On December 24th, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe achieved a record-breaking close approach to the sun, reaching a mere 3.86 million miles from its surface. This unprecedented feat, the closest any human-made object has ever come to the sun, also saw the probe reach a new top speed of 430,000 mph. The mission, described as comparable in significance to the moon landing, will continue with two more similarly close solar passes planned for 2025. Mission controllers await confirmation of the probe’s survival following the close encounter.
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After a weekslong communication blackout caused by Voyager 1’s dwindling power supply and an automatic switch to a weaker transmitter, NASA engineers successfully restored contact. The issue stemmed from a command to activate a heater, triggering a power-saving fault protection system that switched the probe to its less powerful S-band transmitter. Clever problem-solving allowed a return to the X-band transmitter, resuming data collection. This incident highlights the increasing challenges of maintaining the aging probes’ functionality as their power continues to decrease. The team is now working to fully restore the spacecraft’s systems to pre-outage condition.
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Vivek Ramaswamy, head of the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), proposes defunding over 1,200 federal programs totaling $516 billion annually due to expired congressional authorization. These programs include crucial funding for veterans’ healthcare, NASA, and early childhood education. Ramaswamy, supported by Elon Musk, aims to eliminate wasteful spending and restructure federal agencies, despite significant public backlash over the potential cuts to essential services. DOGE seeks highly skilled individuals for this challenging, unpaid endeavor.
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The news that astronauts stuck on the space station will be returning on a SpaceX capsule is certainly a topic that has stirred up a lot of discussion and opinions. The situation involving the Boeing-sponsored extended vacation in space has highlighted some concerning issues around safety, competency, and decision-making processes within the aerospace industry.
Despite the reassurances that the astronauts were not stranded and that they were collecting more data, the decision to bring them back on a SpaceX capsule instead of the Starliner seems like the most logical and safe option. The fact that NASA and Boeing couldn’t come to a mutual agreement on the level of safety risk speaks volumes about the differences in priorities between the two organizations.… Continue reading
The crew of NASA’s earthbound simulated Mars habitat has just emerged after a yearlong mission that never actually left Earth. The four volunteer crew members, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones, entered the 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston over a year ago as the pioneers of NASA’s Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog project. Stepping out of their artificial alien environment, the quartet expressed relief and gratitude for the experience they had just undertaken.
Living inside a space of 17,000 square feet to simulate a mission to Mars, these courageous individuals engaged in activities that mimicked what a real Mars crew would face.… Continue reading
As I read the exciting news that Voyager-1 has resumed sending readable data from deep space after a computer fault in November, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe and admiration for the incredible engineers who managed to fix the issue. The fact that a corrupted chip, a simple component, could cause such a significant problem for the aging spacecraft truly showcases the level of complexity and precision required in space exploration.
I have always been captivated by the Voyager missions, especially Voyager-1, which has exceeded all expectations by traveling much farther than initially anticipated. It is astonishing to think that we are still able to communicate with a spacecraft that is over 15 billion miles away.… Continue reading
John Q. Hosedrinker