Author: Robbi Drake
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Looking for Life on Planets and Moons
At this point, just about everyone knows that we’ve been searching for signs of life on Mars. Now, we’re looking for signs of life on Venus. There are also two other places that scientists are taking a hard look at. A moon called Enceladus orbits the planet Saturn and, while covered in ice, has flowing…
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Astronomy Weekend of the 18th to 25th
What’s going on in the sky over the weekend? Tonight, Friday 18th, you can point your telescope toward Saturn and check out some of the moons. Those with a medium to large telescope will have a great view. Saturday, the 19th, Venus is in the light, again. An hour before sunrise; step outside and you’ll…
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Life on Venus
Life on…Venus? Hang on. I thought that we were all eventually moving to Mars! Rocket Labs is planning to search for life on Venus and they have no plans to stop at one mission. The surface temperature of Venus is hot enough to melt lead. How do they expect us to live there? How indeed..…
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Asteroid Buzz
Two asteroids just buzzed by the earth! Just how close did those huge space rocks come to slamming into us? Closer than you may think! All it takes is one asteroid bigger than a car to make it through our atmosphere and hit the surface. Shockingly enough, this isn’t even a common occurrence. A bus,…
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The Hunt For New Life
TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) will examine 400,000 stars across the sky to capture a glimpse of a planet moving across its star’s face. The TESS Habitable Zone Star Catalog contains the most promising target stars identified by a team of astronomers from Vanderbilt University, Cornell University, and Lehigh University. The lead author of the…
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SpaceX’s 20th Station Shipment Arrives With Candy, Science
A SpaceX cargo ship has arrived at the International Space Station, delivering experiments, candy and other goods. By Associated Press, Wire Service Content March 9, 2020, at 7:09 a.m. More SpaceX’s 20th Station Shipment Arrives With Candy, Science More In this image taken from NASA video, NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Jessica Meir use the…
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NASA’s Space Snowman Reveals Secrets: Few Craters, No Water
NASA’s space snowman is revealing fresh secrets from its home far beyond Pluto. By Associated Press, Wire Service ContentFeb. 13, 2020, at 2:36 p.m. More NASA’s Space Snowman Reveals Secrets: Few Craters, No Water More This Jan. 1, 2019 image from NASA shows Arrokoth, the farthest, most primitive object in the Solar System ever to…
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First Space Force Mission Has Virus Precautions
The United States Space Force launched its very initial national security satellite with a smaller staff because of the social distancing protocols for COVID-19. The satellite is worth about 1 Billion USD and it is the last one in the Advanced Extremely High-Frequency Series. Another result of the pandemic is the postponement of the station’s…
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Unexpected Carbon Monoxide Content in Comet Borisov
During Borisov’s short travel through the inner part of the solar system, it was surrounded by its own delicate cloud of gas that was created as the sun heated up the ice on its surface. Observations of the gas cloud show that the carbon monoxide was more than three times as elevated as any local…
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Pluto Has an Icy Heart and It Produces Cold Winds
Pluto’s heart is made of nitrogen and it controls the planet’s winds. Based on new research, it may even become the precursor to the features of the planet’s surface. Fondly called Tombaugh Regio, Pluto’s heart-shaped detail became renowned after NASA’s mission, New Horizons shot footage of the small planet back in 2015. The video showed…