Firefly Aerospace and Max Polyakov Want to Build Smaller Rockets than SpaceX
Max Polyakov is collaborating with the US to create rockets smaller than those that SpaceX has built. He has invested $150 million in the commercial rocket industry, making a name for himself. Polyakov’s commercial spaceflight company, Firefly Aerospace, runs an engine test site in Austin, Texas with offices in Cedar Park. His company is already in line for multi-million dollar contracts to launch satellites for NASA .
Two years after investing in Firefly, a small launcher company, Noosphere Ventures is gearing up to make another investment in the small satellite manufacturing sector. Noosphere’s officials agree that they will do whatever it takes, including bringing a company on the brink back to make a portfolio of companies in the space industry that can facilitate success like SpaceX’s.
Apple has announced the most advanced iPad Pro ever and by the looks of it, this new device is going to be faster and more powerful than many of the Windows laptops. The biggest attraction of this new iPad Pro is the LIDAR scanner that is seen as one of the major components of self-driving cars. The other attraction is the new magic keyboard and trackpad. All in all, Apple did not let the coronavirus scare affect it and showcased its latest products in front of the world.
Ridgewood NJ, on January 31 it will be the last chance you will have to see a supermoon this year. To witness the supersize moon in all its glory, look to the skies just after sunset. The lower the moon sits in the sky, the larger it appears because of something called the “moon illusion.”
In the early hours of January 31, the moon will do something it hasn’t since 1866. A supermoon, blue moon and lunar eclipse will coincide for a rare and spectacular astronomical feast.
The moon doesn’t orbit the Earth in a perfect circle, which means it sometimes sits closer to the earth than usual. When the moon’s closest approach or “perigee”coincides with a full moon, it can look bigger and brighter. This is known as a “supermoon,” but the technical term is “perigee full moon.
A “Blue moon” has come to mean the second full moon in a calendar month. No it doesn’t actually shine blue.
You can also watch a live stream from the comfort of your home. NASA will broadcast live coverage of the super blue blood moon from 5.30 a.m. ET January 31. The Virtual Telescope Project will follow the event from Australia and the U.S., beaming the eclipse from 6.30 a.m. ET. The VTP will also stream the non-eclipsed super blue moon from Rome starting from 11 a.m. ET.
Lindley Johnson spent 23 years in the U.S. Air Force keeping his eyes above the skies. He helped identify and tackle a growing risk to human space activity—the sheer volume of stuff orbiting the planet—in addition to helping manage and monitor military assets in orbit. In 1982, the Air Force set up a space command to coordinate its activities, not the least of which was making sure the then-new Space Shuttle fleet wouldn’t have a tragic encounter with spacefaring material.
In the early 1990s, Johnson’s focus turned to natural threats to the planet from near-Earth asteroids, now a large and growing class of rocks that scientists track both for their potential impact risk and to study the solar system. About 1,500 new objects are discovered every year. Since retiring as a lieutenant colonel several years ago, he’s become the founding head of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, overseeing a network of ground-based telescope surveys for new asteroids and working with other agencies to prepare for the unlikely event of a direct hit. His job title—no pressure—is Planetary Defense Officer.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) – The largest, brightest full moon in nearly seven decades will be on display in the coming days, promising Earth-bound sky-watchers a celestial “supermoon” spectacle.
The full moon will come nearer to Earth than at any time since 1948, astronomers said. At closest approach, which occurs at 6:23 a.m. EST on Monday, the moon will pass within 216,486 miles (348,400 km) of Earth’s surface, about 22,000 miles (35,400 km) closer than average, they added.
The moon’s distance from Earth varies because it is in an egg-shaped, not circular, orbit around the planet.
If skies are clear, the upcoming full moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than usual, making it what is called a supermoon, according to NASA. A supermoon occurs when the timing of a full moon overlaps with the point in the moon’s 28-day orbit that is closest to Earth. About every 14th full moon is a supermoon, said University of Wisconsin astronomer Jim Lattis.
The next time a full moon comes as close to Earth will be in 2034.
22:16, 12 JUL 2016
UPDATED 22:16, 12 JUL 2016
BY ELLE GRIFFITHS
The incident caused speculation online – and is not the first time NASA have been accused of tampering with the feed
UFO spotters have raised the alarm after the International Space Station live feed cut out just as a large mysterious object appeared to enter Earth’s atmosphere.
The incident occurred on July 9 and was first reported by prolific UFO hunter Streetcap1 in a video uploaded the same day.
The enthusiast did not directly imply that the object was an alien spacecraft saying: “This could well be a meteor or the like.
But he implied that the camera being turned off was slightly sinister: “What made it interesting was that the camera cut off when the UFO seemed to stop.”
Other enthusiasts put forward theories including one who suggested in could be the Chinese space cargo ship Tiangong-1.
Paris (AFP) – Astronomers are preparing for one of the highlights of the skywatchers’ year, when the Sun, Mercury and Earth all line up — a phenomenon that happens just a dozen or so times per century.
Mercury will be seen through telescopes as a black dot inching over the face of our star, providing a celestial spectacle — weather permitting — that will last seven and a half hours.
“At the start, Mercury will look as if it is nibbling at the edge of the Sun, and then it will very slowly cross its surface and leave the other side,” said Pascal Descamps of the Paris Observatory.
“It’s something rare, because it requires the Sun, Mercury and Earth to be in almost perfect alignment.”
The smallest recognised planet in the Solar System, Mercury completes an orbit every 88 days, and passes between the Earth and the Sun every 116 days.
But its orbit is tilted in relation to Earth’s, which means it usually appears — from our perspective — to pass above or below the Sun.
Thirteen times each century, however, the two orbits align such that even amateur astronomers can see the tiny planet tens of millions of kilometres (miles) away.
According to Britain’s Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), most of Western Europe, the western parts of North and West Africa, eastern North America, and most of South America will be able to view the entire transit, which will last from 1112 GMT to 1842 GMT.
The rest of north and south America, the eastern Pacific, the remainder of Africa and most of Asia, will see parts of the event..
Ridgewood NJ, Buzz Aldrin will sign his new book: No Dream Is Too High ($22.00) on Monday May 9th, 7pm at Bookends in Ridgewood .
Buzz graduated from Montclair High School in 1947,Aldrin turned down a full scholarship offer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (which he would later attend for graduate school), and went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. The nickname “Buzz” originated in childhood: the younger of his two elder sisters mispronounced “brother” as “buzzer”, and this was shortened to Buzz. Aldrin made it his legal first name in 1988.
Buzz Aldrin is often referred to as the second man to set foot on the moon . He was the Lunar Module Pilot on Apollo 11, prior to that he flew Gemini 12. Buzz has some history in Ridgewood he was the Grand Marshal of the Ridgewood 4th of July Parade in 1981.
Appearing authors will only autograph books purchased at Bookends and must have valid Bookends Receipt.
Availability & pricing for all autographed books subject to change.
First In Line Certificate use is the the discretion of Bookends. Blackout dates may apply.
Bookends cannot guarantee that the books that are Autographed will always be First Printings.
Autographed books purchased at Bookends are non-returnable.
While we try to ensure that all customers coming to Bookends’ signings will meet authors and get their books signed, we cannot guarantee that all attendees will meet the author or that all books will be signed. We cannot control inclement weather, author travel schedules or authors who leave prematurely.
Bookends, 211 E. Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-445-0726
A powerful solar storm set to slam Earth today will make for stunning views of the Northern Lights just before New Year’s Eve. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center said the “strong” storm could allow the Northern Lights to dip as far south as Oregon and Illinois.
NOAA classifies solar storms on a scale of one to five (one being the weakest; five being the most severe). Today’s storm is forecast to be a G3 event, meaning it could have the strength to cause fluctuations in some power grids, intermittent radio blackouts in higher latitudes and possible GPS issues.
BURNING fossil fuels and cutting down trees causes global COOLING, a shock new NASA study has found.
By JON AUSTIN
PUBLISHED: 13:07, Mon, Dec 21, 2015 | UPDATED: 17:00, Mon, Dec 21, 2015
Major theories about what causes temperatures to rise have been thrown into doubt after NASA found the Earth has cooled in areas of heavy industrialisation where more trees have been lost and more fossil fuel burning takes place.
Environmentalists have long argued the burning of fossil fuels in power stations and for other uses is responsible for global warming and predicted temperature increases because of the high levels of carbon dioxide produced – which causes the global greenhouse effect.
While the findings did not dispute the effects of carbon dioxide on global warming, they found aerosols – also given off by burning fossil fuels – actually cool the local environment, at least temporarily.
The research was carried out to see if current climate change models for calculating future temperatures were taking into account all factors and were accurate.
A NASA spokesman said: “To quantify climate change, researchers need to know the Transient Climate Response (TCR) and Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity (ECS) of Earth.
(CNN)Antarctica is gaining more ice than it has lost, according to a new study by NASA.
A NASA team came to this conclusion after scientists examined the heights of the region’s ice sheet measured from satellites.
The new methods used by scientists to come to this study’s conclusion, such as measuring small height changes in the ice over large areas, warrant consideration. But the findings do conflict with more than a decade of research indicating that Antarctica is losing ice and that the loss has contributed to rising global sea levels.
The continent is roughly the size of the United States and Mexico combined, and changes in the ice are not uniform across Antarctica. Some places are gaining ice, and some are losing ice.
Many scientists agree that the Antarctic Peninsula and parts of West Antarctica are losing ice and that the rate of loss is increasing. In the eastern part of the continent and part of the interior, there have been ice gains. These gains, scientists from the study say, are more than the losses in the rest of the region.
NASA ‘Warp Drive’ Could Take Spaceship to Mars in 70 Days
Friday, 01 May 2015 07:18 AM
By Clyde Hughes
NASA has successfully tested a type of “warp drive” popularized in the science fiction franchise “Star Trek” that could allow spaceships to travel at near light speed without using rocket fuel.
NASA announced on Wednesday that a team working at the Johnson Space Center tested the electromagnetic propulsion drive in a vacuum.
“Thrust measurements of the EM Drive defy classical physics’ expectations that such a closed (microwave) cavity should be unusable for space propulsion because of the law of conservation of momentum,” wrote José Rodal, Jeremiah Mullikin and Noel Munson forNASA Spaceflight.com.
“The concept of an EM Drive as put forth by (Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd.) was that electromagnetic microwave cavities might provide for the direct conversion of electrical energy to thrust without the need to expel any propellant,” they wrote.
NASA scientists said the warp drive would allow man-made spaceships to reach Mars in 70 days, noted the website.
“A 90 metric ton, 2 MegaWatt nuclear electric propulsion mission to Mars (would have) considerable reduction in transit times due to having a thrust-to-mass ratio greater than the gravitational acceleration of the sun,” Harold “Sonny” White of the Johnson Space Center told NASA Spaceflight.com.
Scientists stressed, according to The Verge’s Jacob Kastrenakes, that testing is just at the beginning stage but without the need for rocket fuel in space, it could reduce the volume that NASA and other space providers need to initially launch out of Earth’s orbit.
Nasa says Mars mystery rock that ‘appeared’ from nowhere is ‘like nothing we’ve seen before’
A mysterious rock which appeared in front of the Opportunity rover is “like nothing we’ve ever seen before”, according to Mars exploration scientists at Nasa.
Experts said they were “completely confused” by both the origins and makeup of the object, which is currently being investigated by Opportunity’s various measuring instruments.
Astronomers noticed the new rock had “appeared” without any explanation on an outcrop which had been empty just days earlier. The rover has been stuck photographing the same region of Mars for more than a month due to bad weather, with scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California monitoring the images it sends.
Nasa issued a Mars status report entitled “encountering a surprise”, and lead Mars Exploration rover scientist Steve Squyres told a JPL event it seems the planet literally “keeps throwing new things at us”.
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