We have the first science images from the ESA’s Euclid telescope and they are STUNNING. Euclid can take detailed photos with a wide field of view. Here’s a breakdown of what you’re looking at and why it’s important.
Could recent information about dark energy fundamentally alter our understanding of the universe? It's possible. Here's a deep dive into what dark energy is and how new results on the expansion history of the universe may change everything we thought we knew.
Why were the northern and southern lights so visible over the past weekend? Let's talk about the sun's solar cycle, solar maximum, what causes the northern lights -- and even a conspiracy theory that the aurora were artificially created.
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I’m getting SO MANY questions on whether we will see the aurora tonight. The honest answer: I don’t know!! Last night’s activity was really low, but there are several CMEs that will likely hit Earth tonight, so there’s a better chance.
That being said, the level of activity that brought about the aurora as far south as FL/TX/Mexico is higher (G5) than what’s predicted (G4). (1/2)
If you’re north of about Washington DC on the east coast, I would say you have a good chance of seeing them tonight away from light pollution. This is the current forecast, which is more conservative than my prediction.
I’m going to do a longer video/newsletter on this Monday but here is why you might have been seeing the Northern Lights yesterday (and if you’ll see them again this weekend)
Boeing Starliner is now scheduled for a launch date no earlier than May 17. ULA has decided they need to roll the launch vehicle back to fix a pressure valve on the second stage of the rocket.
The heat shield for Orion, which is the crew vehicle for the Artemis program (which is supposed to return humans to the surface of the moon this decade), is having some problems.
During the flight of Artemis I, NASA noticed that the heat shield behaved in unexpected ways. So, what's going on??
Boeing Starliner will not launch before Friday, May 10, and it may push into next week. The issue is a valve that controls liquid oxygen pressure on the upper stage of the rocket. It was humming/oscillating, and they need to examine it to see if it needs to be replaced.
If it doesn't, launch will be no earlier than Friday. If it does need to be replaced (which means the rocket needs to be rolled back), we're likely looking at launch dates into next week.
@skrishna have you ever talked or heard anything about the astronauts that got spacex selection vs ones that got starliner? I remember when both projects had that initial conference/announcement and all crews were excited to go. Did anyone from Boeing assignment ever get to switch to spacex ride?
@laimis Yes, but for a launch like this it's really important that the crew train on the vehicle and know it inside and out, so it's not so much about getting to switch to fly sooner. That being said, Jeanette Epps was briefly assigned to this flight and is currently on the ISS as part of SpaceX's Crew-8.
Next launch window is tomorrow at 10:11 pm ET, but again it's not clear whether we'll be able to recycle and try again that soon. We'll see if I'm back here tomorrow night live posting!!
@skrishna a bit disappointing but I'm extremely happy we've learned something from past experience about not launching just because there's so much excitement and momentum to do it.