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NASA's Artemis Launch Pad Emergency Basket
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In case of an emergency at the Artemis moon rocket launch pad, baskets are available for astronauts to quickly use to get a safe distance. Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: NASA | edited by Steve Spaleta
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China's Shenzhou-18 Crew Had Some Summer Olympics Fun On Tiangon Space Station
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The Shenzhou-18 crew aboard the Tiangong space station played games and had some fun to celebrate the Summer Olympics. Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: China Central Television (CCTV) | edited by Steve Spaleta
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NASA's Artemis 2 Moon Rocket's Core Stage Exits Assembly Facility
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The core stage for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which is slated to launch astronauts around the moon since the Apollo era, was rolled out of the space agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility, in New Orleans, and transported to NASA’s Pegasus barge for shipping to the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida. Credit: Space.com | Josh Dinner Music: Through Stormy Weather by Philip Ayers / courtesy of Epidemic Sound
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OTD In Space - August 24: Pluto Loses Its Planetary Status
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On Aug. 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided that Pluto wasn't a planet anymore. Instead, Pluto is now officially classified as a dwarf planet along with four other confirmed dwarf planets in the outskirts of the solar system. This decision sparked outrage around the world, and the controversy is still very much alive today. Astronomers in favor of Pluto's demotion argued that a planet by definition should have cleared its orbit around the sun. Pluto and the more distant dwarf planets fail to meet this criterion. If Pluto were to keep its planetary status, those dwarf planets would also need to be classified planets. While astronomers continue to debate this new definition, the public has come together to defend Pluto's title. For now, Pluto will just have to be the king of the dwarf planets. And that's pretty cool, too.
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OTD In Space - August 23: Ranger 1's Botched Space Launch
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On Aug. 23, 1961, NASA launched the Ranger 1 robotic spacecraft on a precursor mission to test new technologies for later moon missions. NASA's Ranger program had the ultimate goal of photographing and mapping the lunar surface. Ranger 1 was launched with the primary mission of testing the performance of the spacecraft's functions and parts. It also studied particles and fields around the Earth in space. While it was designed to enter a high orbit 37,000 by 684,000 miles (60,000 by 1,100,000 km), but it never made it beyond low-Earth orbit. A malfunction with the rocket caused the engine to shut down prematurely, which sent it tumbling around the Earth. On Aug. 30, it re-entered Earth's atmosphere and was incinerated.
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OTD In Space - August 22: X-15 Sets World Altitude Record
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On Aug. 22, 1963, U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Walker flew an X-15 space plane higher than any pilot had ever flown before. Walker reached an altitude of over 67 miles (108 kilometers). That's about 5 miles (8 km) above the edge of space! Walker experienced about five minutes of weightlessness over the course of the 11-minute flight. This was the second and final suborbital spaceflight of the X-15 program. Walker piloted both flights and became the first person to go to space twice. For both flights, he flew in the space plane X-15 #3, which also became the first reused spacecraft to return to space.