space

The Earth is passing into the orbit of the comet Temple-Tuttle. As a result, stargazers can expect to see the annual Perseid meteor shower reach its peak, with the best times to look for the Perseids on the mornings. The last morning to see the peak is Aug. 13.

There will be free light shows available to anyone looking at the sky in April and May. The Lyrid meteor shower is projected to occur from April 15 through April 29. It will peak from April 21 to April 23. The Eta Aquarids meteor shower will also occur from April 15 to May 27. That shower will peak from May 5 through May 6.

Alabama Public Radio is observing forty years on the air in 2022. The APR news team is diving into our archives to bring you encore airings of the best of our coverage. So far this month, we’ve featured stories with a space theme. July was the month, back in 1969, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Not all of APR’s NASA related coverage has been upbeat. This archive story by Pat Duggins from last year involves a former astronaut and the death of two sisters in Tuscaloosa.

A five time Space Shuttle astronaut is now a convicted felon. James Halsell stood before a Tuscaloosa County judge and pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter in the 2016 traffic crash that killed two young girls. APR has been following the case from the beginning. It was a shock to observers of the space program and a long wait for justice for the victim’s family.

A University of Alabama researcher and his team believe they’ve been able to observe a black hole destroying a star in a galaxy far, far away. Peter…

NASA has enlisted a crew to test how astronauts will cook and eat on years-long missions to Mars. The volunteers are learning to make French bread and Puerto Rican white bean stew out of shelf-stable ingredients in a low-gravity environment because you can only eat so much freeze-dried ice cream.