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    It’s an Asteroid, it’s a Comet, it’s the Geminids Meteor Shower!

    An outdoor black and white camera shows a multitude of streaks of white light from more than 100 meteors in 2014.

    By Serena Whitfield The Geminids meteor shower is back for its annual December show of beautiful bright and fast meteors. The Geminids, which will peak on the night between Dec 13–14 in 2024, is considered to be one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers. Where Did the Geminids Originate and What Makes …

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    Crew Packs Science for Exposure, Studies Immune System, and Preps for Spacewalk

    A vivid aurora streams over the Earth as the space station orbited 273 miles above the southern Indian Ocean in between Australia and Antarctica.

    The Expedition 72 crew prepared a science experiment for placement outside the International Space Station and studied space-caused cellular stress and tissue damage on Thursday. Spacewalk preparations are also ongoing to remove and relocate hardware on the orbital outpost next week. Three NASA astronauts including Commander Suni Williams and Flight Engineers Don Pettit and Butch …

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    Crew Works Biomedical, Robotics Research and Waits for Dragon Departure

    The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft is pictured from an external space station camera approaching the orbital outpost above Argentina on Tuesday, Nov. 5

    Disease detection, cellular immunity, and free-flying robotics were the top advanced research topics aboard the International Space Station on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Expedition 72 crew members wait to send off a U.S. cargo spacecraft while preparing for the year’s final spacewalk. Scientists on the ground are using the orbital outpost’s microgravity environment to learn how …

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    Spacesuits and Space Biology Fill Day Aboard Space Station

    Astronaut Suni Williams displays science hardware housing bacteria and yeast samples for a biomanufacturing experiment that may enable the production of food and medicine in space.

    Spacesuits and space biology were the main focus on Tuesday as the Expedition 72 crew aboard the International Space Station gets ready for a spacewalk and keeps up critical research. Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner from Roscosmos worked throughout the day inside the Poisk module where they are getting ready for the year’s …

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    NASA’s Lucy Spacecraft Prepares for Second Earth Gravity Assist

    UPDATE AS OF DEC. 13, 2024 Shortly after 11:30 p.m. EST, Thursday Dec. 12, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft resumed communications with Earth following the short, planned communication blackout that occurred in the hours around closest approach during its second Earth gravity assist. NASA’s CARA (Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis) operators determined that no spacecraft maneuvers were necessary …

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    NASA Eyes Launching SPHEREx Sky-Mapping Mission in Early 2025

    NASA’s SPHEREx space observatory was photographed at BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado, in November 2024 after completing environmental testing. The spacecraft’s three concentric cones help direct heat and light away from the telescope and other components, keeping them cool.

    NASA and SpaceX are targeting late February 2025 for the launch of the agency’s next astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx. Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. About the size of a subcompact …

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    NASA Eyes Launching SPHEREx Sky-Mapping Mission in Early 2025

    NASA and SpaceX are targeting late February 2025 for the launch of the agency’s next astrophysics observatory, SPHEREx. Short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer, SPHEREx will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. About the size of a subcompact …

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    Week Begins with Spacewalk Preps, Physics, and Biology Research

    The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Dragon crew spacecraft by a SpaceX Crew-8 member shortly after undocking on Oct. 23, 2024.

    Spacesuits topped the schedule for the Expedition 72 crew on Monday as a pair of cosmonauts get ready for a spacewalk planned for next week. The International Space Station residents also kicked off the workweek focusing their research activities on physics and biology. Flight Engineers Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner of Roscosmos are gearing up …

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