News – Astronomy Now

30 November 2021

NASA resumes James Webb launch preps after incident review

26 November 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers find no damage to James Webb Space Telescope after ground-processing incident that jostled the $10 billion observatory.

NASA spacecraft blasts off on experimental mission to divert asteroid

24 November 2021 Stephen Clark

A small NASA space probe blasted off from California early Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on a first-of-its-kind mission to change the orbit of an asteroid, pioneering a technique that may one day be used to divert an asteroid off of a collision course with Earth.

James Webb Space Telescope launch delayed pending ‘incident’ review

23 November 2021 Astronomy Now

Launch of the James Webb Space Telescope is being delayed at least four days after a ground processing “incident” at the French Guiana launch site.

Hubble camera back on line; other instruments remain in ‘safe mode’

17 November 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers restore Hubble camera to operation amid troubleshooting to bring other instruments back on line after a data synchronisation glitch.

Engineers test workarounds to recover from Hubble synchronisation glitch

5 November 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers are testing workarounds to recover from a data handling glitch aboard the Hubble Space Telescope that has put the observatory in ‘safe mode,’ suspending science operations.

Hubble Space Telescope in ‘safe mode’ – engineers troubleshooting

2 November 2021 Astronomy Now

Engineers are troubleshooting command and data timing issues aboard the Hubble Space Telescope that have temporarily knocked the observatory out of action.

The curious incident of the star that wasn’t there

24 October 2021 Astronomy Now

Astronomers find a white dwarf with a presumed Jupiter analog, evidence at least some planets can survive a star’s transition to red giant and white dwarf.

Exoplanet collision likely stripped away a terrestrial world’s atmosphere

21 October 2021 Astronomy Now

Researchers observe what may be the aftermath of a titanic collision in a solar system 95 light years away that stripped the atmosphere from a terrestrial planet.

Webb telescope unboxed after shipment to Guiana Space Center

20 October 2021 Stephen Clark

Engineers removed the James Webb Space Telescope from its intercontinental shipping container in South America last week, and kicked off a final pre-launch comprehensive electrical systems test ahead of blastoff in December on an Ariane 5 rocket.

NASA asteroid explorer leaves planet Earth on Atlas 5 rocket

16 October 2021 Stephen Clark

Bound for a pristine population of ancient asteroids, a NASA science probe named Lucy took off from Cape Canaveral before dawn Saturday and rocketed into space on top of an Atlas 5 launcher to begin a 12-year, $981 million mission seeking out clues about the early solar system.