Space

Over the decades, the nonprofit Calusa Nature Center and Planetarium has introduced countless people of all ages to the natural world, and the cosmos, through educational programs. Their 105-acre site features a natural history museum with live native and teaching animals, a butterfly garden and raptor aviary, as well as exhibits about the animals, plants, and environment of Southwest Florida. And they host events like music under the stars, paint and sips, night hikes, summer camps, and even an event called Potter in the Park. We sat down in their planetarium on a Saturday morning to shine some light on the work they do and the resources they provide to the community.

There's a space race brewing within The Sunshine State. Companies are spending billions in returning to space and giving a boost to Florida's economy in the process.

In April, four astronauts will venture around the moon on Artemis II, the first crewed mission on NASA's path to establishing a long-term presence at the moon for science and exploration. Urbanite Theatre has set its sights beyond the moon. They’ll be taking audiences to the red planet.

The orbiters that might link to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation's marine reporting system, can categorize environmental hazards and help scientists see patterns caused by climate change.

A new weather eye launched into space on Tuesday, June 25, with the latest technology that will help meteorologists and other scientists bring the best forecasts in Earth and Space.The launch can be seen on the NASA site here.

NASA ground controllers used the International Space Station’s robotic arm in March 2021 to release a cargo pallet containing aging nickel hydride batteries from the space station following the delivery and installation of new lithium-ion batteries as part of power upgrades on the orbital outpost. About 5,800 pounds of hardware was released from the space station.Rocket forward to March 8 of this year and a piece of the hardware that was expected to fully burn up during entry through Earth’s atmosphere survived re-entry and impacted a home in Naples.

Today’s total solar eclipse will make landfall along Mexico’s Pacific coast and cross into Texas and 14 other U.S. states, before exiting over Canada.It will last almost twice as long, with an even wider audience, than the total solar eclipse that stretched coast-to-coast in the U.S. in 2017.The moon will shroud the sun for up to 4 minutes, 28 seconds, a spectacle normally unfolding in remote corners of the globe but this time passing over major cities like Dallas, Indianapolis and Cleveland.

A private U.S. lunar lander touched down on the moon Thursday, but contact with the craft was weak, company officials said.There were no immediate updates on the lander’s condition from the company, Intuitive Machines.Tension mounted in the company’s command center in Houston, as controllers awaited a signal from the spacecraft some 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) away, which arrived about 10 minutes later.

The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth.NASA unveiled the latest snapshot Wednesday, revealing 50 baby stars in a cloud complex 390 light-years away. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).

We explore some of what’s been happening in the world of space science with Dr. Derek Buzasi. He is an astronomer and the Whitaker Eminent Scholar in Florida Gulf Coast University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics.