NASA

Holiday light displays like Galaxy Lights might feel magical, but the creation of these incredible pieces of festive art are actually based in science and engineering! As someone with a mechanical engineering degree myself, I couldn’t resist diving into the tech behind the lights. LED Lights Thousands of carefully planned feet of wires and cables, and approximately 3 million lights make up the Galaxy Lights exhibits. The 200-foot LED light tunnel alone is made of more than 250,000 lights! Many exhibits like this are able to be created thanks to electrical engineers and designers working with light-emitting diode (LED) lights. These lights use much less electricity and release substantially less heat than more traditional incandescent holiday lights. The quick descri...

By CollectSpace.comHOUSTON, TX (Dec. 10, 2024) – More than a year after the immersive film debuted in London, “The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks” is set to make its U.S. premiere at Space Center Houston in February 2025. Projected against multiple walls, “The Moonwalkers” envelops audiences in the story of humanity’s journey to the moon, from the historic launches more than 50 years ago to the current efforts to return astronauts to the lunar surface today.“I’m delighted to be bringing this project home to the place where the moonwalkers lived and worked throughout the Apollo program and where today’s Artemis crews are preparing to follow in their footsteps,” said Hanks in a statement. “Moonwalkers” with Christopher Riley, who is known for his work on space-theme documentaries ...

WASHINGTON — A NASA authorization bill introduced in the Senate in the final days of the current Congress would have directed NASA to accelerate work on commercial space stations and address cost overruns on science programs. The NASA Transition Authorization Act of 2024 was formally introduced in the Senate Dec. 18 by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, along with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), ranking member of the committee. Other co-sponsors include Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), chair and ranking member of the committee’s space subcommittee, and Sens. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The bill would have authorized $25.478 billion for NASA in fiscal year 2025, slightly above the $25.434 billion in the Sen...

WASHINGTON — Delays in the completion of a new Crew Dragon spacecraft will extend the stay of astronauts on the International Space Station by a month, including two who have been there since June. NASA announced Dec. 17 that it was delaying the launch of the Crew-10 mission to the ISS, previously scheduled for February, to no earlier than late March. NASA, in its statement, cited the need to provide additional time to complete a new Dragon spacecraft that will be used for the mission. “Fabrication, assembly, testing, and final integration of a new spacecraft is a painstaking endeavor that requires great attention to detail,” said Steve Stich, NASA commercial crew program manager, in a statement. “We appreciate the hard work by the SpaceX team to expand the Dragon fleet in support...