nasa Archives - Disasters News

Feb152025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

World Sets Record January Heat Despite La Nina Scientists Debate Accelerating Global Warming

The world warmed to a new monthly heat record this January, despite cooling factors like a La Nina event and an abnormally chilly United States, according to the European climate service Copernicus. This surprising temperature rise is sparking debate among scientists, with some arguing that global warming is accelerating. Copernicus reported that January 2025 was 0.09 degrees Celsius warmer than January 2024, the previous hottest January on record. It was also 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels. This marks the 18th month out of the last 19 in which the world hit or surpassed the 1.5-degree warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement. However, scientists only consider the threshold breached when temperatures stay above it for 20 consecutive years. Copernicus has t...

Feb122025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Bennu Asteroid Potential Impact How a Collision Could Trigger Global Climate Crisis and Food Insecurity

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Space

Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid, is classified as a "rubble pile" object a loose collection of rocky materials rather than a solid mass. It currently makes its closest approach to Earth every six years, coming within about 186,000 miles (299,000 km). Scientists estimate there is a one-in-2,700 chance that Bennu could collide with Earth in September 2182. If Bennu were to strike our planet, the consequences would be catastrophic. New research based on computer simulations has outlined the likely effects of such an impact, which would include immediate devastation and long-term global disruptions to climate, atmospheric chemistry, and photosynthesis. These disruptions could last for three to four years, according to the study published in the journal Science Advances. Lan Dai, a postdocto...

Feb12025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Doomsday Rock? NASA Flags Asteroid That Might Strike Earth in 2032

Breaking News, Disasters, Space

NASA has identified an asteroid, 2024 YR4, that carries a 1-in-83 chance of colliding with Earth on December 22, 2032. If the asteroid, estimated to be 130 to 300 feet in diameter, strikes a densely populated area, it could unleash devastation equivalent to 8 megatons of TNT 500 times the power of the Hiroshima bomb. Discovered on December 27, 2024, by the NASA-funded ATLAS station in Chile, 2024 YR4 quickly appeared on NASA’s Sentry risk list, which tracks potentially hazardous space rocks. However, experts emphasize that early impact probabilities often change with further observations, and there is still a 99% chance the asteroid will miss Earth. NASA continues to monitor the asteroid’s trajectory closely, collecting more data to refine its impact risk. While past asteroids have b...

Jan182025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Sunita Williams Returns to Spacewalking After 12 Years, Tackles ISS Maintenance with Colleague Nick Hague

Breaking News, Space

Indian-origin NASA astronaut Sunita Williams stepped outside the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday for her first spacewalk in 12 years, alongside fellow astronaut Nick Hague. The spacewalk, designated as US Spacewalk 91, marks Williams’ eighth career extravehicular activity and Hague’s fourth. The mission, expected to last approximately six and a half hours, involves critical maintenance and upgrades to the ISS. Wearing an unmarked spacesuit as spacewalk crew member 2, Williams worked alongside Hague, who donned a suit with red stripes as spacewalk crew member 1. The duo's tasks include replacing a rate gyro assembly, which supports the station’s orientation control, and installing patches on light filters for the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER) X-ray t...

Dec232024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

NASA and SpaceX Set 2025 Launch for Interstellar Mapping Probe and Two Other Heliophysics Missions

Breaking News, Climate Actions, Environment, Space

NASA and SpaceX have announced a revised launch schedule for the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP), targeting no earlier than September 2025. The adjustment allows NASA additional preparation time for the spacecraft. The IMAP mission is poised to explore the Sun's heliosphere a magnetic bubble that shields the solar system from interstellar particles. By sampling and mapping particles streaming toward Earth, the mission will offer critical insights into this protective boundary, which impacts space weather, human exploration, and even the existence of life in the universe. Rideshare Missions to L1 IMAP will share its SpaceX Falcon 9 flight with two additional heliophysics observatories: This mission will study Earth's geocorona, the ultraviolet-emitting outermo...

Dec212024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

NASA Juno Uncovers the Secret of Io Volcanic Activity

Breaking News, Environment, Learning & Developments

NASA’s Juno mission has resolved a 44-year-old mystery about Io, Jupiter’s fiery moon. New research reveals that each of Io’s volcanoes is powered by its own localized magma chamber, dismissing the long-held theory of a global magma ocean beneath the moon's surface. The groundbreaking discovery was unveiled in a study published in Nature on December 12 and was also a highlight of the American Geophysical Union’s annual meeting in Washington. The finding deepens our understanding of Io, the most volcanically active body in the solar system, and its role in planetary science. Io, about the size of Earth’s Moon, hosts over 400 volcanoes that constantly spew lava and gas. While the moon was discovered by Galileo Galilei in 1610, its volcanic activity wasn’t observed until 1979, when NASA...

Dec212024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Christmas Eve Asteroid Alert 120-Foot Space Rock to Pass by Earth

Breaking News, Disasters, Space, Tech

Astronomers are closely observing asteroid 2024 XN1, a 120-foot-wide space rock set to pass Earth on Christmas Eve, December 24. Despite its proximity, scientists emphasize that the asteroid poses no danger to the planet. The asteroid will fly by at a distance of 4,480,000 miles approximately 16 times the distance between the Earth and the Moon traveling at an astonishing speed of 14,743 miles per hour. Classified as a "near miss" by experts, the flyby serves as a crucial reminder of the need for ongoing planetary defense efforts. Asteroids like 2024 XN1 provide valuable insights into the formation of the early solar system and help refine techniques to monitor and predict the paths of similar objects. NASA is actively tracking 2024 XN1 using its Asteroid Watch dashboard, a tool that...

Dec202024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

ispace & Firefly Aerospace to Share SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch for Lunar Missions

Breaking News, Space

Japanese lunar exploration company ispace has confirmed that its second mission to the moon, featuring the Resilience lander, will share a ride with Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost 1 mission aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The launch is set for a six-day window in mid-January, as announced during an online presentation by ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada on December 17. Details of the Dual Launch Sequence: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will deploy first, followed by an upper-stage burn, then ispace’s Resilience lander. Routes: Blue Ghost will orbit Earth for 25 days before performing a translunar injection, reaching the moon in four days and spending 16 days in lunar orbit before attempting a landing. Resilience will follow a low-energy trajectory, taking it over one million kilome...

Dec192024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Moon Could Be Much Older Than Previously Believed: New Study Reveals a 4.51 Billion-Year History

Breaking News, Learning & Developments, Space

A groundbreaking study published in Nature suggests the Moon may be over 100 million years older than previously thought, dating its formation to approximately 4.51 billion years ago. This challenges the long-standing estimate of 4.35 billion years and offers fresh insights into the Moon's tumultuous early history. For decades, scientists have theorized that the Moon formed after a Mars-sized object collided with early Earth. However, the new study, led by Francis Nimmo of the University of California, Santa Cruz, suggests that the Moon formed earlier, with a later event known as "re-melting" reshaping its surface. This re-melting occurred as the Moon gradually drifted away from Earth. Earth's gravitational pull generated intense tidal heating, resetting the "clocks" of lunar mineral...

Dec92024 by Editor DeskNo Comments

NASA Announces $20,000 Reward for Lunar Rescue System Design

Breaking News, Idea & Innovations, Space

NASA has launched a unique challenge to engage creative minds worldwide in designing a life-saving system for rescuing astronauts stranded on the Moon. With a prize of up to $20,000, the agency is seeking innovative ideas to transport astronauts in spacesuits across the Moon’s treacherous south pole terrain. This initiative, part of NASA’s South Pole Safety Challenge: Lunar Rescue System, comes as preparations intensify for the Artemis mission, slated for launch in September 2026. NASA aims to ensure astronaut safety in extreme lunar conditions, where rocky surfaces, large craters, and steep inclines pose significant challenges. The Challenge Participants must develop a system capable of: Safely transporting an incapacitated astronaut in a spacesuit over a distance of at leas...