Amazed reading the headline? Well obviously, as its not every day that we hear that a hacker is being honored for hacking a company’s system. A user named @7h3h4ckv157 on the X platform has shared today that he has hacked the NASA system for the second time and has also shared the security vulnerabilities directly with NASA. For this, the user has now been honored by NASA with an appreciation letter.

I Hacked @NASA (again) and reported some vulnerabilities to them. Just today, I received this appreciation letter from them after they patched the loopholes! pic.twitter.com/t4w92culxK

— 7h3h4ckv157 (@7h3h4ckv157) September 26, 2024

The letter was signed by Mark Witt, NASA’s Chief Information Officer it stated, “On behalf of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and NASA’s Vulnerability Disclosure Policy (VDP), we would like to recognize your efforts as an independent security researcher, both in identifying the vulnerability you submitted and for following NASA’s VDP policy and guidelines in responsibly reporting this to us.”

It also stated that the reporting of the vulnerabilities has facilitated the awareness of NASA of the unknown vulnerabilities in its security. As per the user, this appreciation letter was received by him after NASA successfully patched the loopholes.

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The space is full of exotic wonders. Scientists, astronauts, and space agencies are on a journey of exploration every day to uncover the mysteries of the universe. Space agencies, through the help of their telescopes often bring to us exciting images of space. NASA’s James Webb and Hubble Space are two such telescopes that constantly provide mysterious images of various entities of the universe.

let’s have a look at some such pictures of protostars and nebula.

For the unversed, a star is a Protostar before becoming a full-fledged star. It becomes a star only when it can fuse hydrogen into helium. Until then it is known as a Protostar.

On the other hand, a nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Often, nebulae form from the gas and dust that gets ejected out when a dying star explodes.

Moving on to the pictures, the first picture that we are featuring is an image of a fiery hourglass-shaped protostar, which is situated 460 light-years away from us. It resides in the Tauras constellation. NASA’s James Webb telescope captured this image.

Next is a picture of a young multi-star system, which is situated about 450 million light-years away. A new protostar named FS Tau B can be seen within the star system.

This next image shows a young stellar nursery amidst the Serpens Nebula, which is situated 1,300 light-years away. The nursery features newly forming stars which are about 1-2 million years old.

Coming to the next, this is an image of a massive star formation with a protostellar jet streaming towards us. The image was captured by the Hubble space telescope. The star formation is located in the constellation Aquila, which is about 7,200 light-years from Earth.

Lastly, this image shows the Orion Nebula which presents a wealth of diversity for astronomers. It features outflows, embedded protostars, brown dwarfs, free-floating planetary objects, and planet-forming disks around young stars.

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NASA has announced new details regarding its upcoming SpaceX Crew-9 mission, set to launch no earlier than 24 September 2024, following updates shared on social media platform X. The mission will send two crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. Hague will command the mission, while Gorbunov will serve as mission specialist.

Originally, NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson were set to join the Crew-9 mission. However, they have now been reassigned to a future flight as part of NASA’s updated strategy. The decision aligns with NASA’s intention to return Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft uncrewed to Earth on 6 September 2024. This reshuffling will leave two unoccupied seats aboard Crew-9, which NASA plans to keep vacant until February 2025, when astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—who launched aboard the Starliner in June—return to Earth with Hague and Gorbunov.

NASA’s chief astronaut, Joe Acaba, emphasized the importance of having an experienced NASA crew member command the flight, while also integrating a Roscosmos cosmonaut capable of operating critical systems aboard the ISS for continued safety.

However, NASA’s focus has been partially diverted due to mysterious sounds reported aboard the docked Boeing Starliner. Astronauts aboard the ISS, including Butch Wilmore, have detected strange, sonar-like noises coming from the Starliner. The eerie pinging sounds, recorded by Wilmore, have perplexed both the astronauts and Mission Control in Houston.

“There’s a strange noise coming through the speaker, and I didn’t know if you could connect into the Starliner and hear,” Wilmore told Mission Control, offering a recording of the distinct pulsing noise.

🚨BOEING’S STARLINER CREW REPORTS MYSTERIOUS “SONAR-LIKE NOISES” IN SPACECRAFT

Crews aboard the International Space Station are investigating mysterious "sonar-like noises" coming from Boeing's Starliner, reported by the crew to Mission Control.

The Starliner, which has faced… pic.twitter.com/mhJyzS5zxk

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 1, 2024

Mission Control described the sound as a “sonar ping,” and investigations are underway to determine its cause. The Starliner, which has faced multiple technical issues, will soon return to Earth autonomously without its crew, raising further questions about the unusual sounds. NASA and Boeing engineers are investigating whether the noises could hint at deeper issues or have a simpler explanation.

As NASA prepares for Crew-9’s launch and the Starliner’s return, these developments continue to draw attention to the complex dynamics of spaceflight, highlighting both advancements and challenges in human space exploration.

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NASA took to the social media platform X and updated through a post that, their SpaceX Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the International Space Station, no earlier than 24 September 2024. Along with it, NASA has also announced certain changes to the Crew-9. NASA also aims to return Starliner uncrewed.

Our @SpaceX #Crew9 mission will launch two crew members to the @Space_Station no earlier than Sept. 24, following our decision to return #Starliner uncrewed. Learn more about @AstroHague, Aleksandr Gorbunov, and the latest Crew-9 updates: https://t.co/6bsrRppNYJ pic.twitter.com/A7x2Krd9Mf

— NASA (@NASA) August 30, 2024

Nick Hague, a NASA astronaut and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, will fly to the International Space Station no earlier than 24 September 2024. They will fly on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission as commander and mission specialist respectively. It will be a two-crew member flight aboard a SpaceX dragon.

On the other hand, Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson, who were previously announced as crewmates, would now be reassigned to a future mission.

The new decisions have been formulated according to NASA’s decision to bring back the Boeing Crew Flight Test uncrewed. On the other hand, NASA aims on sending Crew-9 with two unoccupied seats, as they want NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to fly home with Hague and Gorbunov in February 2024. Both of them earlier launched aboard the Starliner spacecraft in June.

NASA chief astronaut Joe Acaba decided to fly to Hague. He had to find a common ground between flying a NASA crew member with previous spaceflight experience to command the flight. On the other hand, NASA was also supposed to maintain an integrated crew with a Roscosmos cosmonaut with capabilities of operating their critical systems for continued, safe station operations.

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UltraViolet Explorer, or UVEX, is NASA’s new mission, which is targeted to be launched in the year 2030. This will be NASA’s next Astrophysics Medium-Class Explorer mission. UVEX is a space telescope meant to survey ultraviolet light across the entire sky.

You can check our earlier coverages of other NASA missions here.

Objectives of the UVEX mission:

Here are some of the primary objectives of the UVEX mission.

• The UVEX space telescope will conduct a highly sensitive all-sky survey to dive deep into insights about how galaxies and stars evolve.
• It will be able to quickly identify sources of ultraviolet light in the universe.
• The telescope will thus be able to capture explosions that occur due to the merging of neutron stars and the bursts of gravitational waves that follow.
• It will carry an ultraviolet spectrograph meant to study stellar explosions and massive stars.

A new @NASAUniverse space telescope will study the evolution of stars and galaxies.

Set to launch in the 2030s, UVEX, or UltraViolet EXplorer, will be able to quickly scan the sky for sources of ultraviolet light in the universe. https://t.co/40NxVbtHUS pic.twitter.com/zvMLhdKdbv

— NASA (@NASA) February 15, 2024

The UVEX will also complement data from other missions such as ESA’s Euclid mission and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (to be launched by May 2027), which are conducting wide surveys in this decade.

The UVEX mission is selected for a two-year mission.

Fiona Harrison at Caltech in Pasadena, California is the principal investigator of the mission. Institutions like the University of California at Berkeley, Northrop Grumman, and Space Dynamics Laboratory are also involved in the mission.

You can learn more about the UVEX mission here.  

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Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 Nova-C lander successfully lifted off to the Moon on February 15, 2024. The IM-1 took off at 1.05 a.m. EST on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The mission was earlier scheduled to be launched on 14 February 2024. However, it was delayed due to technical difficulties.

The IM-1 is expected to reach the lunar surface on February 22, 2024.

The IM-1 launch to the Moon successfully lifted off Feb. 15 on @SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. @Int_Machines’ Nova-C lander is expected to reach the lunar surface on Feb. 22: https://t.co/7Y8I2V9QSQ pic.twitter.com/EuOcLaPciV

— NASA (@NASA) February 15, 2024

The IM-1 is carrying a suite of NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services. The mission will provide deeper insights into the Moon’s surface environment and pave the way for technologies to be tested for future Moon missions.

The NASA science that is on its way to the Moon aboard the Nova-C lander includes the following.

• Lunar Node 1 Navigation Demonstrator
• Lase Retroflector Array
• Navigation Doppler Lidar for Precise Velocity and Range Sensing
• Radio Frequency Mass Gauge
• Radio-wave Observations at the Lunar Surface of the Photoelectron Sheath
• Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies

You can learn more about these NASA science technologies here. 

The NASA scientists who are on the way to the Moon as part of the IM-1 mission will gather various scientific data about the Moon for about seven days. This data will subsequently help scientists in developing the way for the first woman and the first person of color on a Moon mission under Artemis.

The post Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 successfully lifts off for the Moon, know what are the Moon bound NASA science instruments and technologies aboard the IM-1 lander here appeared first on The Tech Outlook.

The Intuitive Machines’ IM-1 mission, which was scheduled to launch on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, has now been postponed to 1:05 a.m. EST, Thursday, 15 February 2024.

The IM-1 mission, which was to be launched on board SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A in Florida, experienced off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load.

Due to off-nominal methane temperatures prior to stepping into methane load, the IM-1 launch to the Moon has been postponed. It is now scheduled for 1:05am ET (0605 UTC) Thursday, Feb. 15. https://t.co/SWXMVHy8Xz

For additional updates, see @SpaceX and @Int_Machines. pic.twitter.com/q7vXFaB0RI

— NASA (@NASA) February 14, 2024

The Mission IM-1 is the first of the three Nova-C landers from Intuitive Machines. It is named as Odysseus Lander. On the successful landing of Odysseus on the lunar surface, will mark the first successful soft Moon landing for an American spacecraft in over 50 years since Apollo 17. The launch will also mark the first private company soft launch on the Moon.

The IM-1 mission aims to create a commercial lunar economy and deliver commercial payloads and NASA science and technology payloads, which will lay down a way for a sustainable human presence on and around the Moon.

According to the latest updates, teams will begin loading the lunar lander with cryogenic methane and oxygen on the pad, about two and a half hour hours before the liftoff. It will then step into the propellant load for Falcon 9.

You can watch the live broadcast of the liftoff on NASA+, NASA TV, and the agency’s website from 12.20 a.m. EST, 15 February 2024.

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NASA has been teaching teachers, librarians, and community leaders from Northeast Ohio about conducting eclipse events safely and effectively from 29 January 2024 at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. These Northeast Ohioans are now gearing up for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of witnessing a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. On the said date, the Moon will pass between the Sun and the Earth and block the face of the Sun, resulting in darkness for about four minutes.

NASA education program taught the Northeast Ohioans who came to the Glenn Research Center about the science behind solar eclipses. They were also given insights into connections of NASA’s study of the Sun and were engaged in eclipse-related student activities.

The educators got hands-on training on how to make pinhole projectors and modes of the eclipse. NASA’s subject matter also taught them how ultraviolet (UV) beads react with UV light. Important aspects like eye and face protection while viewing the eclipse through glasses that comply with ISO 12312-2:2015, were also discussed.

The educators also toured NASA Glenn’s Simulated Lunar Operations Laboratory and Graphics Visualization Lab. This journey allowed the educators to gain important knowledge and they left feeling inspired.

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NASA’s much-awaited climate mission to study the ocean and the atmosphere of Earth has now successfully launched into orbit at 1:33 a.m. EST on Thursday, 8 February 2024. The PACE mission was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

NASA recently took to the social media platform X and confirmed the successful launch.

Today we put the PACE in space! The newest @NASAEarth observing satellite launched on Feb. 8 at 1:33am ET (0633 UTC).

It will study ocean health, air quality and climate change: https://t.co/M1fpG96JVX pic.twitter.com/BGtWhAZKAq

— NASA (@NASA) February 8, 2024

The mission was earlier supposed to launch on February 7, 2024. However, NASA canceled the 7 February launch due to ground winds creating hindrances in prelaunch checkouts.

The PACE mission stands for Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem Satellite. It will carry out studies on aspects like ocean health, air quality, and climate change. It will study the impact that the microscopic life in water and particles in the air has on the Earth.

Measurement of oceans and other waterbodies will be carried out with the use of the satellite’s hyperspectral ocean colour instrument. The spectrum of ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light will be used for this purpose.

With the PACE satellite being active scientists and researchers will be now able to track the distribution of phytoplankton and identify which communities of these organisms are present on daily, global scales.

Additionally, the spacecraft is carrying two polarimeter instruments. These are the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter #2 and the Spectro-polarimeter for Planetary Exploration. Detection of how sunlight interacts with particles in the atmosphere will be carried out by these polarimeter instruments.

Know more about the PACE mission here. 

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BioNutrients, NASA’s bio-manufacturing experiment in Space, which has been in execution for over five years is now nearing its completion. The same was updated by NASA in one of their latest blogs. The BioNutrients experiment was launched at the International Space Station in 2019. NASA Ames developed BioNutrients.

The BioNutrients experiment is testing ways to use microorganisms to produce on-demand nutrients. Human health is an important factor in space, and these nutrients will be significantly critical for the same during long-duration space missions. As part of the experiment, an assessment of the stability and performance of a hand-held system to manufacture fresh vitamins and other nutrients in space over five years is carried out. This hand-held system is called a production pack.

Natalie Ball, Hiromi Kagawa, and Sandra Vu, researchers in the ISS carried out the last of a planned series of BioNutrients production packs. This was done after JAXA astronaut Satoshi Furukawa’s duplicate experiment onboard the orbiting laboratory was done. Earth will receive the samples of this in-space production by February on Axiom Mission 3.

The possibility that NASA can produce nutrients after a period of five years in space, opens up a lot of space for confidence that NASA can support crewed missions to March.

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