JWST’s MIRI Issues, Newborn Quasar, Detecting Exoplanets with Lagrange Points

James Webb is currently experiencing problems with its MIRI instrument. The problem is due to increased friction in one of MIRI’s mechanisms in the Medium-Resolution Spectroscopy (MRS) mode. The observatory is otherwise healthy, but the team decided to stop observations using MRS mode until they find a solution.

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Mechazilla Lifts a Super Heavy With all 33 Engines Onto the Launchpad

Mechazilla transports the fully-stacked Starship onto its launch pad. Credit: SpaceX

Little by little, SpaceX is getting closer to conducting the maiden orbital flight with its Starship and Super Heavy prototype! That was certainly the message Elon Musk conveyed on August 23rd when he posted an image via Twitter of the “Mechazilla” launch tower loading the fully-stacked prototype onto its launchpad at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas. From here, the six-engine SN24 Starship and the BN7 Super Heavy prototype (with its full complement of 33 Raptor engines) will launch, which could happen in just a few weeks.

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Largest JWST Image, First Private Interplanetary Mission, Space Bubbles VS Climate Change

Rocket Lab is launching the first-ever private mission to Venus. Europe is considering space-based solar power. A new method to detect exoplanets. More evidence about the Moon’s origins. Webb’s largest every image. All that and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites.

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JWST’s Science, Surgeon Robot for ISS, Booster 7 Test Fire

James Webb delivers scientific results, SLS and Starship go closer to their maiden flights, remote surgery robot is going to the ISS, Perseverance continues to find weird stuff on Mars, and Hubble is still going strong. All this and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites. All this and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites.

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Interstellar Meteorite, Shortest Day Ever, Magnetosphere Collapse

An interstellar meteorite could be hiding in the ocean. Why doesn’t Jupiter have rings like Saturn. The time when Earth’s magnetic field almost collapsed. The shortest day on Earth, and Planet 9 is running out of places to hide. All this and more in this week’s episode of Space Bites.

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