Nadia Drake

6 days ago | scientificamerican.com | Nadia Drake

Technicians at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center are nearing the finish line on the space agency’s newest flagship astrophysics mission. Called the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, the eagerly awaited $3.5-billion observatory could solve the secrets of the dark universe, spot untold undiscovered worlds and light the way toward finding alien life.

2 months ago | newscientist.com | Nadia Drake

Next to Earth, Mars may be the most-studied world in our solar system, currently home to a fleet of orbiters, landers and rovers. But above the red sands on which the rovers trundle, a strange moon rises twice each day. And despite all the scrutiny that Mars itself receives, this moon, Phobos, remains shrouded in mystery. Phobos and its smaller neighbouring moon, Deimos – both discovered in 1877 – are two of the most perplexing worlds in the solar system.

Jan 16, 2025 | scientificamerican.com | Nadia Drake

A few minutes after 2:00 A.M. EST, a hulking, 320-foot-tall rocket slipped its tethers at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and heaved itself into the sky on a bluish-white pillar of flame, briefly turning night into day along the eastern shore of Florida’s Space Coast. About 8 minutes later, the rocket’s large, first-stage booster failed to stick its landing on a barge in the Atlantic—not exactly the desired outcome, but not unusual for the first attempt to land a booster upright.

Nov 19, 2024 | spektrum.de | Nadia Drake

Hintergrund Lesedauer ca. 10 Minuten DruckenTeilen Arecibo-Botschaft: Die erste »Postkarte zu den Sternen« wird 50 Jahre altAm 16. November 1974 schickte der Astronom Frank Drake eine Botschaft in den interstellaren Raum. Sie hat verändert, wie wir über unseren Platz im Kosmos nachdenken. Exklusive Übersetzung ausEs war der 16. November 1974 – eine turbulente Zeit auf dem Planeten Erde.

Nov 15, 2024 | scientificamerican.com | Nadia Drake

A half-century ago humanity sent its first postcard to the stars, carried by a narrow beam of radio waves. It was November 16, 1974—a turbulent time on planet Earth. The cold war was reaching its crescendo, and the world economy was still sputtering from a Middle East oil embargo that was imposed the previous year. The U.S. had retreated from its crewed forays to the moon but was still fighting in Vietnam, and the resignation of scandal-plagued President Richard Nixon was still reverberating.