Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
A team of astronomers has revealed an intricate network of supersonic gas filaments within a very-high-velocity cloud (VHVC) in the Milky Way, using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST). The discovery sheds new light on the dynamic structure of the interstellar medium in the galaxy's quieter outer regions. Led by the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of t

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
July will see the launch of the groundbreaking Solar EruptioN Integral Field Spectrograph mission, or SNIFS. Delivered to space via a Black Brant IX sounding rocket, SNIFS will explore the energy and dynamics of the chromosphere, one of the most complex regions of the Sun's atmosphere. The SNIFS mission's launch window at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico opens on Friday, July 18.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
Astronomers have discovered a highly unusual space object named CHIME J1634+44, a Long Period Radio Transient (LPT) exhibiting behavior never before seen in this class of cosmic phenomena. Led by Fengqiu Adam Dong, a Jansky Fellow at the NSF Green Bank Observatory, the research reveals that CHIME J1634+44 is spinning up-its rotation rate is accelerating-contrary to established astrophysical expe

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
NASA has awarded $621,000 to University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologist James Holden to investigate what life might look like on Europa, Jupiter's ice-covered moon. To pursue answers, Holden is focusing his research on Earth's deep-sea volcanic hydrothermal vents-environments that may closely resemble Europa's subsurface conditions. Europa, beneath its frozen exterior, is believed

Houston TX (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
A new study led by University of Houston researchers, in collaboration with planetary scientists worldwide, suggests Uranus does have its own internal heat - an advance that not only informs NASA's future missions but also deepens scientists' understanding of planetary systems, including processes that influence Earth's climate and atmospheric evolution. The discovery resolves a long-stand

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
A new study published in Earth and Planetary Physics by Shenzhen University researchers Shibang Du and Chunyu Ding offers a detailed overview of the internal characteristics of asteroids and comets, emphasizing the crucial role of China's Tianwen-2 mission in their exploration. The paper underscores how radar observations of the near-Earth asteroid 2016 HO3 (Kamo'oalewa) and the active asteroid

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
When ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) performed a lunar flyby in August 2024, its Radar for Icy Moon Exploration (RIME) captured its first radargram by listening to radio echoes bouncing off the Moon's surface. The data, tracing surface elevation with a vivid pink-to-yellow line against a dark purple backdrop, aligned closely with NASA's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) elevation mod

Paris, France (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
The most advanced parachute system ever developed for Mars landings has passed a critical high-altitude Earth test, safely decelerating a replica ExoMars landing module. The system, featuring the largest parachute ever tested for extraterrestrial use, was deployed from 29 km above Sweden's Arctic Circle using a helium balloon launched from the Esrange Space Center on July 7. The test simul

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 22, 2025
Recent research led by Vincent Chevrier of the University of Arkansas offers new evidence that brines-salt-rich liquid water-could form on the Martian surface under specific seasonal conditions. Drawing on decades of research, Chevrier used atmospheric data from NASA's Viking 2 lander alongside advanced computer simulations to demonstrate that seasonal frost could briefly melt, creating small qu

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 21, 2025
SpaceX scrubbed the launch of two O3b mPOWER satellites for Luxembourg-based SES on Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Station. The Falcon 9 was scheduled to lift off at 5:27 p.m. from Pad 40 but, with 11 seconds on the countdown clock, it was aborted. During the SpaceX webcast, a launch director said: "T-minus 15 seconds" and was followed by "hold, hold, hold." A reason for