Did you know you can spot Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites from your backyard? More than six thousand of them are orbiting the Earth. Here’s how to see them.
🌎 Sharper satellite images coming to Google Maps and Earth: The Cloud Score+ AI model removes clouds, haze and mist for a clearer, more vibrant view of the globe. Street View is getting an update, too, with better images across 80 countries. And Google Earth will soon show 80 years of historical aerial and satellite shots. Have a minute? Check out these cool Google Earth images.
What human-made object is the farthest from Earth right now? Is it … A.) The International Space Station, B.) The Hubble Space Telescope, C.) Voyager 1 or D.) The Mars Rover?
9 days of vibrations
Felt across the earth, explained a year later. A glacier in Greenland melted, sending 33 million cubic yards of rock and ice (enough to fill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools!) into the water. That triggered a massive tsunami.
🙏 What heaven’s really like: A brain surgeon fell into a deep coma and says he saw what heaven looked like. Guided by a beautiful woman, he described seeing a world filled with vibrant trees, rivers, animals and angelic chants more intense than anything on Earth. His proof? He was adopted and had been searching for his biological family. Four months after coming out of his coma, he received a picture of his late sister. It was the woman who guided him in heaven.
🏃♂️ Anything for likes: Strava users are paying mules to fake their workouts. Prices vary by region, but one account on Fiverr charges $16 for a five-mile run. Why on Earth? Some folks are injured and want to maintain their in-app activity streaks, and others just want to impress their online followers. Bizarre.
Satellite puns never land: For the first time ever, a T-Mobile smartphone used a Starlink satellite to send an emergency alert. The message traveled 217 miles into space, got picked up by a Starlink satellite and was sent back to Earth in seconds. Look for a full cellular satellite system with SpaceX this fall.
What’s the name of the asteroid that’s going to fly pretty close to Earth in 2029? Is it … A.) Apophis, B.) Halley, C.) Kimster or D.) Eros? Make your best guess, and bonus points if you also know how many miles above Earth it’ll be.
🚀 A giant step: On the morning of Sept. 12, 2024, the Polaris Dawn mission made history. Billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and an engineer floated 435 miles above Earth, making them the first private astronauts to complete a spacewalk. Isaacman spent 12 minutes outside the spacecraft, relying on SpaceX’s new spacesuit for oxygen. Here’s the video. It’s incredible.
I keep pressing the spacebar, but I’m still on Earth: NASA’s new solar-sailing spacecraft has successfully spread its wings above Earth. Just like the wind pushes a sailboat, this spacecraft uses energy from the sun to propel itself through space. In the coming weeks, engineers will test its maneuvering capabilities. The goal? Low-cost travel options that could help us reach more destinations across the solar system.
🚀 Polaris Dawn: Billionaire Jared Isaacman, the guy who led the first all-civilian spaceflight to orbit Earth, is gearing up to be the first private astronaut to take a spacewalk. The team is zooming there on a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule, reaching an altitude not seen since the Apollo moon missions. At around 435 miles from Earth, they’ll open the hatch and exit the spacecraft (paywall link).
Google Photos launched in 2015 as a spin-off of Google+, a pseudo-social media network that didn’t make it. Today, how many photos are stored in Google Photos? Is it … A.) 500 million, B.) 1 billion, C.) 2 trillion or D.) 4 trillion?
Are there more humans or more mobile phone subscriptions on Earth?
Lost in space: Two astronauts who left Earth on an eight-day mission could be stuck in space until next year. They departed in June aboard the Boeing Starliner and are now docked at the ISS due to thruster problems. If their spacecraft can’t be repaired, NASA could let them catch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in February 2025.
🛰️ Lookin’ fresh: A satellite designed to remove space junk captured a 360-degree view of a discarded rocket floating around. The 36-foot-long rocket, about the size of a city bus, has been orbiting Earth for 15 years and has barely aged. The orange foam insulation is intact and the engine nozzle looks polished.
In August 1991, astronauts sent the first email from space to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Was the closing line … A.) “Hasta la vista, baby,” B.) “To infinity and beyond!” C.) “Houston, we have an email,” or D.) “Catch you on the flip side”?
What was the first video game ever played in space? Was it … A.) Pong, B.) Super Mario Bros., C.) Tetris or D.) Space Invaders?
NASA identifies the first “potentially habitable” planet: The James Webb Space Telescope found the exoplanet with an atmosphere 50 million light-years away. It’s 1.73 times the radius of Earth and 5.6 times its mass. Color-wise, it’s a cross between Mars and Jupiter. Isn’t that something?
☄️Taking out the space trash: The International Space Station, home to astronauts for almost 25 years, is set to meet its fiery end in 2030. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is building a “space tug” vehicle to pull it toward Earth, earning $843 million from NASA for the gig. It’ll be an unmanned mission; both the tug and the ISS are expected to burn up upon reentry into the atmosphere.
72% chance
Of an asteroid hitting Earth in 2038. If it does, NASA says there’s a 50/50 chance it will affect more than 1,000 people across the globe — and an 8% chance it will affect over 1 million. Surely we’re prepared, right? Nope, we’re nowhere near ready.