“I am finding it magical every day, but there is also a lot of routine,” says ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet reflecting on his first 100 days aboard the International Space Station during his second mission. In total, Thomas has logged 296 days in space.

Pohang, South Korea (SPX) Jul 28, 2021
Based on the principle of interaction between matter and light, a new method has been developed to track and observe the Brownian motion of fast-moving nanometer-sized molecules, and measure the different fluorescence signals of each biological nanoparticle. The nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) system is the most commonly used nanoparticle quantification method in the world. It is a me

Warsaw, Poland (SPX) Jul 28, 2021
The demand for energy consumption, limited availability of fossil fuels, and pollution caused by the energy production industry challenge scientists to find new, more cost-effective, and greener solutions to produce power. Most of the current energy sources are far from being environmentally friendly. In this context, electrochemically assisted generation of chemicals, at first glance, would not

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 30, 2021
After the corn harvest last fall, Illinois farmer Paul Jeschke planted a fraction of his fields with cereal rye: 60 acres of the 4,500 he farms with his wife, nephew and brother-in-law, tucked behind a pasture, out of neighbors' sight. That way they could experiment with cover crops, Jeschke explained, and no one could view potential failures. In the coming months, the rye would sprout int

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 30, 2021
NASA's ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) is aiding in the fight against fires in the Western U.S. As of July 28, 2021, the size of the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon was more than 410,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire currently burning in the U.S. So far, some 400 buildings and more than 340 vehicles have been destroyed. Wildfire respo

Boulder CO (SPX) Jul 30, 2021
Ball Aerospace successfully completed the preliminary design review (PDR) for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft. With PDR complete, the spacecraft now moves into the critical design phase. Ball was awarded the contract to design and build the SWFO-L1 spacecraft on June 25, 2020 by NASA's Goddard Space Flig

Boston MA (SPX) Jul 30, 2021
If the Earth's oceans were drained completely, they would reveal a massive chain of undersea volcanoes snaking around the planet. This sprawling ocean ridge system is a product of overturning material in the Earth's interior, where boiling temperatures can melt and loft rocks up through the crust, splitting the sea floor and reshaping the planet's surface over hundreds of millions of years.

A sophisticated telecommunications satellite that can be completely repurposed while in space has launched.

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 29, 2021
Boeing and NASA postponed the launch the company's Starliner space capsule to the International Space Station on Friday after a mishap at the orbital laboratory on Thursday. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket had been scheduled to launch the capsule on an uncrewed test flight from Florida. But a new Russian module, Nauka, created a brief crisis at the space station when the module'

Washington (AFP) July 30, 2021
NASA did not violate regulations when it decided to give SpaceX the sole contract to build a Moon lander, a watchdog said Friday, in a ruling that denied challenges by competitors Blue Origin and Dynetics. The human landing system (HLS) contract, worth $2.9 billion, was given to Elon Musk's company in April, but was protested by the other bidders, who argued NASA was required to make multipl