From gravitational waves to weird radio signals, 2016 has been a busy year in the field of astronomy. With the constant deluge of ongoing news and controversies, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s happening in the world of outer space. So here are the top 10 stories in astronomical discoveries you should know about.
Yesterday, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to bring astronauts back into space. This signals the agency’s return to manned space flight after the end of the space shuttle program.
Mission: SpaceX-3 Commercial Resupply Services flight
Launch Vehicle: Falcon
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
Launch Date: April 14, 4:58 p.m. EDT
NASA’s International Space Station resupply mission includes the legs for Robonaut, OPALS Lasercomm experiment and much more. I think, however, the most exciting and dramatic portion of the flight is the possible test of the ‘Grasshopper’ reusablility system.
Grasshopper Demonstration Flight
(SpaceX)
The launch will be webcast live, with commentary from SpaceX corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, CT at spacex.com/webcast and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at www.nasa.gov/nasatv.
For a detailed description of the mission timeline, overview and SpaceX go to the SpaceX press kit. This is a wonderful resource.
Irene W. Pennington Planetarium 