Via: GoPro
space
Via: NASA
According to NASA's article on the test, this is a big step toward sending a manned mission to Mars:
NASA successfully tested the first deep space RS-25 rocket engine for 500 seconds March 10, clearing a major milestone toward the next great era of space exploration. The next time rocket engine No. 2059 fires for that length of time, it will be carrying humans on their first deep-space mission in more than 45 years.
This is all part of a plan to send humans to Mars by 2030, which NASA has laid out in this beautifully illustrated image:
Via: VideoFromSpace
NASA released images of the recent solar eclipse. When seen from the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) it's just the shadow of the moon traveling across Earth.
This is a first, according to Adam Szabo, NASA’s project scientist for DSCOVR:
What is unique for us is that being near the Sun-Earth line, we follow the complete passage of the lunar shadow from one edge of the Earth to the other. A geosynchronous satellite would have to be lucky to have the middle of an eclipse at noon local time for it. I am not aware of anybody ever capturing the full eclipse in one set of images or video.
via earthobservatory
Via: Mark Rademaker
NASA engineer and physicist Harold White is working on using the theory of relativity to travel at warp speed. The ship will be called IXS Enterprise, while he's still working on the math to prove it can be done, the concept art has already been completed by designer Mark Rademaker. In an interview with The Washington Post Rademaker explained the purpose behind the designs:
"We wanted to have a decent image of a theory conforming Warp ship to motivate young people to pursue a STEM career," Rademaker said in an e-mail interview. "It does have some Sci-Fi features that might never transfer to a possible final design, unless we really want to."
Astronaut Scott Kelly was brought safely home last night after spending nearly a year in space. He was primarily in space to study himself to learn about how human bodies change in space. He even has an identical twin who stayed back on Earth to compare results. But what else was he doing for so long up on the International Space Station? He actually kept a pretty good record on Twitter.
Via: @NASA
The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of a star that looks like it's inside a blue bubble. NASA says the blue bubble is actually a nebula formed around 20,000 years ago. This is how it's described on the Hubble's website:
The distinctive blue bubble appearing to encircle WR 31a is a Wolf–Rayet nebula — an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen, helium and other gases. Created when speedy stellar winds interact with the outer layers of hydrogen ejected by Wolf–Rayet stars, these nebulae are frequently ring-shaped or spherical.
According to NASA, these type of stars don't last very long (in terms of bodies in space at least). It'll only be around for a "few hundred thousand years".
