Space

Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic Successfully Travels to Space

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On Sunday, July 11, around 11:30A ET, Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, soared to the edge of space as a passenger aboard Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity. The space plane then landed safely at Spaceport America in New Mexico, making Branson's space tourism dream come true.

It’s the Edge of Space for Virgin Galactic

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On May 22, Virgin Galactic’s first human spaceflight successfully launched into space from Spaceport America, New Mexico. Mothership, VMS Eve, the carrier and launch platform for the VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spacecraft, carried VSS Unity to 44,000 feet in the air and then released it as the spaceship began a rocket powered flight to the edge of space.

Countdown to the Mars Rover Landing

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The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover and Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, are closer to Mars than ever before as touch down at the Jezero crater is scheduled for February 18, 2021. Let’s take a look back at its launch and learn how it will land on the Red Planet.

NASA’s DART Mission Launches: Defending our Planet from an Asteroid

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NASA’s first mission to test asteroid deflection technology launched yesterday. DART, or Double Asteroid Redirection Test, is a mission to slam a rocket into an asteroid… hopefully altering its path.

This Year, James Webb will Take a Close Look at a Lava World

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The James Webb Space Telescope is gearing up to be an exoplanet extraordinaire. Among many other missions and targets, astronomers plan to use the observatory, now in its final stages of preparations to study…well, a world where it might rain lava.

James Webb Space Telescope Successfully Reached Its Final Destination

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Nearly a month after the James Webb Space Telescope launched from French Guiana on December 25, the telescope has reached its final destination–almost a million miles from Earth.

First Week Complete for Crew-1 Astronauts

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NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins, Victor Glover, and Shannon Walker, along with Soichi Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency launched in a new Crew Dragon spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket on November 15, 2020, at 7:27P ET from the NASA Kennedy Launch Complex 39A. After a 27-hour journey, the spacecraft docked with the ISS on November 16, 2020, at 11:01P ET. Let’s see what the astronauts of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-1 mission have been up to since their arrival to the station!

A Jupiter-Sized Exoplanet Orbiting Two Stars

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One of my favorite things about exoplanet systems is just how weird they can get. It seems that every few months we are treated to another surprise. This time around, NASA's TESS observatory delivered a planet almost three times more massive than Jupiter orbiting around not one, but two stars. As an added bonus: that planet orbits its twin suns closer than the Earth does around the sun. Who wants to take a trip?

2020: A Year of Big Leaps for Mankind

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Here are a variety of some amazing space launches to look forward to in 2020.

Meet WASP-127b, the Fluffiest Planet in the Galaxy

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Take a planet with the mass of, say, Saturn. You know, pretty big, but not ridiculously big. Just…normal big.

NASA’s Giant Rocket Test Fails (Sort Of)

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It was all supposed to be great. On January 16th, NASA performed its first major test run in a long, long time. It was a test for the core stage of its upcoming Space Launch System (SLS), a beast of a rocket that will carry astronauts to the Moon, Mars, and more.

From the Moon to the Oval Office

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As homage to the past Apollo Missions and a nod to the upcoming Artemis Program, NASA recently loaned the White House a lunar sample that has been placed in the President’s Oval Office. You can learn more about the Apollo missions and beyond on discovery+.

William Shatner Becomes Oldest Man to Travel to Space After Successful Blue Origin Space Flight

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On the morning of October 13, William Shatner joined the crew of New Shepard for its second crewed flight, NS-18. Due to a few holds, the scheduled 10A liftoff was delayed by about 50 minutes from Blue Origin's Launch Site One in Texas. Despite the delays, liftoff and touchdown went off without a hitch, making Star Trek star William Shatner the oldest man to go to space.

28 Billion Light-Years Away: The Most Distant Star Ever Discovered

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On Wednesday, NASA announced the Hubble telescope broke a new record– detecting the most distant star ever seen.

A Galaxy’s Love-Hate Relationship with Black Holes

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You all have that person in your life. One minute they have you in stitches. The next they’re driving you nuts. You want to let go of this person but you just can’t…and the next day, you wish you never had the thought.You’re not alone, and what happens at the human level also happens at the cosmic level.

NASA’s Plan for Returning to the Moon

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NASA is planning to land the first woman and next man on the moon in 2024. Through a US government-funded human spaceflight program known as Artemis, there may be human footprints on the south pole region of the lunar surface in the very near future. From understanding the Artemis Program to the Gateway, let’s explore the lunar details.

Going for Gold: The Biggest Explosion in the Universe

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Meet the humble Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. It’s just another dense clump of galaxies, one of approximately a bajillion, dotting the universe. It sits about 240 million lightyears away from Earth.And its heart is missing.

What Is a “Super Earth” and Why Do We Care?

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Super Earths are super cool, and you should really know about them. In short, they are planets slightly bigger than the Earth (hence the name). And the cool part? They might be a home for life, and they’re way easier to study than regular Earths.