Steve Carell stars in the new Netflix satirical comedy Space Force. A newly minted four-star general is assigned the thankless task of establishing the sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces in Netflix’s highly anticipated new satirical comedy series, Space Force, starring Steve Carell. Netflix just dropped the official trailer, showcasing an all-star cast and […]
Tag: space
Dead Space ideas came from game-design team’s ‘horror competition’
At one point during Issac Clark’s adventure on the USG Ishimura, a giant tentacle grabs him. As the player, you launch a desperate assault at the appendage as it slowly drags you down the hallway. It’s a tense segment, especially when you consider that Dead Space is a game from 2008. “One of the things […]
SpaceX selected to deliver cargo to NASA’s Lunar Gateway space station
SpaceX won’t only be delivering supplies and ferrying astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA, it will also be delivering cargo to the planned Lunar Gateway space station in orbit around the moon. NASA has announced SpaceX as its first commercial partner for the Gateway project, which is part of the Artemis program which […]
Stanford’s shape-shifting ‘balloon animal’ robot could one day explore space
The cool thing about balloon animals is that, using the same basic inflatable building blocks, a skilled person can create just about anything you could ask for. That same methodology is what’s at the heart of a recent Stanford University and University of California, Santa Barbara, soft robotics project. Described by its creators as a […]
Deep-space missions impacted by coronavirus, says Europe’s space agency
The coronavirus outbreak is even impacting deep-space exploration, with the European Space Agency (ESA) this week pausing data-gathering operations on four of its deep-space probes. The suspension, caused by a reduction of on-site staff at ESA’s mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, has prompted the agency to effectively put the probes’ science instruments into a […]
NASA suspends work on the James Webb Space Telescope
NASA is suspending work on its troubled James Webb Space Telescope due to the coronavirus pandemic. “The James Webb Space Telescope team, also in California, is suspending integration and testing operations,” NASA announced in a statement. “Decisions could be adjusted as the situation continues to unfold over the weekend and into next week. The decision […]
NASA’s Lunar Gateway will research radiation and space weather
NASA has announced two sets of instruments that will be carried aboard its planned Lunar Gateway space station. NASA’s Gateway project aims to have astronauts orbiting the moon by 2025, with the construction of the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway acting as a base of operations for lunar missions and eventually, missions to other parts of the […]
Crops in space: ISS-grown lettuce given the green light
When astronauts one day embark on long missions to Mars and beyond, lettuce seeds will almost certainly be going with them. Why? Because an experiment conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) has shown that not only can the vegetable be grown in space, but also that it’s just as nutritious as the lettuce grown […]
NASA shows it’s lost confidence in Boeing’s ability to police its own work on Starliner space capsule
In a call with reporters Friday, NASA officials said an independent investigation of the marred test flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft has produced 61 corrective actions and identified 49 gaps in Boeing’s testing procedures. A decision on whether Boeing will be allowed to proceed with flying astronauts or have to redo the test mission without […]
Launching little: Inside Rocket Lab’s ingenious plan to democratize space
Rocket Lab When you think of rocket launches, you probably think of huge companies like Boeing or SpaceX manufacturing massive rockets like the Starship. But Rocket Lab is taking the opposite approach: instead of building bigger rockets with larger payloads, it’s making rockets that are smaller, lighter, and more affordable. We spoke with company founder […]
Astronomers discover the biggest explosion in space since the Big Bang
Scientists have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the universe since the Big Bang. The explosion, which released five times more energy than the previous record holder, emanated from a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy hundreds of millions of light-years from Earth. It was powerful enough to punch a cavity in […]
Spitzer Space Telescope sees cosmic bubbles forming around young stars
This cloud of gas and dust in space is full of bubbles inflated by wind and radiation from massive young stars. Each bubble is about 10 to 30 light-years across and filled with hundreds to thousands of stars. The region lies in the Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation Aquila (aka the Eagle). NASA/JPL-Caltech Astronomers […]
What happens to concrete when you mix it in space? ISS astronauts investigate
European Space Agency astronaut Alexander Gerst works on the MICS experiment aboard the International Space Station. NASA Concrete is a material used everywhere on Earth due to its strength and relatively light weight. That makes it a useful candidate for a material to build structures in space as well. But you can’t simply mix up […]
CIMON the flying brain is back on Earth after 14 months in space
ESA A robotic assistant recently returned to Earth after spending just over a year on the International Space Station (ISS). CIMON (pronounced “Simon” and short for Crew Interactive Mobile companiON) returned with other cargo aboard SpaceX’s CRS-18 spacecraft last week. For those not in the know, CIMON was developed by Airbus and IBM in collaboration […]
Ars To-Be-Read: Space operas, platypus papers, and more books to read this fall
Enlarge iStock / Getty Images Plus The dog days of summer are (mostly) over now, and soon a crisp wave only recognizable as “fall” will enter the air. While you may not be taking as many vacations over the next few months as you did during summer, you might still be able to find extra […]