Copernical Team
Earth from Space: Chongqing, China
Chongqing, the largest municipality in China, is featured in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image.
NASA to collaborate on ESA's new Venus mission
On June 10, 2021, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced the selection of EnVision as its newest medium-class science mission. EnVision will make detailed observations of Venus to understand its history and especially understand the connections between the atmosphere and geologic processes. As a key partner in the mission, NASA provides the Synthetic Aperture Radar, called VenSAR, to make hig
Connecting a star's chemical composition and planet formation
Researchers from Penn's Department of Physics and Astronomy have developed a new method for better understanding the relationship between a star's chemical composition and planet formation. The study was led by recent graduate Jacob Nibauer for his senior thesis with Bhuvnesh Jain and was co-supervised by former Penn postdoc Eric Baxter. The researchers found that the majority of stars in
KSAT to support Intuitive Machines' missions to the Moon
Intuitive Machines (IM) has entered a long-term agreement with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) where KSAT will support every stage of IM's missions to the Moon, from launch and early operations, through transit, including lunar operations. IM will use KSAT services for its 2022 IM-1 mission to the Moon, and future missions. "Our first mission has a very unique orbit for the first 24 ho
NASA selects new science investigations for future lunar deliveries
As NASA continues plans for multiple commercial deliveries to the Moon's surface per year, the agency has selected three new scientific investigation payload suites to advance understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor. Two of the payload suites will land on the far side of the Moon, a first for NASA. All three investigations will receive rides to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Commercial Lu
Lunar sample tells ancient story with help of Curtin's world-class facilities
Curtin University researchers have helped uncover the four billion year old story of a lunar sample brought from the Moon to Earth, by the manned Apollo 17 mission more than 50 years ago. The global research collaboration, involving scientists from the UK, Canada, Sweden and Australia, aimed to analyse the ancient rock sample through a modern lens to find out its age, which crater it came
China reveals photos taken by Mars rover
The China National Space Administration made public on Friday four pictures taken by the Tianwen 1 robotic mission, showing the Zhurong rover on Martian surface and scenes of its landing site. Three pictures were taken by Zhurong's cameras, and display the rover's upper stage, its landing platform as well as environment of the landing site. Another one was shot
Technology tests in microgravity for 'Cosmic Kiss' mission
The 36th parabolic flight campaign organised by the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is taking place from 4 to 11 June 2021 at the airport in Paderborn. During the campaign, various technology tests for the 'Cosmic Kiss' mission to be flown by German ESA astronaut Matthias Mauer will be carried out under microgravity conditions,
NASA's space communications user terminal
In the early days of cellphone use, each user was limited to their chosen provider's network and service capabilities. Restricting customers to service within one network led to high prices for out-of-network calls and limited value for customers. Cellphone providers long ago adopted roaming, allowing devices to jump from network to network without interrupting service and increasing competition
Marshall ships air filtration hardware to Wallops for ISS
New air filtration technology developed, built, and tested at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is bound for the International Space Station - where it will demonstrate advanced life support system capabilities that could help future explorers on the Moon and Mars breathe easier. The new hardware, known as the 4-Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, was shipped June 9 from