Aviation and space

Okanagan resident Debra Ceravelo grabbed this photo of the planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn Dec. 20, 2020. (Submitted)

Astrophotographer captures out-of-this-world shot from the Okanagan

A Western News reader snapped a photo of the rare celestial event

 

The Canadarm 2 reaches out to capture the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft and prepare it to be pulled into its port on the International Space Station, Friday, April 17, 2015. The Canadian Space Agency has awarded a contract worth $22.8 million to MDA to develop Canadarm3. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-HO, NASA, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canadian Space Agency awards Canadarm3 contract worth $22.8M

MDA says the project will be a third-generation artificial intelligence-based robotic system

 

A SpaceX Falcon9 rocket, with the Crew Dragon capsule attached, lift’s off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39-A Sunday Nov. 15, 2020, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Four astronauts are beginning a mission to the international Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)

VIDEO: SpaceX capsule with 4 astronauts reaches space station

Three Americans and one Japanese astronaut will remain at the lab until their replacements arrive

 

Lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin carries a seismic experiments package in his left hand and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector to the deployment area on the surface of the moon at Tranquility Base, July 20, 1969. Canada has signed on to the Artemis Accords, a U.S.-led effort to establish global guidelines, based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and other agreements. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-HO-NASA, Neil Armstrong

Canada joins U.S.-led Artemis Accords to send human explorers back to Moon and beyond

Canada has signed on to Artemis for the next 20 year

Lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin carries a seismic experiments package in his left hand and the Laser Ranging Retroreflector to the deployment area on the surface of the moon at Tranquility Base, July 20, 1969. Canada has signed on to the Artemis Accords, a U.S.-led effort to establish global guidelines, based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and other agreements. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-HO-NASA, Neil Armstrong
In this Aug. 13, 1965 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum, technicians work on an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s leading asteroid expert, Paul Chodas, speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually a Centaur upper rocket stage that propelled NASA’s Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. (Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection/San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)

Fake asteroid? NASA expert IDs mystery object as old rocket

A telescope in Hawaii last month discovered the mystery object heading our way

In this Aug. 13, 1965 photo provided by the San Diego Air and Space Museum, technicians work on an Atlas Centaur 7 rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla. NASA’s leading asteroid expert, Paul Chodas, speculates that asteroid 2020 SO, as it is formally known, is actually a Centaur upper rocket stage that propelled NASA’s Surveyor 2 lander to the moon in 1966 before it was discarded. (Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection/San Diego Air and Space Museum via AP)
Mars will appear orange and distinct in the night sky this month. (Damian Peach photo)

Mars jumps out from the night sky

Mars is the brightest it’s been in 15 years this October

Mars will appear orange and distinct in the night sky this month. (Damian Peach photo)
Though he hasn’t been to space, Dr. Parvez Kumar has been associated with NASA for 25 years and has worked for Canada’s National Research Council and the Canadian Space Agency. (Aaron Guillen – Sooke News Mirror)

Head in the clouds: Sooke resident recalls former career as astronaut training officer

Dr. Parvez Kumar trained Canadians Chris Hadfield and Julie Payette

Though he hasn’t been to space, Dr. Parvez Kumar has been associated with NASA for 25 years and has worked for Canada’s National Research Council and the Canadian Space Agency. (Aaron Guillen – Sooke News Mirror)
This photo provided by NASA shows from left, astronauts Bob Behnken, Chris Cassidy and Doug Hurley during an interview on the International Space Station on Friday, July 31, 2020. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to leave the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule on Saturday and splashdown off the coast of Florida on Sunday. (NASA via AP)

SpaceX capsule and NASA crew make 1st splashdown in 45 years

The astronauts’ ride back to Earth was fast, bumpy and hot, at least on the outside

This photo provided by NASA shows from left, astronauts Bob Behnken, Chris Cassidy and Doug Hurley during an interview on the International Space Station on Friday, July 31, 2020. Behnken and Hurley are scheduled to leave the International Space Station in a SpaceX capsule on Saturday and splashdown off the coast of Florida on Sunday. (NASA via AP)
There has been numerous sightings of strings of lights in the sky over Vancouver Island recently. (File photo)

Strings of lights seen in night sky over Cowichan Valley

Could be satellites, or something stranger, says UFO specialist

There has been numerous sightings of strings of lights in the sky over Vancouver Island recently. (File photo)
The Plaskett Telescope, at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, in 1918 and 2018. Today, the telescope has accumulated nearly a century of upgrades that make it 10,000 times more sensitive than when it was first built. (FILE CONTRIBUTED)

Plaskett telescope turns 100; recognized as national historic site

The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory in Saanich has made astronomical discoveries since 1918

The Plaskett Telescope, at the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, in 1918 and 2018. Today, the telescope has accumulated nearly a century of upgrades that make it 10,000 times more sensitive than when it was first built. (FILE CONTRIBUTED)