FULL PINK MOON TONIGHT

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Get all the details here.

Sky Guy in VA

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2024

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Earth, as seen from nearly a million miles away by the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite. (Image credit: NASA)

Read More About NASA's efforts to study our planet.

Sky Guy in VA

WHERE ARE WE IN OUR MILKY WAY GALAXY?

Hey, Space Placers!

If you are an early riser in the hours before dawn and live in a dark sky area, you may have seen a bright band of light in the South East sky. That is the center of our Milky Way Galaxy rising.

As the coming months lead to August, the Milky Way will rise in the South East earlier and earlier until it becomes visible as it gets dark.

Read more about our galaxy and where we are located within it.

I will be at sea soon away from the lights of land with the Milky Way easily visible. I hope to get pics to share with you.

Sky Guy in VA

NASA PICKS 3 COMPANIES TO ADVANCE MOON MOBILITY FOR ASTRONAUTS

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An artist’s concept design of NASA’s Lunar Terrain Vehicle.

NASA

NASA has selected three companies to develop plans for the new Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) for Artemis astronauts. 

NASA will evaluate and select the new LTV and "NASA will acquire the LTV as a service from industry. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, milestone-based Lunar Terrain Vehicle Services contract with firm-fixed-price task orders has a combined maximum potential value of $4.6 billion for all awards."

Japan's space agency JAXA and NASA have signed an agreement to carry NASA astronauts aboard JAXA's new "Lunar Cruiser" that is being developed by JAXA and Toyota.  

Exciting times for lunar exploration....

Sky Guy in VA

Record breaker! Milky Way's most monstrous stellar-mass black hole is sleeping giant lurking close to Earth (Video)

 Hey, Space Placers!

Get all the information on this exciting discovery.

There will be more black holes found, that is for sure!

Sky Guy in VA

FREE EBOOK FROM NASA ON THE "DARK UNIVERSE"

Hey, Space Placers!

As described by NASA:

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope team has released a new downloadable e-book in the Hubble Focus series, called “Hubble Focus: The Dark Universe.” This e-book highlights the mission’s recent discoveries about two mysterious components of our universe, known as dark energy — an unexplained cosmic pressure that’s speeding up the universe’s expansion — and dark matter, an invisible substance detectable only by seeing how it gravitationally influences visible matter.

A highly enjoyable and informative read!

Sky Guy in VA

New Horizons finds evidence for 2nd Kuiper Belt

 Hey, Space Placers!

Only 5 earthly spacecraft are headed out of solar system, into interstellar space. These are the Pioneers 10 and 11, Voaygers 1 and 2, and New Horizons. This image shows their approximate trajectories. Image (not to scale!) via NASA/ Johns Hopkins APL/ SwRI.

• The New Horizons spacecraft, launched in 2006, achieved historic flybys of Pluto in 2015 and Arrokoth in 2019, making it the fastest spacecraft ever sent from Earth.
• Chief scientist Alan Stern here provides an update, highlighting unexpected discoveries of dust impacts, an extended Kuiper Belt or even a second one, and outlines plans for future exploration.
• Its long-term mission goals include reaching the heliosphere’s termination shock and venturing into interstellar space, using its modern instrumentation to complement the findings of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft.

Read more about this exciting story from the far reaches of our KNOWN solar system. New Horizons is probing the distant unknown and can continue to do so for decades.

Sky Guy in VA