Copernical Team
Polaris Dawn brings new areas of research, medical care
The launch of Polaris Dawn from Kennedy Space Center includes the first civilian commercial spacewalk and other factors that will be firsts for space medicine research. And that's why Emmanuel Urquieta, an internationally recognized space medicine expert who recently joined UCF's College of Medicine, is especially excited about this latest mission.
The spacecraft is flying up to 870 miles above Earth—the highest orbit flown in the last half century. And at that altitude, the astronauts will be exposed to higher radiation than most astronauts who stay in low Earth orbit, such as those onboard the International Space Station.
After achieving the high orbit, Polaris Dawn will come down to a lower altitude for the spacewalk.
Ariane 6 joint update report, 16 September 2024
Historic private astronaut mission ends with splashdown off Florida
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts, concluded early Sunday with a splashdown off the coast of Florida.
The Dragon spacecraft plunged into the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the arrival showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew.
The ca A billionaire and an engineer have completed the first private spacewalk
Two astronauts have carried out the first-ever commercial spacewalk, using new less-bulky spacesuits designed by SpaceX.
Tech billionaire Jared Isaacman (who also funded the mission) and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis together spent almost half an hour outside their spacecraft at an altitude of some 700 km, further from Earth than any human since the Apollo Moon landings.
The brief jau Gravity study of Mars reveals hidden structures and activity beneath Olympus Mons
Recent gravity data from Mars have revealed dense, large-scale features hidden beneath the sediment of a once-extant ocean. The findings, which combine models and data from multiple Mars missions, also suggest that active processes within the planet's mantle could be driving the growth of Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. These insights were presented at the Europlanet Scien Catch a partial lunar eclipse during September's supermoon
Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one.
The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning.
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and moon, casting a shadow that darkens a sliver of the moon and appears to take a bite out of it.
Since the moon will inch closer to Earth than usual, it'll appear a bit larger in the sky. The supermoon is one of three remaining this year.
"A little bit of the sun's light is being blocked so the moon will be slightly dimmer," said Valerie Rapson, an astronomer at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
The Earth, moon and sun line up to produce a solar or lunar eclipse anywhere from four to seven times a year, according to NASA.
Tech billionaire returns to Earth after first private spacewalk
A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA's moonwalkers.
SpaceX's capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope.
Historic private astronaut mission splashes down off Florida
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts, splashed down off the coast of Florida early Sunday.
The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew.
The four-member team NASA conducts key telemedicine and health research with Polaris Dawn Crew
NASA is set to gain significant new insights through a range of experiments aboard a commercial spaceflight, reinforcing the agency's scientific efforts as it aims for deeper space exploration to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
These experiments are part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched earlier today aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket.
The Polaris Dawn crew Satellogic chosen for NASA's SmallSat Data Acquisition Program
Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL), a provider of sub-meter resolution Earth observation data, has been selected as one of eight companies awarded a contract in NASA's Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. The On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract, which holds a cumulative maximum value of $476 million, was announced on September 6, 2024. This selection reflects Satellogic's dedication to 
