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☆ Space photos from 5 recent moon-landing missions show how tiny engineering errors can cause big problems, like crashing or landing sideways
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Houston-based company's uncrewed Odysseus lander was almost lost to one of the tiniest possible mistakes. The view from the Intuitive Machines Odysseus lander as it descended to its landing site. Intuitive MachinesWith less than two hours to go before landing, Intuitive Machines engineers frantically whipped up a new navigation system. Indeed, several robotic moon landing attempts have crashed or otherwise malfunctioned in the last few years. Similarly, Intuitive Machines' success on Thursday shows that small errors don't necessarily have to spell the end of a mission.

Persons: Steve Altemus, Trent Martin, Odysseus, Astrobotic —, Peregrine, Astrobotic Astrobotic, Astrobotic, Vikram, SpaceNews, Robert Braun, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, ispace, NASA's, Braun, Japan's Smart Lander, SLIM, LEV, Takara Tomy Organizations: US, Business, NASA, Reconnaissance, Goddard, Arizona State University, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA's Goddard Space Flight, freefall, JAXA, Takara, Sony Group Corporation, Doshisha Locations: India, Japan, Houston

☆ Intuitive Machines almost lost its moon lander because somebody forgot to flip a switch before launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-24 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A serendipitous moment, a NASA experiment, and frantic, innovative software engineering rescued the company's Odysseus lander from what could have been a catastrophic error — a switch that didn't get flipped before launch. NASA TVIt was a "spicy" landing, Altemus said. AdvertisementThe Houston-based company flew Odysseus, which is its Nova-C-model lander, to the moon on a $118 million NASA contract. Its success marks the first commercial moon landing ever and NASA's first return to the lunar surface since 1972. It was risky — the NASA lasers were on the lander to test whether they worked in space at all — but it was better than nothing.

Persons: —, Steve Altemus, Altemus, Odysseus, Frankenstein, Robert Braun, Tim Crain, Crain, Braun Organizations: Service, NASA, Business, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Mars

☆ ‘Magic islands’ mystery on Saturn’s moon Titan may be solved
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The disappearing “magic islands” on Saturn’s largest moon Titan have intrigued scientists since NASA’s Cassini mission spotted them during flybys a decade ago. Titan, larger than both our moon and the planet Mercury, is the only moon in our solar system with a thick atmosphere. The sea is 50% larger than Lake Superior and is made up of liquid methane, ethane and nitrogen. An artist's illustration shows a lake at the north pole of Saturn's moon Titan, including raised rims spied by Cassini. Liquid methane slowly seeps into the frozen clumps, eventually causing them to disappear from view.

Persons: NASA’s, Cassini, Xinting Yu, ”, Yu, Stéphane Le Mouélic, Virginia Pasek, ” Yu, “ Organizations: CNN, NASA, Titan, JPL, Caltech, University of Texas, Research, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Ligeia Mare, Superior, San Antonio, Virginia

“Russia’s thinly veiled threats to use nuclear weapons remind the world that escalation of the conflict – by accident, intention, or miscalculation – is a terrible risk. New Construction at Russia's Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site, June 22, 2023. Lop Nur nuclear test site. “The Chinese test site is different than the Russian test site,” Lewis said. Both countries keep their strategic nuclear arsenals on “hair-trigger” alert, meaning that nuclear weapons can be launched on short notice.

Persons: Jeffrey Lewis, James Martin, ”, Cedric Leighton, “, Vladimir Putin, ” Lewis, Lewis ’, António Guterres, ” Guterres, Dmitry Medvedev, Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, Sergei Shoigu, Lewis, we’ve, Leighton, they’d, ” Leighton, Nur, Hans Kristensen, Kristensen, Israel –, Dyess, Frederic J . Brown, Fiona Cunningham, Yang Kun, ” Daryl Kimball, Kimball, Michael Frankel, James Scouras, George Ullrich, Soviet Union –, Russia –, We’re Organizations: CNN, James, James Martin Center, Nonproliferation Studies, Middlebury Institute of International Studies, US, US Air Force, Atomic Scientists, Soviet Union, United Nations, Russia’s Security, Russian Defense Ministry, Planet Labs PBC, Middlebury, Science and Global Security, Novaya, Middlebury Institute, China Observer, China’s Foreign Ministry, Planet Labs, Nevada National Security, National Security Administration, US Department of Energy, Office, National Security Council, International Monitoring, Federation of American Scientists, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Missile Defense, Center for Strategic, International Studies, Columbia, Northrop Grumman's Air Force, Getty, Control Association, ACA, NGO, PLA, Nuclear, Carnegie Endowment, International, Arms Control Association, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, Soviet Locations: Russia, United States, China, Xinjiang, Nevada, . China, Moscow, Washington, Ukraine, Soviet, Belarus, Minsk, Novaya Zemlya, Zemlya, Soviet Union, Lop Nur, Japan, Lop, Beijing, Stockholm, United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Ellsworth, Palmdale , California, AFP, Yuli County, Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Baltimore, Russian, Hiroshima

☆ A NASA probe got slammed by a massive eruption from the sun — and caught it all on camera
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Rebecca Cohen | Jenny Mcgrath | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A NASA probe caught a massive eruption from the sun on camera. The Parker Solar Probe flew right through a major coronal mass ejection last year. NASA said that the CME that struck the Parker Solar Probe was "one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections ever recorded." The Parker Solar Probe's mission to touch the sunAn artist's illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun. NASAThe Parker Solar Probe was designed specifically to study the sun.

Persons: NASA's Parker, Parker, Johns Hopkins, it's, Jim Kinnison, We're, Russ Howard Organizations: NASA, Parker, Probe, Service, Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics, CME, NASA's Parker Solar Probe, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Wall, Silicon, CMEs

☆ NASA discovered a new crater on the moon as wide as a 3-story building, and it's probably Russia's Luna-25 gravesite
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-01 | by ( Sonam Sheth | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The crater was likely caused by Russia's Luna-25 lander crashing into the moon last month, NASA said. Had Luna-25 not crashed, it would've been the first craft to explore the lunar south pole region. It could be the crash site of Russia's Luna-25 moon lander, NASA said in a statement Thursday. "During its descent" on August 19, "Luna 25 experienced an anomaly that caused it to impact the surface of the Moon," NASA said in the statement. The country had previously tried to land a craft near the lunar south pole, but it failed the first time.

Persons: Russia's Luna, would've, Luna, Robert Braun Organizations: NASA, Service, Reconnaissance, Luna, Goddard Space Flight, Arizona State University, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Russia

☆ How India landed on the moon and flew to Mars at a fraction of the cost of NASA and Russia missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-24 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | Maiya Focht | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

India has become the first nation to land a robotic mission to the crucial south pole of the Moon. AdvertisementAdvertisementSmall spacecraft, small costsIndian spacecraft Chandrayaan-3, the word for "moon craft" in Sanskrit, travels after it was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India. Aijaz Rahi/AP PhotoIndia's main strategy for being frugal on the moon seems to be that it kept the spacecraft small. NASA/JSCThis wasn't India's first attempt to land on the moon's south pole. It aimed to make a soft landing on the south pole of the moon, where nobody had succeeded yet.

Persons: NASA's, Elon Musk, Aijaz, That's, Satish, Robert Braun, Andrew Coates, Anatoly Zak, They've, Braun, Russia's Luna Organizations: Service, Hollywood, ISRO, SpaceX, Twitter, Indian Space Research Organization, New York Times, NASA, Space, Chandrayaan, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, MAVEN, BBC, Planetary Society, JSC Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Bengaluru, Sriharikota, Soviet Union

☆ Why Russia and India both crashed on the moon's south pole before India nailed the first soft landing there
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The feat comes just days after Russia crash-landed there, and four years after India's first attempt crashed into the lunar south pole. AdvertisementAdvertisementIt was the country's first bid at the lunar south pole, which is especially valuable space real estate because of its frozen-water reserves. Both the US and China also hope to land on the lunar south pole before the end of the decade. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe lunar south pole is uniquely hazardousThe very thing that makes the moon's south pole so desirable — the permanently shadowed regions that harbor water ice — also makes it more difficult to land on. AdvertisementAdvertisementAlso, nobody has ever been to the moon's south pole.

Persons: India's, Robert Braun, Braun, It's, Luna, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Aijaz, it's, you've, Rajanish, landers Organizations: Service, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, NASA, Vostochny, Space Corporation, AP, European Space Agency, Space Research Organization, ISRO, India, Soviet Union, Operation, India's Bharatiya Janata Party Locations: Wall, Silicon, Russia, India, Russia's Far, Soviet Union, China, Europe, Ukraine, Bangalore, Mumbai

☆ Watch India attempt a historic moon landing on the lunar south pole, where 3 spacecraft have crashed and nobody has succeeded yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-22 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

In this rush for the lunar south pole, India's space agency, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), is scheduled to make its new landing attempt on Wednesday. India, Russia, and Israel have all tried and failedRussia is the latest nation to fumble a lunar south-pole landing. If first you don't succeed try, try, againThe landing attempt scheduled for Wednesday will be India's second try. The new Vikram lander will be on its own. So it's the hardest of the hard," said Braun, who has worked on landing and descent teams for multiple NASA missions to Mars.

Persons: Luna, India's, Robert Braun, Rajanish, Vikram, Kailasavadivoo Sivan, Aijaz, Braun, I'm, " Braun Organizations: Service, Indian Space Research Organisation, ISRO, Space Exploration, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, India's Bharatiya Janata Party, AP, Space Research Organization, NASA Locations: Wall, Silicon, India, Mars, Russia, Israel, Mumbai, Bangalore, Mars . India

☆ Asteroid's sudden flyby shows blind spot in planetary threat detection
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NASA for years has prioritized detecting asteroids much bigger and more existentially threatening than 2023 BU, the small space rock that streaked by 2,200 miles from the Earth's surface, closer than some satellites. If bound for Earth, it would have been pulverized in the atmosphere, with only small fragments possibly reaching land. But 2023 BU sits on the smaller end of a size group, asteroids 5-to-50 meters in diameter, that also includes those as big as an Olympic swimming pool. But with current capabilities, astronomers can't see when such a rock targets Earth until days prior. The successful demonstration, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), affirmed for the first time a method of planetary defense.

☆ 7 of the most iconic photos of Earth taken from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The first photo of Earth from space, taken just 65 miles above our planetThe first shot of Earth from space captured by a camera at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the edge of space U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics LaboratoryOn October 24, 1946, 11 years before the launch of Sputnik I, a 35-mm motion picture camera onboard a V-2 rocket captured a grainy black and white photo of Earth. It's the first image of our planet from space. The image was taken at an altitude of 65 miles, just above the Karman Line, which is the boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. No astronauts were onboard the rocket — the camera automatically took a picture every 1.5 seconds. The film miraculously survived the missile's planned crash landing.

☆ NASA crashes DART spacecraft into an asteroid, testing a tactic to bump space rocks away from Earth
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

NASA's 1,376-pound probe traveled about 6.8 million miles before crashing into the asteroid, as part of the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission. Scientists will be monitoring the trajectory of the asteroid, Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid, Didymos. As the DART spacecraft flew closer, Dimorphos emerged as a separate point of light that grew larger and brighter. NASABelow, one of the last frames beamed at Earth from DRACO before the DART spacecraft ate it, showing several boulders on the asteroid surface. The DART mission operations team at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory erupted in applause after the probe's successful demise.

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