OSIRIS-REx is bringing home a piece of an asteroid
Upon first hearing the name OSIRIS-REx, a picture of an unknown carnivorous dinosaur may come to mind. But OSIRIS-REx (Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer) is actually an acronym that names an upcoming asteroid exploration mission. The spacecraft will travel to an asteroid target in a near-Earth orbit, perform scientific experiments, and become the first U.S. mission that …
Life on a moon? Exploring Europa
On a clear night, you can see the planet Jupiter with nothing more than your eyes, as it shines steady and bright against the background of glittering stars. If you take a closer look through a telescope, you can see tiny specks surrounding it. What if I told you that there may be life on …
Flowing water exists on surface of Mars
Today, NASA made an exciting announcement about Mars. New information out of NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) confirms that sporadic salty water movement is taking place on the red planet. It had been previously speculated that dark downhill flowing streaks (known as recurring slope lineae (RSL)), occurring seasonally on the slopes of Mars, were somehow …
Kepler has found Earth’s older, larger cousin
Some of the very fundamental questions about our existence – why we are here, what is out there, if we will ever find another planet similar enough to ours to live on – have come another step closer to being solved, today. The latest exciting Kepler Space Telescope planet-hunting discovery was announced by NASA this …
Kerbal Space Program: Bringing rocket science to games
Bob, that Despicable Me Minion mixed with a Martian in the photo, floats at the boundary of space, high above planet Kerbin. The space ship he was in, falls back to the planet below him. Bob ponders how he got in such a predicament, floating in space with no way home. The answer: he trusted …
Al Worden on the honor of being an astronaut
“Do you know what they did down on the Moon? What those guys’ primary job was? They picked up rocks and dirt. Now, myself, in lunar orbit…” — Al Worden, Apollo 15 CMP USAF Colonel Alfred Worden served as Command Module Pilot for Apollo 15 – the fourth manned lunar landing mission. He also holds the …