Paris (ESA) Nov 15, 2022
Solar Orbiter has spotted a 'tube' of cooler atmospheric gases snaking its way through the Sun's magnetic field. The observation provides an intriguing new addition to the zoo of features revealed by the ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission, especially since the snake was a precursor to a much larger eruption. The snake was seen on 5 September 2022, as Solar Orbiter was approaching the Sun for a close

Andenes, Norway (SPX) Nov 17, 2022
A NASA-funded rocket mission is headed to space to measure the global electric circuit underlying the northern lights. For its second trip to space, the Aurora Current and Electrodynamics Structures II, or ACES II, instrument will launch from Andoya Space in Andenes, Norway. The launch window opens Nov. 16, 2022, at 6 p.m. local time. High above us, electrons from space stream into our sky

Ontario, Canada (SPX) Nov 17, 2022
The Winchcombe meteorite, a rare carbonaceous meteorite which crashed onto a driveway in Gloucestershire in 2021, has been found to contain extra-terrestrial water and organic compounds that reveal insights into the origin of Earth's oceans. A new study, published by Science Advances, led by experts from the Natural History Museum and the University of Glasgow reports the orbital history and fir

Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Nov 15, 2022
NASA's quiet supersonic X-59 now has the engine that will power it in flight. The installation of the F414-GE-100 engine took place at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, earlier this month, marking a major milestone as the X-59 approaches the completion of its assembly. The 13-foot-long engine from General Electric Aviation packs 22,000 pounds of propulsion ene

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 18, 2022
Carrying out scientific experiments in space allows scientists to study and make drugs without gravity, which can lead to surprising results that improve research back on Earth. According to a cover story in Chemical and Engineering News, an independent news outlet of the American Chemical Society, more commercial entities are expanding offerings in low-Earth orbit, which could someday enable mo

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Nov 18, 2022
ispace, inc., a global lunar exploration company, plans to launch its Mission 1 (M1) lunar lander, part of the HAKUTO-R lunar exploration program, on Nov. 28, 2022, at the earliest, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Founder and CEO Takeshi Hakamada announced at a press conference in Tokyo. In addition to the launch date announcement, ispace unveiled 10 mi

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Nov 18, 2022
Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd. ("MSI"), a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc. based in Tokyo, Japan, has reached an agreement with ispace, inc. (ispace), a global lunar exploration company, to provide the world's first "Lunar Insurance" policy that comprehensively covers risks arising from ispace's Mission 1, from the launch of the rocket to the lunar landing. The agree

Berkeley CA (SPX) Nov 14, 2022
Weather and climate modelers understand pretty well how seasonal winds and ocean currents affect El Nino patterns in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, impacting weather across the United States and sometimes worldwide. But new computer simulations show that one driver of annual weather cycles in that region - in particular, a cold tongue of surface waters stretching westward along the

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 18, 2022
All component-level tests are complete on DARPA's Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program and the on-orbit demonstration mission is on schedule for launch in 2024. The RSGS goal is to enable inspection and servicing of satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital funct

Boston MA (SPX) Nov 18, 2022
A new study has revealed the true shape of the diffuse cloud of stars surrounding the disk of our galaxy. For decades, astronomers have thought that this cloud of stars - called the stellar halo - was largely spherical, like a beach ball. Now a new model based on modern observations shows the stellar halo is oblong and tilted, much like a football that has just been kicked. The findings -