Astronomy news

• Never-'stuck’ Starliner astronauts return to Earth at last with Crew-9 duo in SpaceX Dragon splashdown

  18-03-2025 23:55 via space.com
  
  The first astronauts to fly on two different commercial spacecraft during a single mission, Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, returned to Earth with ISS crewmates Nick Hague and Aleksandr Gorbunov.
  
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• Watch the sun set over the moon in epic video from private Blue Ghost lunar lander

  18-03-2025 22:00 via space.com
  
  Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander captured amazing views of the lunar sunset shortly before shutting down on Sunday (March 16).
  
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• Watch how SpaceX makes 15,000 Starlink satellite internet kits a day (video)

  18-03-2025 20:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX released a video that offers a glimpse at how Starlink satellite kits are made in the company's factory outside of Austin, Texas.
  
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• Astronaut takes a mind-bending trip over Earth beneath star trails: Space photo of the day

  18-03-2025 18:09 via space.com
  
  NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured this stunning long-exposure view of Earth and stars from space at night from the International Space Station.
  
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• New cosmic 'baby pictures' reveal our universe taking its 1st steps towards stars and galaxies

  18-03-2025 17:01 via space.com
  
  The clearest and most precise images yet of the universe’s infancy from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope show the first steps toward the first stars and galaxies.
  
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• Punch it! 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Season 4 starts filming before Season 3 even airs

  18-03-2025 17:00 via space.com
  
  Paramount celebrates with a USS Enterprise bridge photo and new Season 3 character posters
  
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• Private Starlab space station moves into 'full-scale development' ahead of 2028 launch

  18-03-2025 16:00 via space.com
  
  The Starlab commercial space station project is moving toward the production phase, having passed a key development milestone with NASA.
  
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• Asteroid 2024 YR4 no longer threatens to hit Earth, but we can still hit it — for science!

  18-03-2025 15:00 via space.com
  
  Despite a brief panic, asteroid 2024 YR4 isn't likely to hit us anytime soon, but we can still study the asteroid up close to help us understand these space rocks.
  
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• 'Apollo 1' director surprised by details of ill-fated mission in new documentary

  18-03-2025 14:00 via space.com
  
  It was the opening scene of "Apollo 13" and was recreated for the Neil Armstrong biopic "First Man." It was also included in director Mark Craig's "Last Man on the Moon," inspiring "Apollo 1."
  
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• The far side of the moon was once a vast magma ocean, Chinese lunar lander confirms

  18-03-2025 13:00 via space.com
  
  New findings from China's Chang'e 6 lunar farside samples offer insights into the moon's volcanic past and mantle evolution.
  
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• How NASA's Starliner mission went from 10 days to 9 months: A timeline

  18-03-2025 11:00 via space.com
  
  NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are on their way home from a nine-month space mission that was supposed to last just 10 days. Here's a rundown of their eventful time off Earth.
  
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• What time will NASA's Starliner astronauts land with SpaceX's Crew-9 today? How to watch live.

  18-03-2025 10:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX is poised to land its Crew Dragon Freedom with the two ISS crewmates who launched on it and two astronauts who arrived at the space station in June on Boeing's Starliner. Here's how to see it.
  
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• 23 Mar 2025 (5 days away): Venus at inferior solar conjunction

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes around the near side of the Sun.
  
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• 23 Mar 2025 (5 days away): Saturn ring plane crossing

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Saturn's seasons are changing, making its rings appear edge-on from the Earth.
  
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• 22 Mar 2025 (4 days away): Moon at Last Quarter

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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• 20 Mar 2025 (2 days away): March equinox

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Day and night have equal length, marking the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere.
  
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• 20 Mar 2025 (2 days away): Lunar occultation of Antares

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Antares (Alpha Scorpii), creating a lunar occultation visible from countries and territories including Australia, Antarctica, New Zealand and Tasmania amongst others.
  
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• 19 Mar 2025 (Tomorrow): Neptune at solar conjunction

  18-03-2025 01:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune is unobservable as it passes around the far side of the Sun – marking the end of one apparition and the beginning of the next.
  
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