Psyche visit of a metal world may reveal mysteries of Earth’s interior
French novelist Jules Verne delighted 19th-century readers with the tantalizing notion that a journey to the center of the Earth was actually plausible. Since then, scientists have long acknowledged that Verne’s literary journey was only science fiction. The extreme temperatures of the Earth’s interior – around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit (5,537 Celsius) at the core – …
Tiangong station gives China continuous presence in orbit
The International Space Station is not the only place where humans can live in orbit. On Nov. 29, 2022, the Shenzhou 15 mission launched from China’s Gobi Desert carrying three taikonauts – the Chinese word for astronauts. Six hours later, they reached their destination, China’s recently completed space station, called Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace” …
First launch of SpaceX’s Starship was a successful failure
On April 20, 2023, a new SpaceX rocket called Starship exploded over the Gulf of Mexico three minutes into its first flight ever. SpaceX is calling the test launch a success, despite the fiery end result. As a space policy expert, I agree that the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” – the term SpaceX uses when its …
ESA’s Juice lifts off to probe secrets of Jupiter’s icy moons
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 14:14 CEST on 14 April. The successful launch marks the beginning of an ambitious voyage to uncover the secrets of the three ocean worlds around the giant planet Jupiter, the moons of Ganymede, Callisto and …
NASA announces Artemis II crew as rocket’s core stage completes assembly
NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announced the crew of four astronauts who will blast off on the historic Artemis II mission – as ‘humanity’s crew’ on humanity’s next epic journey beyond Earth orbit and around the Moon and back for the first time in more than 50 years. The history-making international flight will …
Relativity Space launches Terran 1, world’s first 3D printed rocket
The third time was finally the charm and Relativity Space finally achieved their dreams and launched their Terran 1 rocket to space on the first-ever flight of a 3D printed rocket, late Wednesday evening, Mar. 22, from Florida’s Spaceport. The first stage performed well and survived the withering aerodynamic stresses at Max-Q through stage separation, however, …
Orion takes a selfie on way to Sunday splashdown
Simultaneously, it whets our appetites with a spectacular astronaut’s eye view of what’s in store the next time Orion flies with a crew of four on the Artemis 2 mission slated for liftoff by late 2024. Orion harnessed the Moon’s gravity, significantly bending its trajectory for a slingshot maneuver back to Earth at a distance …
Orion conducts lunar flyby; captures Earth and Moon in photos
NASA’s new era of Artemis exploration continues gathering momentum as the unpiloted Orion crew capsule successfully completed its outbound powered flyby (OPF) engine burn Monday morning, Nov. 21, and made its closest flyby of the Moon – keeping the human space vehicle and Artemis 1 mission precisely on track for targeting its distant retrograde orbit …
Artemis era is underway as test flight launches to the Moon
The Artemis era of exploration officially opened with the spectacular nighttime blastoff of NASA’s mammoth SLS rocket for the first time on the Artemis 1 mission on Wednesday, Nov. 16, from the Kennedy Space Center on its maiden lunar test flight with the Orion crew capsule. The mission places America back on the path of …
Artemis 1: Here’s what to expect and why it’s important
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission is poised to take a key step toward returning humans to the Moon after a half-century hiatus. The launch was initially scheduled for the morning of Aug. 29, 2022 but was postponed due to an issue with one of the rocket’s engines. NASA rescheduled the launch to Sept. 3, 2022, but …
Hurricane delays launch of Artemis to Nov. 16
While Hurricane Nicole did not cause any significant damage to NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket stack on Thursday, Nov. 10, the program managers have delayed the next launch to no earlier than Wednesday, Nov. 16. That amounts to a two-day delay from the prior target of just past midnight on Nov. 14. NASA decided to leave the …
Who is Artemis? Ancient lunar goddess turned feminist icon
Artemis I will send a rocket without a crew on a monthlong journey around the Moon. The program aims to increase women’s participation in space exploration – 30% of its engineers are women. In addition, the Artemis I mission will carry two mannequins designed to study the effects of radiation on women’s bodies so that …
NASA targeting Nov. 14 for next Artemis 1 launch attempt
NASA is targeting Monday, Nov. 14 as the date for the next launch attempt of the Artemis I mission with a nighttime liftoff of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft on a test flight around the Moon and back. The late-night launch window on Nov. 14 opens at 12:07 a.m. EST and …
DART mission a success as NASA spacecraft crashes into asteroid
In a world first, NASA has crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid in an attempt to push the rocky traveler off its trajectory. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test – or DART – is meant to test one potential approach that could prevent an asteroid from colliding with Earth. David Barnhart is a professor of astronautics …
Artemis second launch attempt set for Saturday afternoon
Following a scrub called on the first launch attempt of the Artemis I Moon rocket on Monday, Aug 29, NASA officials have reviewed their options and decided to make a second launch attempt this weekend. Liftoff of the Artemis 1 mission is now slated for Saturday, Sept. 3 at 2:17 p.m. EDT (18:17 UTC) from …
Stay busy with NASA’s Artemis coloring and activity pages
Put the “art” in Artemis with these 18 coloring and activity pages created by NASA. Through NASA’s Artemis program, the SLS rocket will power a series of increasingly complex missions to the Moon. After you have completed your artwork, share your masterpiece with the hashtag #ColorWithNASA on social media. Individual Pages Everyone is free to …
Download NASA’s Space Launch System Info Guide
The Space Launch System Reference Guide was prepared by NASA’s SLS Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in Huntsville, Alabama, which has responsibility for the design, development, testing, and engineering of SLS, the new super heavy-lift rocket that will send astronauts to the Moon as part of the Artemis missions. The first flight …
Artemis I Mission Word Search
NASA is launching the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion human-crated spacecraft on their maiden voyage – a long test flight around the Moon and back. We’re celebrating the milestone here at RocketSTEM with a section devoted to Artemis-related articles and activities. In our latest Word Search puzzle, we’ve hidden 33 words related to …
NASA slates August 29 launch of maiden SLS rocket on Artemis 1 mission
August 29 has been selected by NASA as the launch date for the maiden flight of the Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on the Artemis 1 unpiloted test flight from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. NASA officials earlier determined that the fourth Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) Tanking Test conducted on June 20 was …
Nichelle Nichols’ legacy defined by more than a kiss
On a 1968 episode of “Star Trek,” Nichelle Nichols, playing Lt. Uhura, locked lips with William Shatner’s Capt. Kirk in what’s widely thought to be first kiss between a Black woman and white man on American television. The episode’s plot is bizarre: Aliens who worship the Greek philosopher Plato use telekinetic powers to force the …