President Donald Trump inspected new technology developed by NASA to help fight the coronavirus pandemic and its associated respiratory disease, COVID-19, on April 24. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine brought an oxygen hood, a sterilizing device and a ventilator to the White House to show Trump how the agency is working to support the pandemic response. The U.S. has nearly 1 …
The Eta Aquarids: A spring meteor shower from Comet Halley, Elizabeth Howell,
The Eta Aquarids are one of two annual showers caused by pieces of Halley’s Comet. The other one is the Orionids, which flies by in October. The Eta Aquarids are named after their apparent “radiant” point in the constellation Aquarius, near one of its brightest stars, Eta Aquarii. The shower is active between late April to mid-May, and peaks in …
Watch live @ 3 pm ET: NASA previews close flyby of asteroid 1998 OR2, Space.com Staff,
The huge asteroid 1998 OR2 will make a close approach to Earth on Wednesday (April 28), when it will swing by our planet at a safe distance of 3.9 million miles (6.3 million km). Although the asteroid, which measures 1.1 to 2.5 miles (1.8 to 4.1 kilometers) wide, poses no threat to planet Earth, its close approach will give scientists …
Mystery of Venus atmosphere’s weird rotation may finally be solved
The mystery behind why the atmosphere of Venus spins much faster than the planet’s surface may finally be solved, a new study finds. The finding might help shed light on how habitable distant exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system, may actually be, researchers said. Compared to Earth, Venus twirls at a leisurely pace on its axis, with its surface …
Russian cargo craft launches toward space station
A Russian cargo spacecraft has begun its brief journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The robotic Progress 75 freighter, which is packed with nearly 3 tons (2.7 metric tons) of propellant, food and other supplies, launched atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today (April 24) at 9:51 p.m. EDT (0151 GMT and 6:51 a.m. local …
30 years of Hubble: Space telescope’s legacy goes beyond science
Hubble is the people’s telescope. The iconic observatory, which was deployed into Earth orbit by the space shuttle Discovery 30 years ago today (April 25), has fundamentally changed astronomers’ understanding of the universe. For example, Hubble imagery showed that the universe’s expansion rate is accelerating, a surprising discovery that led to the postulation of dark energy, a mysterious repulsive force …
Space photos: The most amazing images this week!
The space picture that helped spark Earth Day, a famed space telescope celebrating 30 years in orbit, and an exoplanet that probably was misidentified. These are just some of the top space images this week on Space.com. New moon geologic map will reveal more mysteries (Image credit: NASA/GSFC/USGS) Scientists at the United States Geological Service recently produced the most comprehensive …
That’s the way the comet crumbles: Hubble image shows remains of Comet ATLAS
Skywatchers had high hopes that a comet called ATLAS would light up the night sky this spring, with forecasts suggesting it could become bright enough to see with the unaided eye. Instead, the icy object crumbled to pieces — but it’s still putting on a spectacular show for scientists. Ye Quanzhi, an astronomer at the University of Maryland, snagged some …
The top space stories of the week!
Hubble celebrates a generation of time in space, Starlink satellites launch again with new dimming measures expected soon, and NASA warns eager spaceflight watchers to stay away from Florida during an upcoming astronaut launch. All this, and more top stories this week from Space.com. Hubble marks 30 years of amazing astronomy — and it keeps going (Image credit: NASA) The …
Celebrating 30 years of the Hubble Space Telescope
It’s been 30 years since NASA launched the Hubble Space Telescope on April 24, 1990. The observatory was carried aloft in the payload bay of space shuttle Discovery, and for three decades Hubble’s history was closely intertwined with the shuttle’s. The telescope was originally scheduled for launch in 1986, but the tragic Challenger accident at the start of that year …