SpaceX's Crew-9 flight for NASA was supposed to take off on August 18, but the agency has just announced that its target launch date was moved to no earlier than September 24. The delay will give NASA and Boeing more time to finalize their plans for Boeing Starliner's return, the agency said in its announcement. What it didn't say was that while eight space ships can attach themselves to the ISS at one time, the US segment of the space station only has two docking ports that can accommodate astronaut capsules. Both of them are still occupied, since Starliner's supposed eight-day stay has stretched on for months.
NASA said that Starliner's ground teams are still analyzing the results of all the testing they've been putting the spacecraft through, including a recent hot-fire test. They still need to confirm if it's ready to bring back astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams back to Earth before a return flight could be scheduled. Boeing's first crewed Starliner mission launched in June and was only slated to stay for a few days to determine whether it was ready for regular flights to the station. However, five of its thrusters failed on its approach to the ISS, and only one came back online. The helium leak that forced Boeing and NASA to push back its takeoff in the past had worsened, as well.
In a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Boeing revealed that it took another $125 million in losses due to the Starliner's delayed return and the extensive testing that had to be conducted to ensure its readiness. The company said a few days ago, though, that it supports NASA's requests for additional testing and that it "remains confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/nasa-delays-next-spacex-crew-launch-due-to-ongoing-starliner-problems-123034635.html?src=rss
Boeing has revealed that it has taken another $125 million in losses as a result of its Starliner spacecraft's delayed return from the ISS. As SpaceNews reports, the company has revealed the losses in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, along with more details about its earnings for the second quarter of the year. The company already posted $288 million in losses "primarily as a result of delaying" the Crew Flight Test mission in 2023.
The first crewed Starliner flight took off in June with NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams on board. Boeing's spacecraft was only supposed to stay docked to the ISS for eight days before ferrying the astronauts back to Earth, but issues with its hardware prevented the mission from sticking to its original timeline.
The company had to examine and find what caused the Starliner's degraded maneuvering thrusters while it was approaching the ISS. In addition, the helium leak that caused several delays to the spacecraft's launch seemed to have worsened, as well. Since June, the company has been putting the spacecraft through a series of tests. Just a few days ago, on July 27, it completed a hot fire test of the Starliner's reaction control system jets and made sure that the vehicle's helium leak rates remain within the acceptable margin. The tests were conducted with Williams and Wilmore onboard, because they're part of the preparations for the spacecraft's flight back home.
NASA said the tests' results are still being reviewed. But once Boeing and the agency ensure that the Starliner is ready, they will set a date for the Starliner and the astronauts' return flight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boeing-eats-another-125-million-loss-over-starliner-woes-130027376.html?src=rss
NASA TV is shutting down in August. The space agency is saying goodbye to its cable channel, which is available on Dish, DirecTV and similar services, as well as on local television providers. Going forward, it will put all its focus on NASA+, its on-demand streaming service that will serve as home to all its documentaries and live event coverage.
NASA+ has apparently gained four times more viewership than the agency's traditional cable channel since it was launched in November last year. "In a universe where the way we consume information is rapidly changing, NASA+ is helping us inspire and connect with our current generation of explorers: the Artemis Generation," said Marc Etkind from NASA's Office of Communication
The agency's streaming service is completely free and doesn't have ads. Viewers can access it via the official NASA app for iOS and Android when they're on mobile devices, but they can also get the agency's app for Roku, Apple TV or Fire TV if they want to watch on a bigger screen. To watch NASA's coverage and shows on a computer, users can visit the official NASA+ website on their browsers.
In addition to announcing its cable channel's closure, NASA has also revealed its upcoming lineup for new shows, episodes and live event coverage. One of the upcoming documentaries entitled Planetary Defenders tackles humanity's efforts at asteroid detection and planetary defense, while Our Alien Earth will show NASA scientists' field work in the most extreme environments all over the world to aid in the discovery of extraterrestrial life in the universe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-will-shut-down-nasa-tv-on-cable-to-focus-on-nasa-120015334.html?src=rss
NASA's Perseverance rover has been collecting samples from Mars since 2021, but one of its most recently collected rocks could help it achieve its goal of finding evidence of ancient life on the planet. Nicknamed Cheyava Falls after the tallest waterfall in the Grand Canyon, the 3.2 feet by 2 feet sample contains "chemical signatures and structures" that could've been formed by ancient microbial life from billions of years ago.
Perseverance collected the rock on July 21 from what was once a Martian river valley carved by flowing water long ago. The sample, which you can see in close up below and from afar at the center of the image above, exhibits large white calcium sulfate veins running along its length. They indicate that water did run through the rock at one point.
More importantly, it contains millimeter-size marks that look like "leopard spots" all over its central reddish band. On our planet, those spots could form on sedimentary terrestrial rocks when there are chemical reactions that turn hematite, one of the minerals responsible for Mars' reddish color, to white. Those reactions can release iron and phosphate, which could've served as an energy source for microbes.
The rover's Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL) tool already determined that the black rings around the spots contain iron and phosphate. However, that doesn't automatically mean that the rock truly did serve as a host for ancient microbes.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
The spots could've been formed by non-biological processes, and that's something scientists will have to figure out. "We cannot say right now that we have discovered life on Mars,” Katie Stack Morgan, the deputy project scientist, said. "But what we are saying is that we have a potential biosignature, which is a set of features that could have a biological origin but do need further study and more data."
NASA still has to bring back the samples Perseverance had collected to our planet, including Cheyava Falls. As The New York Times notes, the Mars Sample Return mission is years behind schedule and would not be able to bring back rocks from the red planet until 2040 instead of in the early 2030's like originally planned. NASA recently asked aerospace companies for alternative solutions on how to get the samples to Earth much sooner and will finance their studies due later this year. Scientists will also have to conduct extensive testing to rule out contamination and non-biological processes, as well as other possible explanations for how the leopard spots had formed, before they can proclaim that they're indeed evidence of ancient Martian life.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-perseverance-rover-found-a-rock-on-mars-that-could-indicate-ancient-life-150006064.html?src=rss
Engineers from Boeing and NASA have spent much of the last month running ground tests on a Starliner Reaction Control System (RCS) thruster to get a better idea of what went wrong during the active Starliner’s flight in early June, and they finally wrapped up this past week. In its latest update, Boeing said the teams were able to replicate the thrust degradation Starliner experienced and are now reviewing all the data. But the date of astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams’ return is still uncertain — NASA and Boeing said only that they’ll be making the trip “in the coming weeks.”
In the tests at the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, the teams simulated the conditions from Starliner’s recent flight, putting the control system thruster “through one of the most stressing launch-to-docking firing sequences with over 1,000 pulses to simulate CFT [Crew Flight Test] conditions,” according to Boeing. They also tested undocking and deorbit burn scenarios, which Starliner will experience on its way home. After collecting terabytes of data from those tests, the teams ran additional, more aggressive tests to “see if we could more closely simulate the higher thermal conditions the thrusters experienced in-flight,” said Dan Niedermaier, Boeing’s engineer for the thruster testing.
The engineers are in the process of doing “engine tear downs and inspections” NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager, Steve Stich, said on Thursday. Following their analyses, NASA says there will be an Agency Flight Test Readiness Review to determine whether Starliner is in good shape to bring the astronauts back. NASA and Boeing said they will release more information in a conference in the coming days.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/boeing-and-nasa-engineers-have-wrapped-up-ground-tests-on-the-starliner-thruster-180027494.html?src=rss
NASA scientists say pure sulfur has been found on Mars for the first time after the Curiosity rover inadvertently uncovered a cluster of yellow crystals when it drove over a rock. And it looks like the area is filled with it. It’s an unexpected discovery — while minerals containing sulfur have been observed on the Red Planet, elemental sulfur on its own has never been seen there before. “It forms in only a narrow range of conditions that scientists haven’t associated with the history of this location,” according to NASA.
Curiosity cracked open the rock on May 30 while driving in a region known as the Gediz Vallis channel, where similar rocks were seen all around. The channel is thought to have been carved by water and debris flows long ago. “Finding a field of stones made of pure sulfur is like finding an oasis in the desert,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity’s project scientist. “It shouldn’t be there, so now we have to explain it. Discovering strange and unexpected things is what makes planetary exploration so exciting.”
NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
After spotting the yellow crystals, the team later used a camera on Curiosity’s robotic arm to take a closer look. The rover then took a sample from a different rock nearby, as the pieces of the rock it had smashed were too brittle for drilling. Curiosity is equipped with instruments that allow it to analyze the composition of rocks and soil, and NASA says its Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) confirmed it had found elemental sulfur.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasas-curiosity-rover-accidentally-uncovered-pure-sulfur-crystals-on-mars-211340580.html?src=rss
A group of international researchers at the University of Cologne in Germany recently discovered one of the rarest types of black holes in the universe. The researchers were observing a cluster of stars in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole named Sagittarius A (Sgr A) at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. They then discovered signs of an intermediate-mass black hole, a type of black hole that’s sometimes referred to as the “missing link” of black holes, according to NASA.
Black holes range in size from supermassive to primordial and the intermediate sits above primordial in size. They are believed to have formed just after the Big Bang and act as “seeds” for creating supermassive black holes.
The star cluster believed to be the latest intermediate-mass black hole dubbed IRS 13 moved in an orderly pattern when they expected them to be randomly arranged. The researchers concluded that the star cluster had to be interacting with the supermassive black hole and “there must be something inside the cluster for it to be able to maintain its observed compact shape,” according to a statement from the University of Cologne.
Plans are underway to conduct further observations on the intermediate black hole. They will use the James Webb Space Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope in Chile that’s currently under construction (and yes, that is its real name).
Scientists discovered the first intermediate-mass black hole in 2020 using the Hubble Space Telescope when they found the waves created by its formation. Until then, intermediate-mass black holes were considered to be a “missing link” between stellar-mass and supermassive black holes and could provide more insights on the formation of black holes and the universe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/another-missing-link-black-hole-discovered-near-the-center-of-the-galaxy-175859313.html?src=rss
NASA and the European Space Agency have released an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope of a dwarf irregular galaxy that they admit looked "unexciting" at first glance. However, there's more going on than might initially meet the eye. The agencies say that a great deal of research is going into the "complicated structure" of NGC 5238, which is 14.5 million light-years away in the Canes Venatici constellation. In fact, astronomers believe the distribution of stars in NGC 5238 may have been distorted after it swallowed up another galaxy.
They reckon that due to NGC 5238's star population (which Hubble is adept at helping to image), it had a "close encounter" with another galaxy perhaps as recently as a billion years ago. But since there isn't a galaxy close enough to have distorted the star distribution in this fashion, it's more likely that NGC 5238 merged with a smaller galaxy. Along with hosting many stars, the galaxy is home to globular clusters, which NASA describes as "glowing, bright spots both inside and around the galaxy swarmed by even more stars."
Astronomers plan to dig deep into the data to learn about NGC 5238's past. If they find groups of stars that have different properties from most of the galaxy's other stars, that's a clear indication that a merger has occurred. They'll also try to determine whether there was a "burst of star formation" that suddenly took place after the galaxies would have come together.
NASA notes that a dwarf irregular galaxy merging with a smaller satellite galaxy is just the kind of thing that could have spurred galaxy assembly in the early era of our universe. As such, the agency says that the data Hubble captured from NGC 5238 may help researchers to test fundamental ideas about the evolution of the universe.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/why-an-unexciting-galaxy-could-provide-clues-about-the-universes-evolution-144754342.html?src=rss
NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover or VIPER was going to look for water ice at the moon's south pole. The agency was hoping that it could help answer important questions, such as where water is on the moon and how much there is for future spacefarers to use. But now NASA has decided to cancel the project and discontinue the rover's development, citing "cost increases, delays to the launch date and the risks of future cost growth."
The agency has already spent $450 million developing VIPER, according to The New York Times — it's even done assembling the rover and installing its scientific instruments. That said, it still has to subject the rover to a series of tests to ensure that it can endure a rocket launch and the harsh conditions of outer space. Joel Kearns, NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, told the publication that the cancelation would save the agency at least $84 million, because it would no longer have to pay for those tests and for the rover's operations.
Kearns added that the agency was also worried about additional expenses if the rover's launch gets delayed. NASA first announced the VIPER mission back in 2019, with plans to launch it in late 2022. However, due to supply chain issues during the height of the COVID pandemic, among other problems, its launch was pushed back to late 2024. More problems forced NASA to move its launch again to September 2025 at the earliest, so additional delays aren't outside the realm of possibility.
NASA has several projects lined up that will help it verify the presence of water ice on the moon. They just won't be focused on that goal and will most likely need more time to achieve what NASA was hoping VIPER would. The agency is planning to disassemble the rover and use its instruments and components for future missions. It will, however, consider proposals from American and international companies that may want to use the rover, as long as it doesn't cost the US government more money.
While the project itself has already been canceled, the flight that was supposed to ferry VIPER to the moon will still push through. NASA chose Astrobotic to launch the rover and to develop a lander called Griffin to safely get VIPER to its destination. The mission will fly with a non-functional item simulating the VIPER's mass. As Kearns explains, a successful demonstration of the Griffin lander would still be valuable for future missions, whether or not it's carrying a real rover.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nasa-scraps-its-viper-project-that-aimed-to-look-for-ice-on-the-moon-110005343.html?src=rss
No Man’s Sky has been sending players on interstellar explorations for more than eight years now, and explorers probably haven’t uncovered a tenth of this computer-generated universe. A huge new update called Worlds Part I expands this already sizable game with a ton of new gadgets, story driven missions and new worlds to discover and explore.
The Worlds Part I update is available now in No Man’s Sky across all consoles as well as PC and Mac. All told, there are over 40 new features, improvements or fixes and additions.
The game already has over 18 quintillion planets but there are a few new types added to this mix. One of the new world types now have “gravitational distortions” that have altered terrains to create floating islands that can be mined, altered or used as a platform to build a new homebase in the sky. No Man’s Sky has also transformed some of its words into “sub-zero” landscapes with new flora, mineral formations and terrains. Some worlds have even generated new forms of life such as plant-animal hybrids with features like “stamen-like whiskers” and “petal-like faces,” according to the official website.
The Worlds Part I update also comes with a bunch of new graphics improvements and features. Hello Games has given pretty much every part of its worlds a new look from the “new volumetric clouds” in the sky to the “high definition water” and “dynamic water” that’s more responsive to wind, depth and weather conditions.
Hello Games
Some planets have visually enhanced atmospheres that can produce familiar weather like rain and snow as well as unusual conditions such as falling ash and ember and storm crystals. The update also provides some engine enhancements to improve the game’s graphics and performance and render environments faster and clearer. There are even new sky and water colors across the universe’s many landscapes and horizons.
The new update isn’t just a cosmetic fix. There’s also some new toys in the game that help you alter planets’ terrains or blow giant holes in your enemies’ spacecraft. The coolest are the Liquidator combat mechs that look like giant Star Wars imperial walkers (if you cut off its head and attached a pair of arms to either side). You can also mount weapons on the arm such as the new Minotaur Flamethrower that can cause “extreme damage at close range.”
A flamethrower will come in handy when you’re engaged in combat in one of the new “walker battles” featuring new, deadly Sentinel units to fight or taking on one of the “vile insect queens” or a hostile beetle (or gentle but still roastable). Once you’ve defeated them, you can turn their carcasses into mounted trophies for your living space. There’s also new biological based accessories you can build including a “Chitin Flight Pack” and an insect based armor set if you want your explorer to look more GWAR-esque.
There’s even a new menu of “strange nutrients” to keep your explorer sated and healthy with ingredients like “nourishing slime,” “syrupy nectar” and “juicy grubs.” These components can create new dishes to consume like “Mucal Doughnuts,” “Seeping Pies” and “Juicy Thoraxes” that make Scottish cuisine sound like items from the French Laundry.
Hello Games
Now that you’ve got new items from your arsenal like bug-based armor and flamethrowers, you can take them out for a test-toast on new story-driven missions like the “Vile Brood Nexus Mission” to eradicate an invasive species. Once you get your Liquidator mech, you can go on a “Bug Hunt Expedition” to exterminate species of giant, dangerous insects and other biological horrors.
Phew, that’s one massive update. No Man’s Sky is known for its huge updates and patches that throw a ton of new stuff into the game’s virtual universe. The Orbital update released in March added new features like a ship editor and a new Guild system. The Echo package generated a new form of mechanical life called the Autophage, multi-tool salvaging and a graphics boost for PlayStationVR 2.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/no-mans-skys-newest-update-is-a-buried-tech-module-full-of-new-goodies-182151743.html?src=rss