,2024,December,Geminid Meteor Shower.,SC03332,jupiter,mars,planets,saturn,skywatching,space.com,sspaleta,venus,winter stars,winter triangle,PP6u-GN4jSI,UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, Lifestyle_(sociology), channel_UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, video_PP6u-GN4jSI,See Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars this month. Also, see the Winter Stars, Winter Triangle, the Geminid Meteor Shower. Night sky: What you can see this month: https://www.space.com/16149-night-sky.html
Best night sky events this month - stargazing maps: https://www.space.com/33974-best-night-sky-events.html
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
,china,experiment,fruit flies,space,space station,space.com,spaceflight,sspaleta,tiangong,9vhWPV6UmuI,UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, , channel_UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, video_9vhWPV6UmuI,Chinsese astronauts are conducting experiments with fruit flies and more aboard the Tiangong space station.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
,blue origin,launch,rocket,crew,ns-28,Emily Calandrelli,space gal,sspaleta,space.com,spaceflight,SC03317,FSlITfIpSpI,UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, Society, channel_UCVTomc35agH1SM6kCKzwW_g, video_FSlITfIpSpI,Blue Origin launched its ninth space tourism flight on Nov. 22, 2024.
The mission — known as NS-28, was the 28th launch overall of Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle — it lifted off from the company's West Texas spaceport.
The six-person NS-28 crew included Emily Calandrelli, who's known as "The Space Gal." Joining Calandrelli on New Shepard are repeat Blue Origin customers Marc and Sharon Hagle, a married couple who also flew on the NS-20 in March 2022, James (J.D.) Russell, Henry (Hank) Wolfond, and Austin Litteral, who won his seat in a corporate-sponsored giveaway.
Broadcast courtesy: Blue Origin
,1,NOAA's GOES-East satellite captured imagery of Hurricane Beryl as it churned over the Atlantic Ocean from June 29 to July 1, 2024.
Credit: Space.com | CIRA/NOAA | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://x.com/stevespaleta)
,1,A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the NROL-186 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on June 29, 2024 at 11:14 p.m. EDT (8:14 p.m. local California time; 0314 GMT on June 29). Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-nrol-186-spy-satellite-launch
According to Space.com, the Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8 minutes after liftoff tonight as planned, landing on the SpaceX drone ship Of Course I Still Love You, which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.
Credit: SpaceX
,1,SpaceX intends to capture Starship's Super Heavy booster with mechanical arms known as "chopsticks." See an animation of a catch and recent footage from tests.
Credit: Space.com | animation & footage: SpaceX | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,Chinese researchers have removed the container that is carrying the samples of the far side of the moon from the Chang'e-6 capsule.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
,1,SpaceX deployed NOAA's GOES-U launch a few hours after its Falcon Heavy launch on June 25, 2024. Watch the launch: https://www.space.com/spacex-falcon-heavy-goes-u-weather-satellite-launch
Credit: NASA
,1,The sunspot that triggered the massive solar storm that lit up Earth's skies with auroras in may has returned again. It is now called AR3723 (originally AR3664, then AR3697). It blasted a M9-class solar flare on June 23, 2024.
Credit:
,1,The James Webb Space Telescope has observed stellar outflow that are "all slanted in the same direction, to the same degree, like sleet pouring down during a storm" in the Serpens Nebula, according to ESA/NASA. Full Story: https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-serpens-nebula-jets-photo
Credit:
Directed by: Bethany Downer and Nico Bartmann
Editing: Nico Bartmann
Web and technical support: Enciso Systems
Written by: Bethany Downer
Music: Stellardrone - Light Years
Footage: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, K. Pontoppidan (NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory), J. Green (Space Telescope Science Institute)
,1,Dive into the heart of the United States Space Force (USSF) with an exclusive conversation between Lt. Col. Katherine "KC" Hebner and Major Julius "Shaq" Lee as they unravel the fabric of life within the USSF. Watch as these Guardians share their military experiences, offering a holistic view of the USSF's mission, from frontline defense in space to the strategic leadership steering the course. #ad
,1,The eROSITA X-ray instrument on the Russian–German Spektr-RG space observatory has captured stunning views of the sky. The "x-ray bands have been colour-coded according to their energy (red for 0.3-0.6 keV, green for 0.6-1 keV, blue for 1-2.3 keV," according the the builder of the instrument, the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
Credit: J. Sanders for the MPE/eROSITA-DE collaboration
Music: Tonic by Torus
Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/torus/tonic
License code: JQ9SQPH2FVQOQXHB
,1,Asteroid 2008 OS7 was captured by Gianluca Masi from Virtual Telescope Project on Jan. 31, 2024. It's closest approach to Earth was about 1.77 million miles (2.85 million kilometers) away. The space rock is rought 90 feet (271 meters) wide.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: Gianluca Masi / Virtual Telescope Project | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,Collins Aerospace is developing a new generation of spacesuit for NASA to one day fly to the International Space Station. In January 2024, the company finished 40 parabolic or "vomit comet" flights in simulated microgravity to test out the design. Full Story: https://www.space.com/collins-aerospace-iss-future-spacesuit-testing
Credit: Space.com | video/imagery: Collins Aerospace and ILC Dover Astrospace | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,NASA's pioneering helicopter Ingenuity has made its final Mars flight.
Ingenuity — the first-ever robot to ply the skies of an alien world — suffered rotor-blade damage during its most recent hop and "is no longer capable of flight," NASA announced. Now NASA honors the helicopter
Broadcast courtesy: NASA
,1,Space Shuttle Endeavour was stacked with an external tank and pair of solid rocket boosters for a new exhibit at the California Science Center on Jan. 30, 2023.
Credit: California Science Center | time-lapse by Space.com's [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Sunday (Jan. 28) at 6:15 p.m. EST (2315 GMT). Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-doubleheader-january-2024
Another Falcon 9 launched 22 Starlinks from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Monday at 12:57 a.m. EST (9:57 p.m. local time, and 0557 GMT).
Both successfully landed their first stages on drone ships in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Credit: SpaceX / edited by Space.com
,1,How is it possible for the ISS to stay in orbit? Learn more about the science behind orbiting Earth and more in this NASA "STEMonstrations" video.
Credit: NASA Johnson Space Center
,1,NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity suffered rotor blade damage during its final flight on the Red Planet. New imagery acquired on Jan. 26, 2024 appears to show that multiple blades were affected. Story - Ingenuity has flown for the last time: https://www.space.com/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-mission-ends
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,Virgin Galactic Unity laucnhed on its sixth commercial spaceflight on Jan. 26, 2024. Galactic 06 crew was Lina Borozdina, Franz Haider, Neil Kornswiet and Robie Vaughn. Borozdina is the first Ukrainian woman to fly to space. Full Story: https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-06-suborbital-spaceflight-mission
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: Virgin Galactic | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew 72 times on the Red Planet and will fly no more. NASA administrator Bill Nelson explains that one of it rotor blades were damaged during its last flight, which occurred on Jan 18, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-mission-ends
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
,1,NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed on Mars in January 2004. Take a look back at their landings on the Red Planet.
Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
,1,A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 22 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 7:35 p.m. EST on Jan. 23, 2024 (4:35 p.m. California time; 0035 GMT on Jan. 24). Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-group-7-11
"SpaceX had to stand down from daily attempts since Thursday (Jan. 18) due to poor weather conditions" and an abort, according to Space.com.
Credit: SpaceX | edited by Space.com
,1,Sierra Space has conducted stress test of a full-scale inflatable space habitat. It exceeded NASA's safety levels by 27 percent, according to a release from Sierra Space.
Credit: Sierra Space
,1,NASA has begun it's 2024 testing of future Artemis moon rockets with a "full-duration, 500-second hot fire of an RS-25 certification engine" on Jan. 17, according to the Stennis Space Center. Full Story: https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-moon-program-rs-25-engine-test-january-2024
Credit: NASA Stennis Space Center
,1,The Ax-3 crew, commander Michael "LA" López-Alegría, pilot Walter Villadei and mission specialists Marcus Wandt and Alper Gezeravcı (Turkey's first astronaut) have arrived at the International Space Station. See views shortly after soft capture of the Dragon spacecraft and their welcome ceremony.
Credit: NASA / SpaceX / Axiom Space
,1,Japan's Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) completed a soft landing on the moon but suffered an glitch with its solar array. See the entire broadcast here.
Full Story: https://www.space.com/japan-moon-landing-success-slim-spacecraft
Credit: JAXA
,1,The Ax-3 crew, commander Michael "LA" López-Alegría, pilot Walter Villadei and mission specialists Marcus Wandt and Alper Gezeravcı talk about their ride up to space aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom. Also, meet their zero-g indicator Build-A-Bear GiGi. See them launch: https://www.space.com/spacex-ax-3-private-astronaut-mission-launch-success
Credit: SpaceX / Axiom Space
,1,China’s Kuaizhou-1A rocket launcheds the Tianxing-1 02 experimental satellite on Jan. 11, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/china-kuaizhou-1a-rocket-fourth-launch-18-days
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by Steve Spaleta https://twitter.com/stevespaleta
,1,A Chinese Long March 7 rocket launched the Tianzhou-7 cargo spacecraft to the Tiangong space station from the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Jan. 17, 2023.
Credit: China Central Television (CCTV)
,1,A Space Falcon 9 rocket lauched 22 Starlink satellites from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Jan. 14, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-launch-group-7-10
Credit: SpaceX
,1,SpaceX's Elon Musk talks about the state of the private spaceflight company during a recent address at Starbase in Texas. SpaceX completed a record 96 missions to space in 2023.
Credit: SpaceX
,1,NASA's X-59 Quesst supersonic aircraft was unveiled at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California on Jan. 12, 2023. Full Story: https://www.space.com/nasa-x-59-quesst-supersonic-jet-unveiled
The X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology (Quesst) jet has been under construction at Lockheed Martin's "Skunk Works" facility in Palmdale, California since 2019. The experimental X-59 Quesst is designed to fly at supersonic speeds and reduce the typical sound of sonic booms, lowering the volume down to a "thump" similar to the sound of a car door slamming. NASA says the aircraft could help reshape regulations that currently prohibit supersonic flight over populated areas due to disruptions that sonic booms can cause.
Credit: NASA
Music: Impact Intermezzo by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100620
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
,1,New observations of Exoplanet WASP-69b has uncovered a 350,000-mile-long comet-like tail. The tail is a result of its escaping atmosphere. [Full Story](https://www.space.com/huge-exoplanet-comet-like-tail-350000-miles-long)
Credit: Space.com | animation: W. M. Keck Observatory/Adam Makarenko | edited by Steve Spaleta (https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
Music: Quest for the Skies by Christoffer Moe Ditlevsen / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
,1,The United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket launched on Jan. 8, 2024. See the epic views captured by cameras mounted on the rocket. Full Story: https://www.space.com/ula-vulcan-centaur-first-launch-peregrine-celestis-moon-mission
Credit: ULA
,1,A concept rocket engine, called Ouroborous-3, gradually burns up as it is test fired. It "could pave the way for cheaper launches of small satellites and would leave no debris behind," according to Space.com. Full Story: https://www.space.com/watch-self-eating-rocket-test-video
Credit: University of Glasgow
,1,A Chinese Long March-2C rocket launched the Einstein Probe (EP) satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Jan. 9, 2024. The satellite will "monitor the X-ray sky to discover & characterise high-energy transients and variability in X-ray band," according to ESA.
The satellite employs x-ray technology inspired by a lobster eye.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar lander suffered an anomaly after successful separation from the Vulcan Centaur rocket's upper stage on Jan. 8, 2024. Full Story: https://www.space.com/private-astrobotic-peregrine-moon-lander-suffers-anomaly
*“Unfortunately, an anomaly then occurred, which prevented Astrobotic from achieving a stable sun-pointing orientation," according to a statement from Astrobotic. Further information to come.
**Latest update from Astrobotic: "Unfortunately, it appears the failure within the propulsion system is causing a critical loss of propellant. The team is working to try and stabilize this loss, but given the situation, we have prioritized maximizing the science and data we can capture. We are currently assessing what alternative mission profiles may be feasible at this time."
Credit: Space.com | footage & animation courtesy: ULA / Astrobotic / NASA | edited by Steve Spaleta https://twitter.com/stevespaleta
*An earlier version of this video has been updated.
,1,The Vulcan Centaur rocket launched from ULA's Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 2:18 a.m. EST (0718 GMT) on its Cert-1 mission to prove its readiness for commercial and government flights. Full Story: https://www.space.com/ula-vulcan-centaur-first-launch-peregrine-celestis-moon-mission
The rocket is also carrying the Peregrine moon lander, a private mission built by the U.S. company Astrobotic that is carrying six experiments for NASA as the first flight of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program. The mission will attempt the first U.S. moon landing since Apollo 17 in 1972, and will be the first private mission ever to land on the moon safely, if successful.
Broadcast courtesy: NASA
,1,See stunning aurora time-lapses and imagery captured during a Hurtigruten Coastal Express astronomy voyage off the coast of Norway.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: Tom Kerss & Eva Stiegler, Hutigruten | edited by Steve Spaleta https://twitter.com/stevespaleta
,1,A pair of Kuaizhou-1A carrier rockets launches 8 Tianmu-1 meteorological constellation satellites from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 25 and Dec. 27, 2023.
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
,1,A SpaceX's Falcon 9 launched the Ovzon 3 mission to from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Jan. 3, 2023. Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-launch-swedish-satellite-ovzon-3
Credit: SpaceX
,1,SpaceX conducted a static fire test of the 'Flight 3' Starship Super Heavy booster's 33 Raptor engines at their Starbase facility in South Texas on Dec. 29, 2023. Full Story: https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-super-heavy-flight-3-engine-tests-video
Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: SpaceX | edited by Steve Spaleta https://twitter.com/stevespaleta
,1,Watch the moon phases and libration for 2024, as seen from Earth's Northern Hemisphere, in this time-lapsed animation that is set at hourly intervals. [What is the moon phase today?](https://www.space.com/18880-moon-phases.html)
[Moon Facts: Fun Information About the Earth's Moon](https://www.space.com/55-earths-moon-formation-composition-and-orbit.html)
Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Data visualization by: Ernie Wright (USRA)
Producer & Editor: David Ladd (AIMM)
Music: Kepler's Hope by Year of the Deer / courtesy of http://www.epidemicsound.com
,1,A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Dec. 28, 2023 at 11:01 p.m. EST (0401 GMT Friday, Dec. 29). [Full Story](https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-6-36-satellites-launch-webcast)
It was the "company's 98th and final planned launch for this year," according to Space.com.
Credit: SpaceX