Graphene is the thinnest material known – possessing the thickness of a single atom but 200 times stronger than steel –  and has a reputation for versatility. Now an ESA-backed project has come up with yet another use for this ‘wonder stuff’, as the basis for a combined temperature and magnetism sensor.

Pasadena CA (JPL) May 17, 2021
Terrain-relative navigation helped Perseverance land - and Ingenuity fly - autonomously on Mars. Now it's time to test a similar system while exploring another frontier. On May 14, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship Okeanos Explorer will depart from Port Canaveral in Florida on a two-week expedition led by NOAA Ocean Exploration, featuring the technology demons

London, UK (SPX) May 13, 2021
Smart satellite provider LatConnect 60 and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) have announced the first partnership under the UK-Australia 'Space Bridge', a program launched earlier this year by the Australian Space Agency and UK Space Agency to boost investment and knowledge across both countries' space sectors. Under the partnership, Perth-based LatConnect 60 will provide high resolut

Nanchang, China (XNA) May 13, 2021
High-resolution terminal devices of China's BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) have been installed in public buses in the city of Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province, local authorities said Thursday. Installation of the sub-meter level positioning equipment, which took less than 10 minutes on each bus, is expected to offer real-time information with high accuracy. In remote

Columbus OH (SPX) May 18, 2021
New research provides the best evidence to date into the timing of how our early Milky Way came together, including the merger with a key satellite galaxy. Using relatively new methods in astronomy, the researchers were able to identify the most precise ages currently possible for a sample of about a hundred red giant stars in the galaxy. With this and other data, the researchers wer

Washington DC (UPI) May 18, 2021
The most powerful telescope ever built, the James Webb Space Telescope, is fully booked to peer at other planets and the origins of the universe for more than a year after its planned launch in October. About 400 studies that could reveal secrets about the oldest galaxies, inhabitable planets and even the dawn of the universe already are scheduled, scientists said. "It's a totall

Houston TX (SPX) May 18, 2021
NASA has assigned Kayla Barron to serve as a mission specialist for the agency's SpaceX Crew-3 mission to the International Space Station, which is targeted to launch as early as Oct. 23. This will be the first spaceflight for Barron, who became a NASA astronaut in January 2020 after completing two years of training. She will join NASA astronauts Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, as the missio

Paris, France (SPX) May 18, 2021
The European Space Agency (ESA) and ArianeGroup, lead contractor and design authority for Ariane 6, have signed a new technological development contract in the field of carbon composites. The PHOEBUS (Prototype of a Highly OptimizEd Black UpperStage) program will increase the maturity of the technologies needed to lower both the manufacturing cost and the weight of the Ariane 6 upper stage.

Sydney, Australia (The Conversation) May 18, 2021
In December 2020, the Indonesian government had offered the Papuan island of Biak, home to some 100,000 inhabitants, to the centibillionare Elon Musk as a potential launch site for the SpaceX Mars-bound expedition. SpaceX, an aerospace corporation founded in 2002 by Musk, is arguably the world's most leading-edge technological project. It aims to enable humans to travel to and live on Mars

Washington DC (UPI) May 17, 2021
California-based launch company Rocket Lab has blamed a possible engine problem for the loss Saturday of its Electron rocket and commercial satellite payload. The rocket fell safely into the Pacific Ocean off the company's launch site in New Zealand due to an automatic shutdown triggered by safety systems, according to the company. It was the 20th mission for Electron and the sec