Exoplanet Crises

"Some exoplanets seem to be losing their atmospheres and shrinking. In a new study using NASA’s retired Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers find evidence of a possible cause: The cores of these planets are pushing away their atmospheres from the inside out."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-data-reveals-possible-reason-some-exoplanets-are-shrinking

James Webb Telescope

"The NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest infrared images to date of one of the most distinctive objects in our skies, the Horsehead Nebula."

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Webb/Webb_captures_iconic_Horsehead_Nebula_in_unprecedented_detail?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Rocket Lab

"NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, May 22, 2024, for the first of two launches of the agency’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission to study heat loss to space in Earth’s polar regions."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/launch-date-set-for-nasas-prefire-mission-to-study-polar-energy-loss?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=prefire20240429

WASP 107b

"A team of European astronomers, co-led by researchers from the Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet 

WASP-107b."

https://phys.org/news/2023-11-jwst-vapor-sulfur-dioxide-sand.html

The Moon

"The moon has long captured our imaginations. It’s embedded deep in mythology around the world, and even became the first calendar for many ancient people. "

https://www.interestingfacts.com/moon-facts/YnBu6lm3LQAHz-mm?liu=f990a22b8f045d09d1eb29acc743f7c5&utm_source=blog&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2130667792

Leonid Meteor Shower

"Your best entertainment value this weekend is the dazzling Leonid meteor shower."

https://lifehacker.com/science/leonid-showers-viewing

Second SpaceX Flight

"The second test flight for SpaceX’s Starship rocket has now been given the all clear by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)."

https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/15/23873201/spacex-starship-faa-approval-super-heavy-launch-test-date

Leonid meteor shower

"Every November, there’s a fantastic event for bringing people together: that’s right, the Leonid meteor shower."

https://gizmodo.com/how-best-witness-leonid-meteor-shower-weekend-1851031284?utm_source=gizmodo_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2023-11-17

Hubble

"The Hubble Space Telescope just ogled an exoplanet passing in front of a star in a triple system, revealing the nearby world’s mass."

https://gizmodo.com/nasa-hubble-telescope-size-of-exoplanet-ltt-1445ac-1851031858

CAS

"The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has released the highest-resolution geological maps of the Moon yet."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01223-0?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Solar System

"Many of us remember those school-room models of our Solar System, with tiny wooden planets rotating at the ends of their wires around a bright-orange painted sun."

https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/how-are-solar-systems-born/

2023 Space Missions

"The year 2023 proved to be an important one for space missions, with NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission returning a sample from an asteroid and India's Chandrayaan-3 mission exploring the lunar south pole, and 2024 is shaping up to be another exciting year for space exploration."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/space-missions-launch-2024-artemis-clipper-viper-moon-mars/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email

Earth's Magnetic Field

"Earth’s magnetic field serves as a protective barrier against cosmic radiation from space. But this shield isn’t always as stable as it appears."

https://interestingengineering.com/space/earths-magnetic-poles-flipped-some-41000-years-ago-heres-how?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

JUNO

"NASA's Juno spacecraft recently swooped by the most powerful volcano in our solar system, on the most volcanic world known to exist."

https://mashable.com/article/nasa-io-video-volcano?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Io

"There are new, high-quality images of Jupiter's moon, Io, thanks to the nearest flyby of the celestial body by a spacecraft in decades."

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/31/1222345665/take-a-look-at-these-astonishing-new-images-of-jupiters-volcanic-moon-io

Mars Helicopter

"Engineers working on NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter assembled for one last time in a control room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on Tuesday, April 16, to monitor a transmission from the history-making helicopter."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-team-says-goodbye-for-now?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=Latest20240416-Ingenuity

US Space Agency

"The US space agency says the current mission design can't return the samples before 2040 on the existing funds and the more realistic $11bn (£9bn) needed to make it happen is not sustainable."

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68819153?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

ULA

"The United Launch Alliance (ULA) successfully launched its new Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral on Monday at 2:18AM ET, carrying a US-made Moon lander with NASA science and research payloads onboard."

https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24029705/nasa-peregrine-mission-one-moon-lander-vulcan-centaur-rocket-launch

Astrobotic

"Astrobotic, the team behind the Peregrine spacecraft, is urgently working to extract any possible value from its failing mission."

https://gizmodo.com/race-against-time-astrobotic-peregrine-moon-mission-1851151921?utm_source=gizmodo_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2024-01-09

NISAR

"NISAR, the soon-to-launch radar satellite from NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), will measure some key Earth vital signs, from the health of wetlands to ground deformation by volcanoes to the dynamics of land and sea ice."

https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/this-us-indian-satellite-will-monitor-earths-changing-frozen-regions?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nasajpl&utm_content=nisar20240110

2024 Space age

"The year 2024 could be the dawn of a new Space Age, full of landing attempts on the moon and successive rocket launches."

https://mashable.com/article/2024-solar-eclipse-meteor-showers-rocket-launches-more?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=lightspeed&zdee=gAAAAABlMXKb0IDZ-GNdjEnXeY0t1_atRL5n2JMUni0onFr5rXMHMAtj71qQ8edr6XOfkvzeygD3zcUETeWKQhfHCMmJF0PQ3Grb1DT9YTXtnYOjIpHc_VE%3D

Eclipse

"It’s almost time in Pennsylvania for the Monday, April 8 total solar eclipse."

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/across-pa/pa-solar-eclipse-when-look-weather-forecast-totality-path?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert&user_email=64a20f24338333901e4cb7afc40a3cfae56c6770df59fc13cf25a5ce36d78b01&user_email_md5=ecc4eb5a460f31b456c54514153c0893&lctg=65ba9c0c44c464247206b03b#google_vignette

Solar Eclipse

"The solar eclipse on April 8, 2024 will bring some solar system worlds into view."

https://mashable.com/article/solar-eclipse-2024-planets?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=lightspeed&zdee=gAAAAABlMXKb0IDZ-GNdjEnXeY0t1_atRL5n2JMUni0onFr5rXMHMAtj71qQ8edr6XOfkvzeygD3zcUETeWKQhfHCMmJF0PQ3Grb1DT9YTXtnYOjIpHc_VE%3D

Solar Eclipse

"A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting the moon's shadow on Earth."

https://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/what-is-a-solar-eclipse

Robotic Lander

"The first U.S.-based robotic lander in over a half-century lost its shot at the moon just mere hours into flight."

https://mashable.com/article/moon-mission-nasa-astrobotic-failure?utm_source=email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=lightspeed&zdee=gAAAAABlMXKb0IDZ-GNdjEnXeY0t1_atRL5n2JMUni0onFr5rXMHMAtj71qQ8edr6XOfkvzeygD3zcUETeWKQhfHCMmJF0PQ3Grb1DT9YTXtnYOjIpHc_VE%3D

Spaceborne Testbed

"The spaceborne testbed demonstrated the ability to beam power wirelessly in space; it measured the efficiency, durability, and function of a variety of different types of solar cells in space; and gave a real-world trial of the design of a lightweight deployable structure to deliver and hold the aforementioned solar cells and power transmitters."

https://www.caltech.edu/about/news/space-solar-power-project-ends-first-in-space-mission-with-successes-and-lessons?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter

Curiosity Rover

"NASA’s Curiosity rover has begun exploring a new region of Mars, one that could reveal more about when liquid water disappeared once and for all from the Red Planet’s surface. Billions of years ago, Mars was much wetter and probably warmer than it is today."

https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9569/nasas-curiosity-searches-for-new-clues-about-mars-ancient-water/?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter