NASA and SpaceX technicians recently completed several important milestones as they prepare for the upcoming launch of the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft to explore Jupiter’s icy moon Europa. First, teams connected the Europa Clipper spacecraft to the payload adapter on Thursday, Sept. 26, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in …
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe completed its 21st close approach to the Sun on Sept. 30, equaling its own distance record by coming within about 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) of the solar surface.
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 8:18 a.m. ET on Oct. 3, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to …
The small near-Earth asteroid 2024 PT5 was first observed on Aug. 7, 2024, by the Sutherland, South Africa telescope of the University of Hawai’i’s Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), which is funded by NASA. Estimated to be about 33 feet (10 meters) wide, the asteroid does not pose a hazard to Earth. Because 2024 …
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 6:20 p.m. ET on Oct. 1, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to …
Mission engineers at NASA have turned off the plasma science instrument aboard the Voyager 2 spacecraft due to the probe’s gradually shrinking electrical power supply.
Technicians completed loading propellants in the agency’s Europa Clipper spacecraft on Sunday, Sept. 22, inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Housed in the largest spacecraft NASA has ever built for a planetary mission, Europa Clipper’s propulsion module is an aluminum cylinder 10 feet (3 meters) long and 5 …
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 11:29 a.m. ET on Sept. 14, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to …
The Sun emitted a strong solar flare, peaking at 5:43 a.m. ET on Sept. 12, 2024. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to …
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft recently completed the shaking, chilling, baking, and other testing needed to ensure it can survive launch and the harsh conditions of space. Now that environmental testing is done, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, is putting the orbiter and its science instruments through flight system software tests …