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  • Strawberry Moon tonight: How to watch the stunning lunar show

    Tonight offers a wonderful opportunity to witness a full Strawberry Moon. It’s a gorgeous phenomenon, with out nearest neighbor casting a warm, golden-pink hue across the sky as it rises.

    The term “Strawberry Moon” originated from Algonquian-speaking tribes in the northeastern U.S., as this particular full moon took place when strawberries were ripening and ready to be harvested. The name has been passed down the generations and continues to be used by many people today.

    The Strawberry Moon will rise in the eastern sky at around dusk on Wednesday, between around 8:30 p.m. ET and shortly after sunset in other regions — for example, the best time to view it in San Francisco will be 8 p.m., though you’re advised to check your own city’s moonrise time for precise information.

    For the most dramatic view, watch shortly after moonrise when the celestial body will appear at its largest and should take on a warm, golden or orange tint due to atmospheric scattering, a phenomenon caused by its light passing through more of Earth’s atmosphere.

    To view the Strawberry Moon, here’s what you need to know:

    Location: Choose a spot with a clear, unobstructed view of the eastern horizon. Rural areas, hilltops, open fields, or waterfronts are ideal. In urban areas, local parks or elevated locations — like the top of a very tall building — can help minimize light pollution and obstructions.

    Weather: Check local weather forecasts to ensure clear skies. Cloud cover can obscure the view, so choose a location where skies are expected to be mostly clear.

    Preparation: Take binoculars or a camera with a telephoto lens if you’d like to observe details or capture photos. It’s a great opportunity to capture some striking images as the moon’s low position and unusual coloring should make it appear larger and more dramatic.

    What to expect: The Strawberry Moon will appear low in the sky, glowing with a yellow, orange, or even rosy hue as it rises. This year’s full moon is especially notable because it’s the lowest in the sky in several decades, due to a rare lunar standstill.

    Bonus view: Also, as the moon wanes over the coming weeks, look out for the Milky Way. June is a great time to view the galaxy of which we are a part!

  • A Japanese lander crashed on the Moon after losing track of its location

    A robotic lander developed by a Japanese company named ispace plummeted to the Moon’s surface Thursday, destroying a small rover and several experiments intended to demonstrate how future missions could mine and harvest lunar resources.

    Ground teams at ispace’s mission control center in Tokyo lost contact with the Resilience lunar lander moments before it was supposed to touch down in a region called Mare Frigoris, or the Sea of Cold, a basaltic plain in the Moon’s northern hemisphere.

    A few hours later, ispace officials confirmed what many observers suspected. The mission was lost. It’s the second time ispace has failed to land on the Moon in as many tries.

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  • Another commercial startup just flubbed a moon landing

    Following its failed attempt to achieve a successful landing on the moon in 2023, there were high hopes that Japanese startup ispace would succeed on its second attempt early on Friday local time. But it wasn’t to be.

    Similar to its first attempt two years ago when it attempted to become the first commercial company to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the moon, the Tokyo-based mission team lost contact with its Resilience lander in the final stages before touchdown on the lunar surface.

    In a statement on the Hakuto-R Mission 2 delivered on Friday Tokyo time, ispace explained that following the initiation of Resilience’s landing sequence, mission controllers were unable to establish communications with the vehicle. 

    It said that as of 8 a.m. local time on June 6, the team had determined that it is “unlikely that communication with the lander will be restored” and “therefore it has been decided to conclude the mission.”

    Elaborating on the lander’s final moments, ispace said that commands to execute the landing sequence were transmitted at 3:13 a.m. Tokyo time.

    “The Resilience lander then began the descent phase. The lander descended from an altitude of approximately 100 km to approximately 20 km, and then successfully fired its main engine as planned to begin deceleration. While the lander’s attitude was confirmed to be nearly vertical, telemetry was lost thereafter, and no data indicating a successful landing was received, even after the scheduled landing time had passed.”

    It added that the laser rangefinder used to measure the distance to the lunar surface experienced delays in obtaining valid measurement values. “As a result, the lander was unable to decelerate sufficiently to reach the required speed for the planned lunar landing. Based on these circumstances, it is currently assumed that the lander likely performed a hard landing on the lunar surface.”

    It said that after communication was lost with Resilience, a command was sent to reboot the it, but a connection could not be established.

    “Given that there is currently no prospect of a successful lunar landing, our top priority is to swiftly analyze the telemetry data we have obtained thus far and work diligently to identify the cause,” said Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of ispace. 

    The company said it’s now seeking to convince its backers that it can work through the issue and go again.

    The failure of ispace’s second lunar landing attempt is yet another reminder of the challenges faced by commercial lunar missions, many of which have failed to make a successful soft landing on the moon.

    A breakthrough came earlier this year, however, when Texas-based Firefly Aerospace became the first commercial firm to achieve a fully successful soft landing, with its Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander. Blue Ghost operated for a couple of weeks, supporting various science experiments before finally losing power. 

    With space technology advancing and launch costs reducing, private firms are increasingly interested in reaching the moon, primarily to explore opportunities for mining resources.

  • How to watch a historic moon landing on Thursday

    After failing to nail a lunar landing in 2023, ispace is once again vying to become the first commercial company in Japan to successfully perform a soft landing on the moon. It’s also set to deploy the first European-built lunar rover.

    The Tokyo-based startup is aiming to perform a controlled touchdown of the Resilience lander near the moon’s North Pole in the region known as Mare Frigoris. 

    Resilience, part of ispace’s Hakuto-R Mission 2, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15.

    Besides demonstrating ispace’s lunar transportation capabilities, the mission will also test several advanced communication systems, and deploy a number of science payloads. It will also deliver to the lunar surface a micro-rover, called Tenacious. The vehicle will collect soil samples and conduct experiments during its two-week exploration. As part of a cultural program for the mission, Tenacious will drop off a miniature wooden cottage artwork called Moonhouse, designed by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg.

    The mission marks ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing, following an earlier one that ended in failure in April 2023 when the lander lost contact with the mission team during its final descent.

    The following year, Texas-based Intuitive Machines performed a successful lunar landing in February 2024, though soon after touchdown, the Odysseus lander tipped to a 30-degree angle. Despite the unexpected development, all of its instrument payloads remained functional, and the mission was deemed a success for the private firm.

    And then in March this year, another commercial company, Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, became the first commercial firm to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the moon when its Blue Ghost Mission 1 lander remained stable and upright following touchdown. The lander operated for about two weeks before losing power due to the onset of a lunar night. 

    Interest in moon exploration among private firms has increased in recent years due to advances in technology, lower launch costs, government partnerships, and the prospect of mining lunar resources, all factors that are making our nearest neighbor an exciting new commercial and strategic frontier.

    How to watch

    A livestream of ispace’s attempted landing will begin at 2:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, June 5, which is 3:10 a.m. Japan time on Friday, June 6. 

    The ispace team is currently targeting around 3:15 p.m. ET (4:17 a.m. Japan time) for the landing, though this could change. For the latest updates, be sure to check ispace’s X account.

    You can watch the landing attempt via the video player embedded at the top of this page. 

  • Blue Origin boss: Government should forget launch and focus on “exotic” missions

    Eighteen months after leaving his job as a vice president at Amazon to take over as Blue Origin’s chief executive, Dave Limp has some thoughts on how commercial companies and government agencies like NASA should explore the Solar System together.

    Limp had no background in the space industry before taking the helm of Jeff Bezos’ space company in December 2023. He started his career as a computer scientist at Apple, took a stint at a venture capital firm, and joined Amazon in 2010, where he managed development of consumer devices like Alexa, Kindle, and the Fire TV.

    “I had no thoughts of ever running a space company,” Limp said Thursday at a space conference in Washington, DC. “I’ve done consumer electronics my whole life. Started at Apple and did a bunch of other things, and so when I decided to retire from Amazon, I was looking for something that I could give back a little bit, be a little bit more philanthropic in the sort of second half of my career. I didn’t want to stop working, just wanted to do something different. And about that same time, Jeff was looking for a CEO.”

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  • Japan’s ispace moon lander enters lunar orbit ahead of landing attempt

    The moon is getting a new visitor, as the Japanese company ispace has entered lunar orbit with its Resilience lander. Launched on January 15, the lander has taken a slow but fuel-efficient path to the moon, and is now making preparations for landing next month.

    The company ispace is attempting a lunar landing for the second time, after its first lander crashed to the moon’s surface in April 2023. Subsequent research found that the problem with the first lander was due to a mistake in calculation of altitude, caused by an issue with the software when the lander passed over a crater rim. This time, the company is hoping for a better outcome when it attempts landing again on June 5.

    For now, the spacecraft entered lunar orbit on the morning of May 7, using a nine minute-long thruster burn to put it into a stable orbit.

    “First and foremost, we are extremely pleased that the RESILIENCE lander successfully reached lunar orbit as planned today,” said Takeshi Hakamada, Founder and CEO of ispace. “We have successfully completed maneuvers so far by leveraging the operational experience gained in Mission 1, and I am very proud of the crew for successfully completing the most critical maneuver and entering lunar orbit. We will continue to proceed with careful operations and thorough preparations to ensure the success of the lunar landing.”

    Included on the lander are several payloads consisting of science experiments and technology tests, including a food production experiment, a probe for measuring deep space radiation, and an a water electrolyzer experiment. There is also a micro rover named Tenacious, which weighs just 5 kg (11 lb) and which will be deposited onto the surface to explore the area around the landing site.

    The aim is for the lander to touch down in the Mare Frigoris region, located to the north of the moon, though there is a possibility that the company could choose to switch to a backup landing location if necessary. Once the spacecraft has tested its ability to deliver payloads into lunar orbit, the spacecraft will perform final orbit maneuvers to get into position ready for the landing attempt next month.

  • How to watch Saturday’s partial solar eclipse

    A partial solar eclipse.
    David Paleino/Creative Commons

    The moon will be passing in front of the sun on Saturday in a phenomenon known as a “partial solar eclipse.”

    As the name suggests, it means that unlike a total solar eclipse, a part of the sun will still be visible, but the spectacle is still worth enjoying if you’re in a location from where it can be viewed.

    Those places include parts of North America, Europe, Africa, northern Asia, small parts of South America, throughout Greenland and Iceland, as well as much of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

    “In much of the Americas, including the northeastern United States, the partial solar eclipse will already be in progress during sunrise,” NASA says on its website. “In western Europe and northwestern Africa, the eclipse will begin in the mid-to-late morning. In eastern Europe and northern Asia, most or all of the eclipse will occur in the afternoon or early evening.”

    And take note, if you do decide to watch this weekend’s partial solar eclipse, it’s essential that you use proper eye protection or an indirect viewing method to protect your eyes. NASA has a useful webpage about keeping your eyes safe during eclipses.

    What to expect

    Assuming that you get a clear view, you can expect to see the sun appear like a crescent — or as if a section has been removed from it — as the moon passes in front of it.

    How to watch

    Saturday’s partial solar eclipse will be viewable from states in the northeast of the U.S., specifically Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia.

    In the U.S and Canada, the partial eclipse will occur early in the morning during sunrise, so be sure to set your alarm.

    For specific viewing times in the U.S., Canada, and other parts of the world, take a moment to check out NASA’s detailed breakdown, which also tells you how long the eclipse will last (from a couple of minutes to about an hour), and the percentage of the sun that will be covered by the moon, according to your location.

  • As preps continue, it’s looking more likely NASA will fly the Artemis II mission

    Late Saturday night, technicians at Kennedy Space Center in Florida moved the core stage for NASA’s second Space Launch System rocket into position between the vehicle’s two solid-fueled boosters.

    Working inside the iconic 52-story-tall Vehicle Assembly Building, ground teams used heavy-duty cranes to first lift the butterscotch orange core stage from its cradle in the VAB’s cavernous transfer aisle, the central passageway between the building’s four rocket assembly bays. The cranes then rotated the structure vertically, allowing workers to disconnect one of the cranes connected to the bottom of the rocket.

    That left the rocket hanging on a 325-ton overhead crane, which would lift it over the transom into the building’s northeast high bay. The Boeing-built core stage weighs about 94 tons (85 metric tons), measures about 212 feet (65 meters) tall, and will contain 730,000 gallons of cryogenic propellant at liftoff. It is the single largest element for NASA’s Artemis II mission, slated to ferry a crew of astronauts around the far side of the Moon as soon as next year.

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  • Astrophysicist rates the science of 9 outer space movies and TV shows

    Paul M. Sutter shares the science behind movies and TV shows set in space.

    He talks about string theory in “3 Body Problem.” He discusses the portrayal of black holes in “Interstellar,” starring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Matt Damon. He deconstructs wormholes in “Contact,” starring Jodie Foster; and “Event Horizon,” starring Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne. He breaks down how humans could feasibly get to Mars in “The Martian,” starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, and Donald Glover. He explains how gravity assists work in “Armageddon,” starring Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, and Billy Bob Thornton. He describes how stars die in “Avengers: Infinity War,” starring Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Hemsworth; and “Sunshine,” starring Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, and Rose Byrne. Finally, he examines cosmic voids in “Star Trek: Voyager.”

    Paul M. Sutter is a cosmologist and astrophysicist. He has written three books and serves as a NASA advisor. He also hosts the “Ask a Spaceman” podcast. You can check out his audio and video appearances on his website or YouTube channel.

    Read the original article on Business Insider

  • See the first ever footage of sunset on the moon captured by Blue Ghost

    With the Blue Ghost lunar mission coming to an end this week, the spacecraft has gifted scientists and the public with an incredible send-off. The moon lander captured the first ever HD imagery of a sunset as seen from the moon, and the images have been stitched together into a video.

    The stunning footage shows the sun setting over the moon’s horizon; an event which happens on the moon just one per month. A lunar day lasts for two weeks, and the Blue Ghost used this time to perform its experiments on the moon’s surface and collect solar power from the sun. Then the two-week-long lunar night begins and it is too dark for the spacecraft to collect power — but first, the lander got to observe one last sight of the sun setting.

    Blue Ghost Mission 1 – Lunar Sunset Video

    “Lunar sunset imagery that was captured by Blue Ghost from different camera angles on March 16,” Firefly Aerospace wrote sharing the footage. “These images, stitched together in a video, show a horizon glow that comes to life just above the Moon’s surface as the sun goes down. Earth and Venus (further in the distance) are also shown above the Moon. The NASA science team is excited to analyze these images further and share more on the findings soon.”

    The mission landed on March 2 and officially came to an end on 6:15 p.m. CT on March 16, with the spacecraft having saved enough power to operate for five hours into the lunar night and to collect data on the nighttime conditions there as well.

    Other private companies have had varying levels of success in their lunar missions, like Intuitive Machines which has completed soft landings on the moon twice but had both its landers fall over, or ispace which has failed at one lunar landing but has another landing attempt coming up soon. But the Blue Ghost mission is notable for being successful in meeting all of its mission objectives on the first go, with landing, surface operations, and lunar night observations all achieved.

    “After a flawless Moon landing, the Firefly team immediately moved into surface operations to ensure all 10 NASA payloads could capture as much science as possible during the lunar day,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace.

    “We’re incredibly proud of the demonstrations Blue Ghost enabled from tracking GPS signals on the Moon for the first time to robotically drilling and collecting science deeper into the lunar surface than ever before. We want to extend a huge thank you to the NASA CLPS initiative and the White House administration for serving as the bedrock for this Firefly mission. It has been an honor to enable science and technology experiments that support future missions to the moons, Mars, and beyond.”