An exceptionally skillful photograph of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket passing in front of the moon took home top prize at the Sony World Photography Awards 2024.

A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket transits the full moon during the launch of USSF-52, Dec. 28, 2023. (Image credit: Pascal Fouquet, United States, Winner, National Awards, Sony World Photography Awards 2024)

A rocket transiting the moon is a pretty rare sight. Capturing a good photo of that kind of transit takes some serious skill.

That skill is worthy of some major praise. Pascal Fouquet, a photographer from Orlando, Florida, captured such a shot, and was chosen as the United States’ National Award first place winner for the Sony World Photography Awards 2024. The awards program comes out of a partnership between Sony and the World Photography Organization, and receives hundreds of thousands of photo submission from across the globe.

Fouquet captured his winning shot of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket passing in front of the moon just before the new year, when SpaceX launched the United States Space Force X-37B spaceplane on the USSF-52 mission. The uncrewed X-37B spacecraft lifted off atop Falcon Heavy from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida on Dec. 28, at 8:07 p.m. EST (0107 GMT on Dec. 29).

‘Spacewalkin’

50 years ago Ed White became the first American to step into space.

June 3, 1965

Astronaut Edward H. White II, pilot for the Gemini-Titan 4 space flight, floats in space during America’s first spacewalk. The extravehicular activity (EVA) was performed during the Gemini 4 mission on June 3, 1965. White spent 23 minutes maneuvering around his spacecraft as Jim McDivitt remained inside the spacecraft. White is attached to the spacecraft by a 25-foot umbilical line and a 23-foot tether line, both wrapped in gold tape to form one cord. In his right hand, White carries a Hand-Held Self Maneuvering Unit (HHSMU), which he used to help move him around the weightless environment of space. The visor of his helmet is gold plated to protect him from the unfiltered rays of the sun.

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It’s half a century since Ed White became the first American to step into space, in 1965. Now an almost routine part of any space mission, the EVA (Extra Vehicular Activity), or “spacewalk” was once a hazardous procedure.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the USSR scored a few early firsts in the Space Race: first satellite (Sputnik 1); first man in space (Yuri Gagarin); and first spacewalk (Alexei Leonov on March 8, 1965).

Leonov encountered many difficulties during his own spacewalk. He could only maneuver by pulling on the umbilical cord that tethered him to the spacecraft, and his suit over-inflated in the vacuum of space. Leonov had to bleed some oxygen from the suit to be able to get back in the hatch. The extent of these problems was not revealed until after the end of the Cold War.

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June 3, 1965

Ed White over the Gulf of Mexico.

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NASA scheduled its first spacewalk to take place during the Gemini 4 mission. On June 3, 1965, Ed White left the Gemini spacecraft and, with the aid of a Hand-Held Self Manoeuvring Unit (HHSMU), or “zip gun,” White was able to move 15 feet (5 meters) from the craft.

Communication problems meant White had to be actively ordered to re-enter the spacecraft. Opening and closing the hatch was problematic, and a planned dump into space of White’s used spacewalk equipment was abandoned.

Several more spacewalks were performed during the Gemini missions, but the astronauts tired quickly and experienced overheating. It was Buzz Aldrin who first overcame these problems, working for just over two hours outside Gemini 12. Aldrin’s experiences as a scuba diver inspired NASA’s move to training astronauts for spacewalks in large water tanks to simulate the weightlessness of space.

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Nov. 12, 1966

Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., pilot of the Gemini 12 spacecraft, performs extravehicular activity (EVA) during the second day of the four-day mission in space. Aldrin is positioned next to the Agena work station.

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With the advent of the space shuttle, spacewalks became routine. In 1983, NASA astronauts began using the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), a self-contained life support device. The Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), also known as Canadarm, was developed by Canada and delivered to NASA in 1981, the first of five such arms. This machine could be used as an anchor for astronauts during spacewalks.

On Feb. 7, 1984, the Manned Manoeuvring Unit (MMU) was deployed. For the first time, this allowed an astronaut to work untethered. Using the MMU, Bruce McCandless became the first astronaut to fly free in space, moving 320 feet (98 meters) away from the shuttle.

In 2001, Susan Helms and James Voss set the record for the spacewalk with the longest duration, at eight hours and 56 minutes.

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Mar. 6, 1969

Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules (CSM), nicknamed “Gumdrop,” and Lunar Module (LM), nicknamed “Spider,” are shown docked together as Command Module Pilot David R. Scott stands in the open hatch. Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, Lunar Module pilot, took this photograph of Scott during his EVA as he stood on the porch outside the Lunar Module. Apollo 9 was an Earth orbital mission designed to test docking procedures between the CSM and LM, as well as test fly the Lunar Module in the relative safe confines of Earth orbit.

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Feb. 12, 1984

Mission Specialist Bruce McCandless II, is seen further away from the confines and safety of his ship than any previous astronaut had ever been. This space first was made possible by the Manned Manuevering Unit or MMU, a nitrogen jet propelled backpack. After a series of test maneuvers inside and above Challenger’s payload bay, McCandless went “free-flying” to a distance of 320 feet away from the Orbiter.

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Sept. 16, 1994

Astronauts Carl J. Meade and Mark C. Lee (red stripe on suit) test the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER) system some 130 nautical miles from Earth. The pair were actually performing an in-space rehearsal or demonstration of a contingency rescue using the never- before-flown hardware. Meade, who here wears the small backpack unit with its complementary chest-mounted control unit, and Lee, anchored to Discovery’s Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robot arm, took turns using the SAFER hardware during their shared space walk.

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Sep. 16, 1995

The pale blue Earth serves as backdrop for astronaut Michael Gernhardt during his Extravehicular Activity (EVA). He is standing on a Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR) attached to the Remote Manipulator System (RMS). He is positioned over the Payload Bay, and Endeavour’s forward section is reflected in his visor. A thermal cube is attached to the RMS and records temperatures during spacesuit evaluations. Unlike earlier spacewalking astronauts, Gernhardt was able to use an electronic cuff checklist, a prototype developed for the assembly of the International Space Station (ISS).

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Nov. 14, 1984

Astronaut Dale A. Gardner, having just completed the major portion of his second extravehicular activity (EVA) period in three days, holds up a “For Sale” sign referring to the two satellites, Palapa B-2 and Westar 6, that they retrieved from orbit after their Payload Assist Modules (PAM) failed to fire. Astronaut Joseph P. Allen IV, who also participated in the two EVAs, is reflected in Gardner’s helmet visor. A portion of each of two recovered satellites is in the lower right corner, with Westar 6 nearer Discovery’s aft.

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Russian cosmonaut conducting maintenance on the ISS

These things are scary, yet very humbling.

Starship is a super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by SpaceX. Standing at 119 m (390 ft) tall, it is the tallest and most powerful launch vehicle ever flown, and the first intended to be fully reusable.

The Starship launch vehicle is made up of the first-stage Super Heavy booster and the Starship second stage. The second stage functions as a self-contained spacecraft for carrying crew or cargo once in orbit. Both rocket stages are powered by Raptor engines, which burn liquid oxygen and liquid methane propellants in a highly efficient full-flow staged combustion power cycle. After completing their flight, both rocket stages will be recovered, including the Super Heavy booster which would be caught by the launch tower’s mechanical arms.

Starship is planned to have a payload capacity of 150 t (330,000 lb) to low Earth orbit in its fully reusable configuration and 250 t (550,000 lb) to low Earth orbit if fully expended. It is designed to be flown multiple times to spread out the cost of the spacecraft. The spacecraft is planned to be refuelable in orbit before traveling to destinations that require more change in velocity to reach them, such as the Moon and Mars. Proposed near-term applications for Starship include delivering astronauts and large satellites to Earth orbit, building the Starlink internet constellation, and facilitating the exploration of the Moon (Starship HLS) and Mars.

Plans to create a heavy-lift launch vehicle at SpaceX date back to 2005. The methane–oxygen engines (later named Raptor) were in development since 2012 and the plan for building the launch vehicle was announced publicly for the first time in 2016. The development program for Starship follows an iterative and incremental approach, involving frequent prototype construction, testing, and refinement, including low and high-altitude flight tests. The first orbital flight test attempt took place on April 20, 2023 and resulted in the loss of the vehicle before stage separation—destroyed by the on-board flight termination system after instability caused by the failure of several Raptor motors.

Alaskan residents admiring the Northern Lights were taken by surprise when a rather sizeable spiral suddenly passed though the night sky. The wondrous event, which reportedly occurred a few hours after midnight this past Saturday, was spotted by both skywatchers observing the aurora borealis as well as bewildered witnesses who unexpectedly caught a glimpse of the curious ‘light show.’ Shortly thereafter, social media was flooded with photos and videos of the fantastic event with some wondering if the weird spiral could have been alien in nature. However, the mystery surrounding the strange shape was soon solved when it was determined to have had a terrestrial origin.

The peculiar scene, space physicist Don Hampton told the Associated Press, was the result of a SpaceX rocket that had been launched hours earlier from California. While passing over Alaska, he explained, it released excess fuel which subsequently turned into water vapor that in turn reflected sunlight. “When you’re in the darkness on the ground,” Hampton said, “you can see it as a sort of big cloud, and sometimes it’s swirly.” The incident over Alaska is not the first time that a SpaceX launched has spawned a proverbial viral spiral as a similar event occurred over New Zealand in June of last year.

By Jonathan Amos

Now it’s over, we can say it: a biggish asteroid passed by Earth a short while ago.

About the size of a minibus, the space rock, known as 2023 BU, whipped over the southern tip of South America just before 00:30am GMT.

With a closest approach of 3,600km (2,200 miles), it counts as a close shave.

And it illustrates how there are still asteroids of significant size lurking near Earth that remain to be detected.

This one was only picked up last weekend by amateur astronomer Gennadiy Borisov, who operates from Nauchnyi in Crimea, the peninsula that Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.

Follow-up observations have refined what we know about 2023 BU’s size and, crucially, its orbit.

That’s how astronomers could be so confident it would miss the planet, even though it came inside the arc occupied by the world’s telecommunications satellites, which sit 36,000km (22,000 miles) above us.

The chances of hitting a satellite are very, very small.

The time of lowest altitude was accurately calculated to be 19:27 EST on Thursday, or 00:27 GMT on Friday.

Even if 2023 BU had been on a direct collision course, it would have struggled to do much damage.

With an estimated size of 3.5m to 8.5m across (11.5ft to 28ft), the rock would likely have disintegrated high in the atmosphere. It would have produced a spectacular fireball, however.

For comparison, the famous Chelyabinsk meteor that entered Earth’s atmosphere over southern Russia in 2013 was an object near 20m (66ft) across. It produced a shockwave that shattered windows on the ground.

Scientists at the US space agency Nasa say 2023 BU’s orbit around the Sun has been modified by its encounter with Earth.

Our planet’s gravity pulled on it and adjusted its path through space.

“Before encountering Earth, the asteroid’s orbit around the Sun was roughly circular, approximating Earth’s orbit, taking 359 days to complete its orbit about the Sun,” the agency said in a statement.

“After its encounter, the asteroid’s orbit will be more elongated, moving it out to about halfway between Earth’s and Mars’ orbits at its furthest point from the Sun. The asteroid will then complete one orbit every 425 days.”

There is a great effort under way to find the much larger asteroids that really could do damage if they were to strike the Earth.

The true monsters out there, like the 12km-wide rock that wiped out the dinosaurs, have likely all been detected and are not a cause for worry. But come down in size to something that is, say, 150m across and our inventory has gaps.

Statistics indicate perhaps only about 40% of these asteroids have been seen and assessed to determine the level of threat they might pose.

Such objects would inflict devastation on the city scale if they were to impact the ground.

Prof Don Pollacco from the University of Warwick, UK, told BBC News: “There are still asteroids that cross the Earth’s orbit waiting to be discovered.

“2023 BU is a recently discovered object supposedly the size of a small bus which must have passed by the Earth thousands of times before. This time it passes by only 2,200 miles from the Earth – just 1% of the distance to the moon – a celestial near miss.

“Depending on what 2023 BU is composed of it is unlikely to ever reach the Earth’s surface but instead burn up in the atmosphere as a brilliant fireball – brighter than a full moon.

“However, there are likely many asteroids out there that remain undiscovered that could penetrate the atmosphere and hit the surface to cause significant damage – indeed many scientists think we could be due such an event.”

A 500-foot asteroid passing just twice the distance from Earth to the moon was recently the target of radio signals emitted by a powerful transmitter deep within the heart of Alaska, as part of an effort to enhance our ability to detect potentially deadly space objects.

The experiment, which bounced long-wavelength radio signals off the surface of the passing object to reveal information about its interior and composition, was conducted last week at Alaska’s High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) research facility near Gakona.

The test, which targeted an asteroid called 2010 XC15, was part of a joint research effort with NASA to prepare for the arrival of the 1,100-foot-wide asteroid Apophis in 2029. Discovered in 2004 and originally believed to pose a potential threat to Earth in the decades ahead, it is now believed that the object’s close approach will not pose any direct threat to Earth.

Mark Haynes, a radar systems engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the project’s lead investigator said that last week’s experiment marked the first time an asteroid was monitored in such a way, and at such low frequencies.

The data that was collected will be analyzed in the weeks ahead, with findings from the research effort published later this year.

Haynes added that the experiment “shows the value of HAARP as a potential future research tool for the study of near-Earth objects.”

(Credit: UOA/HAARP)

Although several similar efforts involving planetary defense against asteroid impacts are currently underway, the long wavelength radio signals that HAARP employs can also provide information about the interior of such objects, not just their exterior shape and size.

Understanding the composition of asteroids and other details about their makeup and interior could potentially provide crucial data in future efforts toward defending against such an object, should one ever pose a direct threat to our planet.

According to NASA, each year at least one car-sized asteroid will collide with Earth’s atmosphere, burning up before ever striking the surface and producing a vivid fireball as it streaks through the sky during reentry.

However, larger asteroids approaching the size of a modern football field also strike the Earth every couple of thousand years. Fortunately, objects large enough to cause widespread cataclysmic damage to our planet only cross paths with us every few million years.

Still, preparing for such eventualities had been the driving force behind the successful first test of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test mission, or DART, on September 26, 2022.

Also earlier this year, tests similar to those conducted at the HAARP facility last week succeeded in bouncing long-wavelength radio signals off the surface of the Moon, whose size, distance, and predictable orbital path around the Earth makes it a much easier target than distant asteroids passing near our planet.

Following Tuesday’s experiment, more than 300 reception reports from citizen scientists tracking the effort were logged, according to HAARP program manager Jessica Matthews, who said in a press release that data has been provided “from the amateur radio and radio astronomy communities from six continents who confirmed the HAARP transmission.”

A joint program of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and military partners that include the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), HAARP was originally conceived as a program to study the thin layer of Earth’s atmosphere between 50 and 600 miles from Earth known as its ionosphere for its potential use in surveillance and radio communications.

Long a target of unfounded conspiracy theories, the HAARP facility has been operated by the University of Alaska at Fairbanks since 2015.