Monday, July 14

NASA

NASA — Happy Birthday, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman!
NASA

NASA — Happy Birthday, Dr. Nancy Grace Roman!

Telescopes located both on the ground and in space continue to dazzle us with incredible images of the universe. We owe these sharp vistas to a series of brilliant astronomers, including Andrea Ghez – an astrophysicist and professor at UCLA – and the “Mother of Hubble,” Nancy Grace Roman.Did you know that stars don’t actually twinkle? They only look like they do because their light has to travel through our turbulent atmosphere to reach our eyes. As the atmosphere shifts and swirls around, the light from distant stars is slightly refracted, or bent, in different directions. Sometimes it’s directed right at us, but sometimes it’s directed a bit to the side.It’s like someone’s shining a flashlight toward you but moving it around slightly. Sometimes the beam is pointed right at you and appear...
Capella Space bets on quantum future under IonQ ownership
NASA

Capella Space bets on quantum future under IonQ ownership

ST. LOUIS — Capella Space, the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite company known for capturing high-resolution images of Earth in all weather and lighting conditions, is preparing for a major pivot — one that could redefine how Earth-observation data is delivered and secured.Earlier this month, IonQ, a Maryland-based quantum computing firm, announced its intent to acquire Capella in an all-stock deal valued at nearly $318 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2025, pending regulatory approval. Capella will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of IonQ but continue to run and upgrade its SAR satellite constellation.IonQ CEO Niccolo de Masi, a physicist and entrepreneur, took the company public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisiti...
Top High School Innovators Named Pete Conrad Scholars at the 2025 Conrad Challenge, Hosted by Space Center Houston and Presented by Equinor
NASA

Top High School Innovators Named Pete Conrad Scholars at the 2025 Conrad Challenge, Hosted by Space Center Houston and Presented by Equinor

HOUSTON, TEXAS (APRIL 28, 2025) – Since the start of the 2024-25 school year, nearly 2,000 high school teams and 5,000 students from more than 80 countries collaborated across oceans and time zones to develop viable solutions to global challenges in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Competing for first place titles as “Pete Conrad Scholars,” the top 31 student teams convened at Space Center Houston for the Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit and EXPO finals sponsored by Equinor. Founded in 2007 by Nancy Conrad in honor of her late husband, NASA astronaut Charles “Pete” Conrad, the Challenge inspires students to design today’s solutions for tomorrow’s challenges, carrying forward his legacy for innovation and exploration. Nancy Conrad, ...
NASA — Seeing the Invisible Universe
NASA

NASA — Seeing the Invisible Universe

ALTThis computer-simulated image shows a supermassive black hole at the core of a galaxy. The black region in the center represents the black hole’s event horizon, beyond which no light can escape the massive object’s gravitational grip. The black hole’s powerful gravity distorts space around it like a funhouse mirror. Light from background stars is stretched and smeared as it skims by the black hole.You might wonder — if this Tumblr post is about invisible things, what’s with all the pictures? Even though we can’t see these things with our eyes or even our telescopes, we can still learn about them by studying how they affect their surroundings. Then, we can use what we know to make visualizations that represent our understanding.When you think of the invisible, you might first picture som...
NASA

Engine change delays ispace-built lunar lander mission

WASHINGTON — A change in engines will cause the launch of a lunar lander being built for a NASA-funded mission to slip from 2026 to 2027.In a May 9 statement, ispace U.S., the American subsidiary of Japan’s ispace, said it will use a new engine called VoidRunner for its Apex 1.0 lunar lander. That lander is being developed by ispace U.S. for a team led by Draper flying a mission that is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.The company previously planned to use an engine from Agile Space Industries called A2200, a bipropellant engine that produces about 2,200 newtons (500 pounds-force) of thrust. However, ispace U.S. said that after a review with Agile, the companies concluded the A2200 “would not be supplied within the originally planned procurement schedu...