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The first moonbound rocket and spacecraft of NASA's Artemis program are poised for a "wet dress rehearsal" in February.

Amazon's Alexa has a new feature: it can fly you to the moon. The virtual assistant is set to launch on NASA's Artemis 1 with Cisco's Webex as part of Callisto on Lockheed Martin's Orion spacecraft.

Alexa may soon be going to space for real. Lockheed Martin, which has built the Orion spacecraft that NASA hopes will fly astronauts to the moon within a couple of years, is partnering with Amazon to put Alexa in the capsule.

NASA may need to delay the uncrewed Artemis 1 mission.

The six men and four women could fly to the space station and on future missions to the Moon.

The Artemis moon program will cost $93 billion through 2025, according to a new estimate from NASA's Inspector General.

NASA's spending on its Artemis program of crewed lunar exploration will reach a total of $93 billion by 2025, according to a new audit by the NASA Office of Inspector General.

Snoopy, or rather a stuffed toy of the famous cartoon dog, will once again don his astronaut suit and fly onboard the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I mission to the moon next year.

A major setback has been a 7-month legal battle over which company will build the lunar landing vehicle.

NASA touts reorganization, resumption of moon lander work as keys to 2025 moon landing.

HOUSTON — NASA’s delayed return to the moon could be a go as soon as February 2022, the space agency confirmed during a Friday news conference. The SLS - intended to launch next-generation, deep-space operations, including NASA’s Artemis missions - was originally slated to launch in November, Fox News reported. NASA also announced two additional two-week, unmanned flight periods in March and April that are based on the moon’s alignment with Earth, the Times reported. The unmanned launch, dubbed Artemis-1, will test the vehicle’s safety, and if successful, should pave the way for the launch of Artemis-2, a similar crewed voyage that will “echo the Apollo 8 mission in 1968,” the newspaper reported. “It’s hard to put into words what this milestone means, not only to us here at Exploration Ground Systems, but to all the incredibly talented people who have worked so hard to help us get to this point,” Mike Bolger, Exploration Ground Systems program manager, said in a statement.

NASA is now targeting early next year for the maiden launch of its next mega rocket: the Space Launch System. It could potentially launch by Feb. 12.

Even more powerful than Saturn V, NASA’s next moon rocket towers over its high bay platforms in the Vehicle Assembly Building.

NASA stacked its Orion capsule atop a Space Launch System megarocket yesterday (Oct. 20), notching a major milestone for the agency and its Artemis program of crewed lunar exploration.

The Artemis missions aim to eventually “land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon,” according to NASA officials. It got one step closer when it lifted the Orion spacecraft above the massive NASA SLS rocket.

During these next few mornings, we'll have a chance to see a few pieces of Halley's Comet zipping through our atmosphere in the form of meteors.

NASA has moved its Orion spacecraft to the Vehicle Assembly Building as the space agency prepares to hoist the capsule atop its massive Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket.

The Orionid meteor shower will be at its peak this week, but it maybe hard to see due to a full moon. >> Read more trending newsThe shower, which gets its name from the constellation Orion, will be at its peak late Wednesday and into early Thursday, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS). The Orionids, whose parent comet is Halley’s comet, feature around 20 meteors per hour most years. However, this year the peak of the shower falls on the same night as the full Hunter’s Moon. According to the AMS, “at the time of maximum activity, the source of these meteors lies just east of the faint club of Orion.

A precious cargo has arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida from Europe this week: The Europe-built service module that in 2023 will power the first human mission to the moon since Apollo.

With cruising slowly restarting at Port Canaveral, leaders at the Central Florida port are looking ahead at expanding their tourism offerings. After three years of...

The first piece of hardware of the first rocket to fly humans around the moon in decades arrived in Florida this week.

It's aurora season on the International Space Station and astronauts living and working in orbit are sharing some of their finest views of the stunning phenomenon with those of us on the ground.

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Lockheed Martin announced it opened its Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource (STAR) Center on Thursday. The STAR Center features business and digital transformation innovations that will expand manufacturing, assembly and testing capacity for NASA’s Orion spacecraft program and ultimately, future space exploration, Lockheed Martin said. The addition of the STAR Center provides much-needed space for the new production phase of Orion, allowing future Orion spacecraft – starting with the Artemis III mission – to be built faster, officials said. READ: Dreaming of space? ©2021 Cox Media Group

Lockheed Martin sets up high-tech assembly center to speed processing of Orion deep space capsules.

The Orion capsule is one step closer to returning to space, this time for a moon mission.

The nonprofit Native Skywatchers has spent more than a decade collecting and preserving Indigenous star knowledge. Now organizations like NASA and the NPS are joining the movement.

A manikin flying onboard NASA’s first Artemis flight around the moon will be named for an electrical engineer who helped the Apollo 13 astronauts survive their perilous spaceflight.

NASA is asking the public to help it name a manikin bound to fly around the moon on the Artemis 1 mission.

NASA's Orion spacecraft to launch its first mission later this year

We look up today and see the stars divided into the same familiar shapes as our ancestors, but how did the constellations come to be?

We look up today and see the stars divided into the same familiar shapes as our ancestors, but how did the constellations come to be?

The NASA budget would get a 6.6% boost, but the agency chief says a 2024 moon landing is far from certain.

Orion Jean won a kindness contest and used his prize to pay it forward.

Happy little coaster "Bob Ross" took a spin on the Orion giga-coaster at King's Island. (King's Island)MASON, Ohio — It wasn’t just a happy little accident that Bob Ross appeared on a coaster at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio. >> Read more trending newsIt wasn’t the late painter of course, but dozens of plush dolls in Ross’s likeness, with his signature permed hair, were strapped into the seats of the Orion coaster for a test run, WHIO reported. Bob Ross: The joy of riding Kings Island's award-winning Orion giga coaster. #KingsIsland pic.twitter.com/7xzGYOesYs — Kings Island (@KingsIslandPR) May 4, 2021The dolls zoomed along the track at 91 mph.

The new moon occurs Sunday, April 11, at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT on April 12), a week before our natural satellite passes in front of Mars.

Betelgeuse and Rigel are two bright stars in the constellation of Orion, the hunter. Polar oppositesWithin Orion we find two immense stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse, apparently at diametrically opposite periods in a star's existence. In Rigel (the "left leg of the giant"), we find a star apparently reaching the prime of its life. In such stars, the core produces successively heavier elements to balance the incessant crush of gravity. Eventually, since the core can no longer support the star's vast weight it collapses, triggering a cataclysmic supernova explosion.

Related: Best night sky events of March 2021 (stargazing maps)This sky map shows where to spot the Orion constellation from the Northern Hemisphere in the night sky on March 20, 2021. (Image credit: SkySafari app)The emergence of the "big bear"As we begin to lose Orion and company for another season, we regain the Big Dipper as a prominent evening asterism, or star pattern, now soaring high in the northeast. If you look for Ursa major in the night sky right after sunset at that time of year, you'll find most of that constellation — save for the Big Dipper — situated below the northern horizon. This sky map shows where to spot Ursa Major and Ursa Minor, the constellations that contain the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, respectively. Incidentally, the Big Dipper itself is often called circumpolar — that is, it never rises or sets; it's always above the northern horizon.

The Pleiades star cluster is also called the Seven Sisters. People both modern and ancient have long known of the Pleiades , or Seven Sisters, a small collection of stars in the constellation Taurus. (Image credit: Buyenlarge/Getty Images)Yet cultures around the world have often referred to this constellation with the number seven, calling them the "Seven Sisters," "Seven Maidens" or "Seven Little Girls." By chance alone, about half the time, you would expect a given constellation to be associated with men, and half the time with women. Which means that "about one-quarter of that time, Orion will be masculine and the Pleiades will be female," Schaefer said.

A hexagon is a polygon with six sides and our celestial hexagon is composed of six of the 21 brightest stars. To the south and a little east lies the bluish star Sirius, in Canis Major, the "Dog Star," the brightest of all stars. A supergiant star, located 860 light-years from Earth and one of the most luminous of all the naked-eye stars. In fact, before Mr. Rey created his Great Hexagon, he used Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, Castor and Capella to form a sweeping semicircle which he called the "Great Arc of Sirius." And we can also form a large, nearly equilateral triangle formed by the stars Betelgeuse, Sirius and Procyon, sometimes called the Winter Triangle.

We've pulled together the best Celestron telescope deals available right now and checked for the cheapest Celestron telescope prices from reputable online retailers. Today's best Celestron telescope and binocular holiday season dealsWhich Celestron telescope should you buy? There is a wide range of Celestron telescopes to choose from. Those are our top recommendations and we've included them in our Celestron deals finder below. Our price checking technology looks for the best Celestron deals and prices every day from reputable retailers, so you don't have to scour the internet to get a discount on your next Celestron telescope or binoculars.

Meade Instruments, also known simply as Meade, was founded in 1972 and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of telescopes, alongside Celestron, Sky-Watcher, Vixen and Orion. A manufacturer of binoculars, microscopes, spotting scopes and charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras for astrophotography, Meade also trades under the name of Coronado in the sale of amateur solar telescopes for observing the surface of the sun. Which Meade telescope should you buy? If you have over $1000 to spend or even a few thousand dollars to the tune of up to $20,000 and skywatching is a serious hobby, Meade offers great deals on superior optics. What’s more, the aperture size increases, which provides even better views of the universe — we recommend giving the Meade LX600-ACF line of telescopes your full consideration.

Read our regularly updated list of telescopes and binoculars from Orion, Celestron, Meade Instruments, Sky-Watcher and Vixen for other great offers instead. Promoting fuss-free assembly and operation, the Celestron 114LCM Computerized Telescope is one of the easiest ways to get into skywatching. And now with a 12% discount at Amazon, you don't need to break the bank in order to get the latest in telescope technology. Celestron 114LCM Telescope Deal Celestron 114LCM Computerized Telescope: $349.95 $309.58 at Amazon Now with $40.37 off along with free delivery and returns, the Celestron 114LCM Computerized Telescope offers exquisite optics as well as the ability to scan the cosmos at the touch of a button. Be sure to check out more of Space.com's deals on telescopes and binoculars from Orion, Celestron, Meade Instruments, Sky-Watcher and Vixen.

The eastern sky is filled with brilliant stars — sort of a celestial Christmas tree. A Christmas packageThe Orion constellation as seen over the Mayall 4-meter Telescope on Kitt Peak, in southern Arizona. In our current Christmas week evening sky, Preasepe represents the manger where Christ was born. She is, without comparison, the most magnificent star of our sky; the star of sweet confidences." Spot the International Space StationThe International Space Station crosses the sky above the Old City of Jerusalem.

A recently discovered fault in the agency’s Orion capsule has engineers troubleshooting solutions that could impact the timing of its test flight, currently scheduled for liftoff from Kennedy Space Center next November. Though the PDU itself still works, what is essentially part of its backup system is out of the picture. The three-week test will see the 16-foot-diameter capsule launch on SLS, orbit the moon for six days, then return for splashdown off the California coast. In its July report, the OIG said continuing to produce Orion capsules for all Artemis missions before certain milestones are complete, like Artemis I, poses serious risks. Last month’s discovery of the PDU issue appears to reinforce their position.

Whether you're looking for one as a gift, for yourself or searching for your next upgrade, you'll discover the best instrument for you in our top pick of deals. With great discounts on Celestron's PowerSeeker range of telescopes to Orion's StarBlast II 4.5 reflector, we've rounded up the very best offers on all-arounder telescopes that are not just great for beginners but also seasoned skywatchers looking for a grab-and-go telescope. Currently out of stock at most retailers, our star product is the stunning brass Celestron Ambassador 80AZ telescope, which can be snapped up at a discounted price of $899 at B&H Photo — that's 10% off the retail price of $999.95. Best Celestron Ambassador 80AZ deal Celestron Ambassador 80AZ Brass Telescope: $999.95 $899.00 at B&H PhotoAmazon The Celestron Ambassador 80AZ Brass Telescope is an amazing 10% off this holiday. Supplied with two eyepieces and a moon map, it's the complete package for getting great views of the universe.View DealBe sure to check out more of Space.com's Cyber Monday deals on telescopes and binoculars from Orion, Celestron, Meade Instruments, Sky-Watcher and Vixen.

The Orion StarBlast II 4.5 is the perfect telescope for getting crystal clear views of the night sky and, this Black Friday, you can snap it up for just $189.99 — that’s 5% off the usual retail price. TODAY'S BEST ORION STARBLAST II 4.5 TELESCOPE DEAL Orion StarBlast II 4.5 Telescope: $199.99 $189.99 at Amazon Make a 5% saving on the Orion StarBlast II 4.5 at Amazon this Cyber Monday. View DealWith its aperture of 114 mm (4.5 inches), the Orion StarBlast II is an all-arounder, offering high-definition views of the rugged lunar surface, planets as well as bright deep-sky targets such as galaxies and nebulas. (9.4 kilograms), the Orion StarBlast II 4.5 telescope is portable, making it the perfect grab-and-go instrument that’s easy to set up within minutes from your backyard or after travelling to your dark-sky destination. Be sure to check out more of Space.com's Cyber Monday deals on telescopes and binoculars from Orion, Celestron, Meade Instruments, Sky-Watcher and Vixen.

NASA's Mobile Launch Platform rolls out to Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Oct. 20, 2020. (Image credit: Amy Thompson/Space.com)CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA's massive Mobile Launch Platform (MLP) was on the move last month. To prepare the platform for its upcoming mission, the Exploration Ground Systems team rolled it out to the pad at Launch Complex 39B for two weeks of tests. NASA's massive mobile launcher headed to the launchpad for testing as the sun rose over Kennedy Space Center, on June 27, 2019. This test, which takes place at NASA's Stennis space center in Mississippi, is one of the last major milestones before next year's launch.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks in the early morning of Wednesday, Oct. 21, just five days after the new moon, making this an excellent year for the annual "shooting star" display. "You can see pieces of Halley's Comet during the Eta Aquarids [in May] and the Orionid meteor shower [in October and November]," NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke told Space.com. Orionid meteor shower: Leftovers of Halley's CometAstrophotographer Jeff Berkes snapped this amazing photo of an Orionid meteor streaking above a lake in Elverson, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 22, 2011, during the peak of the annual Orionid meteor shower. As is the case with most nighttime skywatching events, light pollution can hinder your view of the Orionid meteor shower. Cooke told Space.com he wasn't sure why the meteor shower was discovered so late, given that records of Halley's Comet exist for millennia.

Mars will appear brighter than at any other point during the year on Oct. 13, when it will be closest to Earth. “So, a little over every two years, Mars and Earth are closest together in their orbits and, thus, Mars is at its brightest in our nighttime sky. (© 2012 Michael Orso)Blue moon on HalloweenFor the first time since 2001, trick-or-treaters will get the chance to experience a Halloween full moon. A blue moon, by the most popular definition, according to Gross, is when two full moons appear in a single month. “We will have full moons on Oct. 1 and 31, so that means that we’ll have a blue moon on Halloween,” Gross said.

"I'm excited to share the first photos of the NASA worm and ESA [European Space Agency] logo that will be on the Artemis I mission. I am looking forward to seeing the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft take flight with these iconic symbols," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine wrote on Twitter on Wednesday (Sept. 30). Linked to a bygone era, the worm gradually gained a retro-cool status, leading to NASA returning the logo to flight earlier this year. NASA’s "worm" logo and the European Space Agency's (ESA) logo have been added to the aft wall of the Orion spacecraft's crew module adapter for the Artemis I mission. The worm was also recently added to the Artemis I Orion, along with the ESA logo.

We might refer to this region of the sky as the "celestial sea" because so many of the star patterns seem to have an association with water. Any star with a value higher than that might not be visible at all, hence giving the impression that the sky during the fall is practically devoid of bright stars. The Water Man and his fishAn artistic rendering of the constellation of Aquarius, the water bearer, and its neighboring constellations of Capricornus and Piscis Austrinus. Cetus, the whale (or sea monster) and the variable star Mira. At its faintest, Mira shines only as bright as a ninth magnitude star and is visible only with a small telescope.

Interestingly two of these star patterns, mighty Orion, the hunter and Gemini, the twins rise together. In fact, even though they are generally considered to be a wintertime star pattern, we might consider Gemini to belong more to early spring. Related: Constellations of the night sky: famous star patterns explained (images)There they are, standing upright, high up in the western evening sky: the Gemini twins. The heads of the twins are the bright stars Pollux (yellowish; 17th-brightest star in the sky) and Castor (white; a bit dimmer than Pollux). By the end of August, with Gemini rising in the morning sky, the new object was visible once more.

A NASA Orion crew capsule has made it to its Florida launch site ahead of a landmark 2021 mission around the moon. Orion arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) yesterday (March 25) after flying from Ohio to Florida aboard the agency's Super Guppy transport plane , NASA officials said. If all goes according to plan, Orion and SLS will fly again in 2022, on the Artemis 2 mission. Artemis 2, another round-the-moon flight, will be the first crewed mission for Artemis, NASA's new lunar exploration program. "With Orion back at Kennedy, we're ready," Scott Wilson, NASA Orion production operations manager, said in the same statement.

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is nearing the end of its life, and researchers are preparing for what it will look like when the star dies in a fiery explosion called a supernova.Located in the constellation Orion, the star is about 1,000 times the size of the sun. Video: Will the Giant Star Betelgeuse Explode? "It just looks like a supernova from a bigger star or a smaller star at different points in the pulsation," Goldberg said in the statement. When modeling Betelgeuse , the researchers found that the entire star pulsates in unison, meaning that when the star dies, it will behave as though it were a static star with a given radius. Therefore, supernova models for stars like Betelgeuse look similar to models that do not account for pulsation, according to the statement.

NASA's Orion spacecraft has achieved a new milestone with a successful final test of the vehicle's attitude-control motor (ACM) Tuesday (Feb. 25). The ACM steers and orients Orion's launch-abort system, which would carry the crew to safety in the event of an emergency during launch or ascent. The 30-second hot fire was the third and final test of the motor, qualifying the motor for human missions . Orion's launch-abort system uses three solid-propellant rocket motors , including the ACM, the abort motor that separates the crew module from the launch vehicle and the jettison motor that separates the launch-abort system from Orion to ensure a safe crew landing. In addition, a full-stress test of the launch-abort system demonstrated that the three motors worked together as planned.

Although Orion is the brightest constellation, it does not contain the brightest star in the night sky. Eventually, you will come to a dazzling, blue-white jewel: Sirius, the Dog Star, and the brightest star of the constellation Canis Major, the larger of the two hunting dogs that belong to Orion. Below Sirius is a pattern of three stars, which form a distinct triangle and represent the hind quarters of Canis Major. When Bayer published his classic star atlas, "Uranometria," in 1603, he assigned lowercase Greek letters to the brightest stars in each constellation. As the second brightest star in Canis Major, Adhara should have been christened Beta.

A lonely stargazer looks up at the constellation of Orion, the hunter and its dimming star Betelgeuse in this photo captured from Portugal's Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve. (Image credit: Miguel ClaroMiguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. Join Claro here as he takes us through his photograph "Orion in the Winter Sky and the Story Behind the Fainting Star Betelgeuse." The photo, captured from one of the landscapes of Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal, features the bright star Betelgeuse, which is located on the hunter's left "shoulder." Related: The dimming star Betelgeuse is acting weird.

Related: Lawmakers grill NASA chief on moon-by-2024 budget, scheduleThis NASA infographic shows the timeline for the agency's Artemis program. An artist's illustration of a lunar lander's ascent vehicle separating from the descent vehicle and departing the lunar surface. (Image credit: NASA)During the last few months before NASA launches Artemis 3, three additional components will join the Gateway via three separate commercial rocket launches. (Image credit: Blue Origin) Image 2 of 2 An artist's concept of a Boeing moon lander for astronauts for NASA's Artemis program. With Artemis, NASA aims to build a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface after the landing in 2024.

Betelgeuse and its constellation, Orion, as seen in the evening sky in February 2020. This monster star is about 1,000 times the size of our sun, according to NASA , and sits on the shoulder of the famous constellation Orion. The star is variable, meaning that it brightens and dims periodically. You can easily find Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion anytime between November and February. During its current dimming spree, you can track Betelgeuse's activity and submit your observations to the American Association of Variable Star Observers to help the group gather more information on its variability.

A rendering of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander. (Image: Blue Origin)ORLANDO, Fla. - Half a dozen major U.S. space companies, including Blue Origin, Boeing and SpaceX, have submitted proposals to develop NASA's human moon lander under the Artemis program. Artemis will require NASA's Space Launch System rocket, the Orion spacecraft and a Lunar Gateway. NASA NASA1;s Space Launch System rocket will launch with Orion atop it from Launch Complex 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A rendering of Blue Origin's Blue Moon lander.