Orbit Lens

all about space science

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

NASA's Snow4Flow mission will send radar-equipped aircraft over Arctic glaciers starting in 2027.

Scientists want better measurements of how much ice remains and how much snow falls each year—critical data for future sea-level projections.

#NASA #EarthScience

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

SpaceX has applied to launch up to 1 million orbital AI data-center satellites.

Its proposed AI1 spacecraft spans 246 feet—wider than a Boeing 747-8.

Solar power is the promise. Heat, debris and cost are the test.

Would you support this?

#SpaceX #SpaceTech

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Some of the water in your glass may be older than the Sun. ALMA detected heavy water (D₂O) around the young star V883 Orionis, 1,300 light-years away, at levels pointing to ice inherited from before the star formed. A chemical fingerprint, not a clock.
#Astronomy #HeavyWater

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Voyager 2’s only visit to Uranus landed on a rare day. Solar-wind pressure had jumped about 20x, squeezing the planet’s magnetosphere, in conditions seen only ~4% of the time in months of data.

So how much of Uranus have we really seen?
#Uranus #Voyager2

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Britain has selected ClearSpace to build a robotic spacecraft that will remove two dead satellites from orbit.

Launch is targeted for 2029.

The bigger concern is Kessler syndrome: collisions creating fragments that increase the risk of more collisions.

#SpaceDebris #SpaceScience

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Hurricane Trudy rapidly intensified from 90 mph to 120 mph in six hours on October 15–16, 2026.

The Category 3 storm developed an organized eye off Mexico's Pacific coast as forecasters warned of dangerous rainfall and flooding.

Here's the science behind its sudden intensification.

#HurricaneTrudy #RapidIntensification #WeatherScience

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

How did humans survive the Ice Age?

At White Sands, New Mexico, footprints about 21,000–23,000 years old show people were living in North America during the last great glaciation.

The most fascinating part of their survival wasn't strength. It was ingenuity.

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Before sunrise on October 13, a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch created a giant glowing “jellyfish” visible across the eastern United States.

The rocket's exhaust expanded high above Earth, catching sunlight while the sky below was still dark.

Nature and rocket science made quite a spectacle.

#Falcon9 #SpaceX

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Our Sun could be just another faint star in someone else's sky.

A 2021 study identified 2,034 nearby stars that, across a 10,000-year span, have had or will have the right viewing angle to detect Earth passing in front of the Sun.

What if someone is looking back?

#Astronomy

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Planet Nine has never been seen. The case rests on the orbits of distant icy worlds like Sedna, which seem oddly aligned. But sunlight fades with the fourth power of distance, so a world 5–10x Earth’s mass could stay hidden. Rubin may help settle it. #PlanetNine #Astronomy

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

If God created everything, who created God?

And if something can exist forever, could that something be the universe itself?

The Big Bang takes us back 13.8 billion years. But what explains existence in the first place?

#Cosmology #BigBang

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Voyager 2 traveled nearly 12 years to reach Neptune. In 1989, it passed just 3,000 miles (4,800 km) above the clouds—and kept going.

NASA has never sent another spacecraft that close.

Why is slowing down at Neptune so difficult?

#Neptune #Voyager2

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

What if someone could act completely human but experience nothing inside?

Philosophers call it a “philosophical zombie.” Neuroscience has uncovered hidden command-following in seemingly unresponsive patients.

How do we know another mind is conscious?

#Consciousness #Neuroscience

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

If the Sun shines across 93 million miles (150 million km), why do NASA astronauts appear surrounded by black space?

The Sun isn't burning like a fire. Its energy comes from nuclear fusion. And its light reveals something strange about our sky.

#SpaceScience #Astronomy

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Venus is hot enough to melt lead. Mars is a frozen desert.

Yet Earth has oceans, a magnetic shield, and a Moon that helps stabilize its tilt.

How did so many conditions come together on one planet?

#EarthScience #Space #Astronomy

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

The universe we see tonight isn't the universe as it exists today.

NASA's James Webb Telescope detected light that traveled 13.5 billion years to reach us.

Stars may have died. Galaxies may have merged.

So what does the distant universe actually look like right now?

#Astronomy #JWST #Space

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Are aliens living deep in the Nevada desert? In 1989, Bob Lazar claimed he saw nine flying saucers near Area 51. But declassified CIA records reveal another fascinating secret: aircraft the public never knew existed.

What really happened there?

#Area51 #UFO

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

🌌 Two solar eruptions may interact before reaching Earth.

NOAA forecasts geomagnetic storm activity through October 12, potentially bringing northern lights farther south across the U.S.

Would you stay up to see them? Which state?

#NorthernLights #AuroraBorealis #SolarStorm

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

Hurricane Isaias struck Florida with 105 mph winds. More than 900,000 power outages were reported across three states early Saturday.

The storm has weakened, but flash flooding remains a serious threat.

#HurricaneIsaias #USWeather #Florida

[Orbit Lens @orbitlensspace]

In 1957, Sputnik shocked the world.

In 2025, humanity deployed 4,544 spacecraft across 325 orbital launches. Rockets can now return and fly again.

But as Earth's orbit gets crowded, who's protecting the skies above us? 🚀🌍

#WorldSpaceWeek #SpaceX