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Four astronauts, three from NASA and one from the European Space Agency, arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday and docked their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule with the orbiting laboratory to begin a six-month science mission.

The rendezvous came about 21 hours after the team and its capsule were launched atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Wednesday night, following a string of weather delays that postponed the liftoff for a week and a half.

The docking took place about 6:30 p.m. EST (5am IST on Friday) while the Crew Dragon vehicle, dubbed Endurance, and the space station were flying about 260 miles (420 km) above the eastern Caribbean Sea, according to NASA.

The Endurance crew consists of three American NASA astronauts — flight commander Raja Chari, 44, mission pilot Tom Marshburn, 61, and mission specialist Kayla Barron, 34 — as well as German astronaut Matthias Maurer, 51, a mission specialist from the European Space Agency.

On arrival, the crew took inventory, conducted standard leak checks and pressurized the space between the spacecraft in preparation for opening the hatch to the space station about two hours later.

A live NASA video feed from the station showed the new arrivals floating headfirst through a padded passageway from their capsule into the orbiting outpost.

They were welcomed aboard with hugs from the three current space station occupants – Russian cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Oleg Novitskiy and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who shared a Soyuz flight with his Roscosmos crewmates to the complex.

Astronaut wings

Endeavor’s second-in-command, Marshburn — a medical doctor and former NASA flight surgeon — has logged two previous spaceflights to the space station and four spacewalks.

Maurer, a materials science engineer, was making his debut spaceflight, as were Chari, a US Air Force combat jet and test pilot, and Barron, a US Navy submarine officer and nuclear engineer. Shortly after coming aboard, Marshburn pinned astronaut wings to the collars of his three rookie colleagues amid handshakes and smiles.

Both Chari and Barron also are among the first group of 18 astronauts selected for NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions, aimed at returning humans to the moon later this decade, over a half century after the Apollo lunar program ended.

“I think we all loved the ride up here,” Chari said during brief remarks in a welcoming ceremony webcast from the station. “It was way smoother than we could have imagined.”

The SpaceX Dragon also delivered more than 4,000 pounds (1,800 kg) of hardware and research equipment, NASA said.

The crew arriving on Thursday was officially designated “Crew 3” – the third full-fledged “operational” crew that NASA and SpaceX have flown together to the space station after a two-astronaut test run in May 2020.

“Crew 2” returned safely to Earth from the space station on Monday with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida that capped a record 199 days in orbit.

SpaceX, the rocket company formed in 2002 by billionaire Elon Musk, founder of electric car maker Tesla, has logged a total of 15 human spaceflights in 17 months, including its astro-tourism launch in September of the first all-civilian crew sent to Earth orbit without professional astronauts.

The space station, spanning the size of an American football field end to end, has been continuously occupied since November 2000, operated by an international partnership of five space agencies from 15 countries.

An international crew of at least seven people typically lives and works aboard the platform while traveling 5 miles (8 km) per second, orbiting Earth about every 90 minutes.

© Thomson Reuters 2021

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NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Sends First Space Images Before Full Sky Survey

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April 3, 2025

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NASA’s SPHEREx Mission Sends First Space Images Before Full Sky Survey

NASA’s SPHEREx mission has sent back its first images from space. This marks an important step before it begins the full survey of the sky. The space telescope, which was launched on March 11, 2025, is designed to scan millions of galaxies and collect data in infrared light. On March 27, its detectors captured uncalibrated images that show thousands of light sources, including distant stars and galaxies. The images, processed with added colours for infrared wavelengths, confirm that SPHEREx is operating as expected. Once fully operational, the telescope will take 600 exposures daily and map the entire sky four times during its two-year mission.

Recorded Images Reveals Interesting Details

According to NASA’s SPHEREx mission, the observatory’s six detectors recorded images of the same area of the sky, providing a wide field of view. The top three images represent one portion of the sky, while the bottom three cover the same section. As per the report, the SPHEREx catpured each image with around 100,000 light sources. As per multiple reports, scientists can now learn more about what celestial objects and its distance from Earth with the help of infrared wavelengths. The data from SPHEREx will also help researchers to explore the origins of water in the Milky Way. Moreover, it might also help the scientists to find more clues about the universe’s earliest moments.

Olivier Doré, SPHEREx project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech, told NASA that the telescope is functioning as intended. The infrared light detected by SPHEREx is invisible to human eyes, but colour mapping enables researchers to visualise and analyse it. The observatory’s unique design includes 17 infrared wavelength bands for each detector, creating a total of 102 hues in every six-image capture.

How the Telescope Works

Unlike Hubble or the James Webb Space Telescope, which focuses on specific areas of space, SPHEREx is built for large-scale surveys. It uses spectroscopy to break down light and identify chemical compositions and distances of celestial bodies. Light entering the telescope is divided into two paths, each leading to three detectors. Specialised filters process the incoming wavelengths, allowing for detailed observations of millions of cosmic sources.

Beth Fabinsky, deputy project manager at JPL, said in NASA’s official statement that the successful image capture represents a major milestone. The telescope has also reached its target operating temperature of minus 350 degrees Fahrenheit, crucial for detecting faint infrared signals. Since focusing cannot be adjusted after launch, mission engineers verified the accuracy of the telescope’s optics before sending it into space.

Jamie Bock, principal investigator at JPL and Caltech, confirmed in NASA’s report that the telescope is performing as expected. Engineers will continue testing before the observatory begins routine operations in late April.

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Iceland’s Grindavík town evacuated as volcanic fissure erupts with lava!

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April 3, 2025

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Iceland’s Grindavík town evacuated as volcanic fissure erupts with lava!

A volcanic fissure has emerged near Grindavík on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula after a series of strong earthquakes. Lava has breached the town’s defence barriers. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) has warned that the fissure may continue to expand. The eruption began along the Sundhnúkur crater row early in the morning. By 9:45 a.m. local time, a fissure stretching nearly 1,200 metres had opened north of Grindavík. The crack is moving southward. Officials have raised the hazard level to the highest risk category.

Evacuations and Road Closures

According to the IMO, a second fissure has appeared inside Grindavík’s protective barriers. Authorities have evacuated the town along with the Blue Lagoon spa. Roads in and out of the area have been shut. Some residents have refused to leave. Local media outlet Visir has reported that emergency services remain on high alert.

Impact of Volcanic Gas

Weather forecasts indicate that volcanic gas will be carried northeastward towards Reykjavík. The capital is located about 40 kilometres away. The IMO has stated that by tomorrow morning, changing wind patterns may direct the gas southwest and eastward. Residents have been told to remain indoors as much as possible while closely monitoring air quality updates. Reykjanes Peninsula has experienced about 11 eruptions since 2021. Eight have occurred along the Sundhnúkur crater row since last year. Scientists continue to monitor the situation closely. Authorities have urged people to avoid the affected region.

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JWST Captures Unseen Details of Exoplanets in HR 8799 and 51 Eridani Systems

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April 3, 2025

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JWST Captures Unseen Details of Exoplanets in HR 8799 and 51 Eridani Systems

Astronomers have released new images of planets within the HR 8799 and 51 Eridani star systems. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was used in a way that was different from standard procedures to achieve these results. Capturing direct images of exoplanets is challenging due to the brightness of host stars, which often obscures planetary details. To allow more light through, researchers adjusted JWST’s coronagraphs. This helps in enhancing the visibility of these distant worlds. This adjustment provided clearer insights into planetary atmospheres and their compositions.

Unconventional Use of JWST’s Coronagraphs

According to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, lead author William Balmer, a Ph.D. candidate at Johns Hopkins University, explained to Space.com that a thinner part of the coronagraph mask was used. This allowed more starlight to diffract, reducing the risk of completely obscuring planets. Coronagraphs typically block starlight to reveal faint celestial bodies, but this modification provided a balance between removing excessive glare and preserving planetary details.

Key Discoveries and Observations

The JWST’s mid-infrared imaging captured HR 8799 at 4.6 microns. It is a wavelength that is mainly blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Balmer stated that previous ground-based attempts had failed, demonstrating JWST’s stability in detecting exoplanets. Observations at 4.3 microns were also conducted. This revealed the presence of carbon dioxide. It is a very important step in determining the planetary formation processes. The detected carbon dioxide levels suggested that these planets likely formed through core accretion, gathering heavy elements over time.

Future Research and Expanding Studies

There are many research planned to study the four additional planetary systems. Balmer’s team has been allocated more JWST observation time to confirm whether similar gas giants formed through core accretion. This could offer more insights into the stability of planetary systems and potential habitability of smaller, unseen planets.

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who’sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.


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