Kathmandu: Nasa has called off the launch of its big new Moon rocket - the Space Launch System (SLS).



As reported by BBC News, controllers struggled to get an engine on the 100m-tall vehicle cooled down to its correct operating temperature.



They had previously worried about what appeared to be a crack high up on the rocket but eventually determined it was merely frost build-up.



The SLS is the biggest rocket ever developed by Nasa. It will be used to send astronauts back to the Moon, BBC reported.



The maiden flight, part of Nasa's Artemis programme, is just a demonstration with no-one on board. But ever more complex missions are planned for the future that will see people live on the lunar surface for weeks at a time.



Nasa has the option to try again on Friday, if the engine issue can be resolved by then.



(News Source: BBC)

Artemis: Nasa calls off new Moon rocket launch

Kathmandu: The American space agency is counting down to the lift-off of its giant new Moon rocket - the Space Launch System.



SLS is the most powerful vehicle ever developed by Nasa, and will be the foundation of its Artemis project which aims to put people back on the lunar surface after a 50-year absence.



As reported by the BBC News, the rocket is timed to go up from the Kennedy Space Centre at 08:33 local time (12:33 GMT; 13:33 BST) on Monday.



Its job will be to propel a test capsule, called Orion, far from Earth.



This spacecraft will loop around the Moon on a big arc before returning home to a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean in six weeks' time, reported the BBC.



Orion is uncrewed for this demonstration but assuming all the hardware works as it should, astronauts will climb aboard for a future series of ever more complex missions, starting in 2024.



(News Source: BBC)

Nasa ready to launch new era of Moon exploration

Kathmandu: Next month Nasa will send a new crew into space. And for the first time there will be a Native American woman aboard.



According to a report publised by BBC news, Astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann, of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, will be mission commander - responsible for all phases of flight.



She will go to the International Space Station on 29 September, Nasa says.



According to the Indigenous Foundation, dreamcatchers symbolise unity and provide protection.



Mann will be with three colleagues on the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of the Crew-5 mission.



She could also go to the Moon. In 2020 she was selected to be in a pool of astronauts eligible for Nasa's Artemis programme that will send humans to the Moon.



Mann, originally from California, studied mechanical engineering at Stanford university.



She become a colonel in the Marine Corps, flying various fighter aircraft. She has been deployed twice on aircraft carriers supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was awarded six medals for her service to the US military.



This expedition will be Mann's first spaceflight since she became an astronaut in 2013, Nasa confirms.



She is one of eight members of the 21st Nasa astronaut class, formed for space station operations and potential future assignments to the Moon and Mars.



This is the fifth rotational mission to the International Space Station where the team will conduct 250 scientific experiments which Nasa says will help benefit life on Earth and prepare for human exploration beyond the planet.



(News Source: BBC)

First Native American woman to travel to space

Kathmandu: The Medical Education Commission has said that the number of foreign students studying MBBS in Nepal has increased.



According to the Commission, 265 foreign students were enrolled for study this year and this number is six times more than last year.



Access to medical education is gradually increasing in the reach of ordinary people, member secretary of the commission.



At the same time 188 Nepali students have gone abroad to study MBBS so far this year. Similarly, 29 students in BAC Nursing, 66 in Elite Science and 17 students for pharmacy studies have registered with Nepal Health Practitioners Council and gone to study abroad.

Number of foreign students studying MBBS in Nepal increases

Kathmandu: Stunning images of a "stellar nursery" and a "cosmic dance" have been acquired by Nasa's new $10bn space telescope.



The two pictures, and others, were presented to the world on Tuesday to mark the James Webb observatory's readiness to begin science operations.



The facility has spent the past six months since launch undergoing testing.



Viewed as the successor to the famous Hubble telescope, Webb is expected to be a dominant force for discovery for at least the next 20 years.



The new observatory is a joint project of the US, European and Canadian space agencies - with Nasa in the lead.



Webb has been specially tuned to see the sky in the infrared - that's light at longer wavelengths than can be sensed by our eyes.



This will give it the ability to look deeper into the Universe than its predecessor and, as a consequence, detect events occurring further back in time - more than 13.5 billion years ago.



Astronomers will also use its more advanced technologies to study the atmospheres of planets in our Milky Way Galaxy in the hope that signs of life can be detected.



The initial batch of images were just a taster of what would follow, said Prof Gillian Wright, the British researcher who's co-principal investigator on one of Webb's four infrared instruments.



(News Source: BBC)

NASA space telescope delivers spectacular pictures

Kathmandu: The UK's largest radio telescope - the Lovell telescope at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire - is being turned into a light and sound show.



For the first time since 2019, at the Bluedot festival, the giant radio telescope will take centre stage.



Images from space, including some stunning pictures from Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope will be beamed on to its 249ft (76m) dish.



"We'll use that dish as a huge film screen," said Prof Teresa Anderson.



The astrophysicist and director of the Jodrell Bank Discovery Centre explained: "We'll project on to it some of the latest data from the Sun and beautiful images of the Moon."



Prof Anderson and her husband, the physicist Prof Tim O'Brien from University of Manchester, co-founded the festival and have created an accompanying a soundtrack using recordings from space.



The show they developed for the Lovell telescope is called Sky's Eye View.



It includes time-lapse sequences of:



<ul><li>the surface and atmosphere of the Sun, taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory</li><li>images of Earth from Nasa's Blue Marble Next Generation satellite data</li><li>near and far sides' pictures of the Moon</li></ul>



The soundtrack features recordings from space, including the "sonification" of the radio telescope's own scan of our galaxy, the Milky Way.



(News Source: BBC)

Giant Lovell radio telescope at Jodrell Bank to become space light show

(BBC): All eyes are now on Newquay in Cornwall for the first ever satellite launch from UK soil.



Sir Richard Branson's US company Virgin Orbit successfully placed another seven spacecraft in orbit from California at the weekend and is now focused on moving operations to England.



"Everything now is about getting to Cornwall," said Flt Lt Matthew "Stanny" Stannard, who piloted the latest mission and will be at the controls again when that first British launch occurs, probably in September.



Sir Richard's firm has now flown four successful satellite missions, all from California's Mojave spaceport.



But it has always been the Virgin Group entrepreneur's intention to bring his rocket technology across the Atlantic.



Preparation work is proceeding apace at Newquay airport, with a control centre and satellite integration facility both in the process of being kitted out.



Already, the southwest of England is seeing something of an economic bounce from the expected Virgin Orbit operation at Newquay (a second launch is in the planning). Space start-ups are beginning to cluster in the region.



"This launch will be hugely important. The UK has a fantastic space sector, particularly in the small satellite market, but it's missing a launch capability and we're about to fill in that gap," Flt Lt Stannard said.



"Space doesn't always capture the imagination of school-aged children because it's often intangible; you can't see it.



"But they'll be able to look over the fence, so to speak, to see a rocket and I think that will capture the imagination."



The biggest hurdle to a September mission is probably going to be licensing. Virgin Orbit will need permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) before it can run a rocket mission out of the UK.



But the California firm's CEO, Dan Hart, is confident the approvals will come through.



"The CAA has been engaged with our experts to make sure they understand the system. That dialogue has really helped in clarifying their questions and making sure that the regulatory process moves along," he told reporters.



Virgin Orbit is a horizontal launch system. It's very different from the vertical systems that everyone will recognise, with a rocket heading straight up from a static pad on the ground.



Virgin Orbit uses a modified Virgin Atlantic 747 to first carry the rocket to altitude before unleashing it to go skyward.



This approach means the rocket doesn't need quite so much fuel to make it into orbit; and it also gives the whole system greater flexibility: you can essentially run a mission from anywhere on the planet that has an appropriate-length runway.



Matthew Stannard is on secondment to Virgin Orbit from the RAF.



The weekend's night flight (Friday night, California; Saturday morning, UK) saw him take the left-hand seat in the 747, known as Cosmic Girl. This gave him the responsibility of steering the plane to the designated drop location some 35,000ft out over the Pacific Ocean.



When the command was given to release the rocket, Flt Lt Stannard had to pull up the nose of the 747 by 35 degrees and bank hard to the right to get clear of the booster as it ignited its engine.



"On this particular flight, because it was at night, there was no mistaking that the engine had started. The cockpit lit up and you could just see the glow of the engine without even looking out the window," he told BBC News.



Matthew Stannard and the rest of the Virgin Orbit team will probably bring Cosmic Girl, along with the rocket for the UK mission, to Cornwall roughly six weeks prior to the big day.



A series of dress rehearsals is planned to get everyone comfortable with their responsibilities. This includes UK air traffic control which will have to manage the air space out of the Atlantic where the rocket drop will occur.



So far, seven satellites have been booked to ride on the Cornish rocket mission, including the first ever Welsh satellite developed by the Space Forge company in Cardiff.

September target for first UK satellite launch

(BBC): An unassuming patch of red dirt in remote Australia has made history as the site of Nasa's first rocket launch from a commercial spaceport outside the US.



The sub-orbital rocket blasted off from the tiny site early on Monday local time.



It will enable astrophysics studies that can only be undertaken in the Southern Hemisphere, Nasa says.



The launch was also the first in Australia in more than 25 years.



The rocket is the first of three to blast off from the newly constructed Arnhem Space Centre on the edge of the Northern Territory.



Scientists hope it will help them study the impact of a star's light on the habitability of nearby planets.



Onlookers who travelled to the remote site glimpsed the rocket for only about 10 seconds before it entered the Earth's atmosphere.



"It was in the blink of an eye, but to me, it was like it was in slow motion because the whole area just lit up," Yirrkala School co-principal Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.



"It went up, and then the sound, it was just like a rumbling boom, like nothing I've ever heard. And I just shook with amazement."



The sounding rocket's tenure in space was similarly short - the 13m-long projectile fell back to Earth after a planned 15 minutes.



But experts believe the data gathered in that time will help illuminate the secrets of star constellations 430 million light years away.



"Without getting too deep into the science, it was effectively a large X-ray camera looking at various astrological phenomenon and trying to capture parts of boulders in the Milky Way and particularly the star cluster of Alpha Centauri," Arnhem Space Centre chief executive Michael Jones told the local network Nine.



Northern Territory Chief Minister Natasha Fyles hailed the launch as an "extremely proud" moment for Australia, adding it was conducted with the blessing of the region's Aboriginal traditional owners.



"Here on Yolngu land, young Territorians can look up at the sky and know what can be done," Ms Fyles said.



"When we see the oldest living culture combining with the science of space, as we have here, it's something we can all reflect on and be very proud."



The next launch is expected to take place on 4 July.



Nasa has pledged to collect all material and debris and return them to the US.

Nasa launches first rocket from Australian commercial spaceport

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP): NASA is launching a study of UFOs as part of a new push toward high-risk, high-impact science.



The space agency announced Thursday that it’s setting up an independent team to see how much information is publicly available on the matter and how much more is needed to understand the unexplained sightings. The experts will also consider how best to use all this information in the future.



NASA’s science mission chief, Thomas Zurbuchen acknowledged the traditional scientific community may see NASA as “kind of selling out” by venturing into the controversial topic, but he strongly disagrees.



“We are not shying away from reputational risk,” Zurbuchen said during a National Academy of Sciences webcast. “Our strong belief is that the biggest challenge of these phenomena is that it’s a data-poor field.”



NASA considers this a first step in trying to explain mysterious sightings in the sky known as UAPs, or unidentified aerial phenomena.



The study will begin this fall and last nine months, costing no more than $100,000. It will be entirely open, with no classified military data used.



NASA said the team will be led by astrophysicist David Spergel, president of the Simons Foundation for advancing scientific research.



In a news conference, Spergel said the only preconceived notion going into the study is that the UAPs will likely have multiple explanations.



“We have to approach all these questions with a sense of humility,” Spergel said. “I spent most of my career as a cosmologist. I can tell you we don’t know what makes up 95% of the universe. So there are things we don’t understand.”

NASA launches study of UFOs despite ‘reputational risk’

Kathmandu: Monkeypox infection has been confirmed in 20 countries so far.



More than 200 people from 20 countries have been diagnosed with monkeypox, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).



More than a hundred more have suspicious symptoms. The WHO has expressed concern that the monkeypox virus is not being noticed by many people and is spreading day by day. Although the virus is not a life-threatening problem, it can spread rapidly to many people and cause physical problems, so doctors are urged to be on high alert.



Top WHO officials have also called on all to work to prevent the spread of the infection in countries where it has been seen and to prevent it from entering countries where it has not been seen.

MonkeyPox spread to 20 countries so far

Kathmandu: The weather has changed in some parts of the country including Kathmandu Valley.



Some parts of the country including Kathmandu valley has seen rainfall and windstrom.



At present, Nepal is affected by local winds, low pressure line around Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, India and westerly winds.



The weather is expected to be similar tomorrow and Monday.

Rainfall and strong winds in some parts of the country

(BBC): One of our planet's most stunning sights is coming to the skies - a super blood Moon.



In the year's only full lunar eclipse, Earth will come between the Sun and the Moon.



Falling fully into Earth's shadow, the Moon will slowly darken before turning dusky red.



It will be visible with the naked eye before dawn on Monday in most of Europe. The Americas will get a great view on Sunday evening.



The Moon will appear larger than usual because it will be at its closest point to Earth of its orbit, giving it the name super Moon.



It will also be called a super flower blood Moon. In the Northern Hemisphere, a full moon in May is often called a flower Moon because it coincides with the Spring flowers.



The only sunlight reaching the Moon during the full eclipse will be passing through the Earth's atmosphere.



This light will be blood red, from all Earth's sunrises and sunsets reflected onto the Moon's surface, explains Dr Gregory Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.



"You'll actually be seeing every sunrise and every sunset occurring around the Earth at once. All of that light will be projected on to the Moon," he told BBC News.



On Monday, western parts of Europe will get a good but short view as the Moon will set during the eclipse. Look low on the horizon between 0230 and 0430 BST and you'll see the moon falling into shadow before glowing red. It should be visible in Africa too.



In the UK watching from a high vantage point like a hill or tall building will be essential because of the Moon's very low position in the sky.



The UK will get a better view of the earlier part of the eclipse, Dr Brown explains.



As Earth's shadow starts to cover the Moon, it slowly takes a bite out of it. The Moon will be fully eclipsed and red at 0429 BST. It will then set, though the eclipse will continue until 0750 BST.



The Americas will be treated to the full spectacle, lasting 84 minutes. If you're in the western US and Canada, the time to watch the horizon is Sunday evening as the Moon rises.



You can see it with the naked eye while looking through binoculars or a small telescope will enhance the red color.



Of course, the very best vantage point for witnessing this eclipse is a place very few people have been lucky enough to visit - the Moon itself.



"If you were an astronaut standing on the Moon, looking back towards Earth, you'd see a red ring running around the outside of our planet," Dr Brown explains.

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