97: Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years

*Voyager 1 Fires Up Thrusters After 37 Years If you tried to start a car that's been sitting in a garage for decades, you might not expect the engine to respond. But a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft successfully fired up Wednesday after 37 years without use. Voyager 1, NASA's farthest and fastest spacecraft, is the only human-made object in interstellar space, the environment between the stars. 

*Back to the Moon as well as to Mars and beyond The United States is returning humans to the Moon. President Donald Trump signed Space Policy Directive 1 at the White House, which is designed to refocus national space policy, with a U.S. led, integrated program involving the private sector and international partners for a human return to the Moon, followed by missions to Mars and beyond. 

*The night skies are getting brighter The night skies are getting brighter – and it’s our increased efforts to get rid of inefficient incandescent lighting replacing them with eco-friendly LED lights that’s become part of the problem. Between 2012 to 2016, the artificially lit area of the Earth's surface grew by 2.2 percent per year 

*Europe pushes ahead with new launch systems and reusable spacecraft The European Space Agency is moving forward with plans to develop new versions of its Vega rocket launch system and a new reusable capsule to take payloads into orbit and return them to the surface. 

*China’s busy 2017 launch manifest continues China’s 15th launch for 2017 has successfully carried Algeria’s first telecommunications satellite into orbit. 

*Russian spy satellite launched A Soyuz rocket carrying a secret military spy satellite has successfully blasted into orbit from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia’s far north. The launch came just a week after the failure of another Soyuz to place 19 satellites into orbit from Russia’s new Vostochny Cosmodrome. 

*The Science Report Scientists are keeping a close eye on a new bird flu strain developing in China. A new study says planet Earth has entered a new geological age --The Anthropocene Epoch. A snapshot of the nation’s use of illegal drugs. Scientists sequence the genetic make-up of the Thylacine or Tasmanian Tiger. Forget wind farms -- new climate projections warn winds will decrease across the Northern Hemisphere. Scientist may have found the ideal speed for pouring espresso into milk. 

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