carrying the sixth Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) communications satellite for the U.S. Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. It’s on track for liftoff at Space Launch Complex-41 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station later today. Read more for the livestream and additional information.
Astronomers have discovered the edge of the Milky Way galaxy by using the movement of nearby galaxies to work out how large it really is. It measures a mind-boggling 1.9 million light years in diameter, and more than 15 times wider than the shining spiral disc part it is named after. There is a halo of invisible “dark matter” beyond the disc that is extremely difficult to measure since it emits no light. Read more for a video and additional information.
A team of astronomers studying data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope have discovered the most energetic outflows ever witnessed in the universe. They emanate from quasars and tear across interstellar space in tsunami-like fashion, wreaking havoc on the galaxies in which they live. In addition to emitting exceptionally large amounts of energy, quasars contain supermassive black holes fueled by in-falling matter that can shine 1,000 times brighter than their host galaxies of hundreds of billions of stars. Read more for a video about quasars and additional information.
Chris Hadfield may not be an expert at self-isolation, but he definitely has some experience in his line of work as an astronaut. He served as commander of the International Space Station back in December of 2012 and wants everyone to understand the “mission” they are trying to accomplish. Once that is clear, begin setting goals through the constraints you’re facing. Read more for the video and additional information.
NASA is preparing to launch American astronauts this year to the International Space Station, with the ultimate goal toward the Moon and Mars, and the agency announced that it will accept applications until March 31 for the next class of Artemis Generation astronauts. Since the 1960s, NASA has selected 350 people to train as astronaut candidates and with 48 astronauts in the active astronaut corps, more will be needed to crew spacecraft bound for multiple destinations to propel exploration forward as part of Artemis missions and beyond. Read more for a video and additional information.
SpaceX CRS-20 launched today and it’s a Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station flown using Dragon. This was SpaceX’s last flight for Dragon CRS and concludes the NASA CRS-1 contract extension. The capsule has been loaded with more than 4,300-pounds of supplies, including more than 2,100-pounds of science equipment. Read more for two videos and additional information.
Gioia Massa and her team at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida analyzed three batches of lettuce grown on the International Space Station (ISS) between 2014-2016, and discovered that it’s just as nutritious when grown in space as its Earth counterpart. They compared the space vegetable to lettuce grown on Earth under similar environmental, accounting for relative humidity, carbon dioxide concentration and temperature aboard the ISS. Read more for a video and additional information.