Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 25, 2022
NATO released its "overarching" space policy on 17 January, stipulating that any space-based attack on an ally could trigger the alliance's collective defence policy under the bloc's Article 5. What's behind the renewed US focus on space and expansion of NATO activities there? NATO's newly released space doctrine expands on the alliance's 2019 Space Policy - which recognised space as a new

Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 20, 2022
China and Russia are both developing space capabilities but the difference is the speed with which China is progressing and it represents a "pacing challenge" for the United States, US Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond said. "I think they both are developing capabilities for their own use," Raymond said on Wednesday. "I think what's different is that China has gone ve

Antennas are among the most complex systems aboard a satellite – making them demanding to produce and often unpredictable to test. Tiny variables in their building, mounting or operation may impact their working performance in a big way. So ESA teamed up with Danish company TICRA to develop a method of forecasting such discrepancies well before an antenna construction even starts.

Madison WI (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
A University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering mechanics alumnus made important contributions to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, which arrived at its home in distant orbit Monday. The telescope, the world's largest and most powerful space science observatory, launched on Dec. 25, starting its journey toward its destination about 1 million miles from Earth. Webb is an international

Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
Since its launch on Christmas day, astronomers have eagerly followed the complex deployment and unfurling of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - the largest to ever take to the skies. Right around the time this article is published, it's expected Webb will have reached a place called the Earth-Sun "second Lagrange point", or "L2". This is a point in space about 1.5 million kilometres away

Berkeley CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
NASA's latest and snazziest satellite, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on Christmas Day, deployed its 21-foot-wide mirror a mere two weeks ago and reached its orbital destination earlier this week. With a flashy new telescope now nearly a reality, astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, are chomping at the bit to start observing. After months of anxiety about

New York NY (SPX) Jan 25, 2022
The forensic evidence left in the 14 Her giant planetary system suggests an active dynamical past. Two giant planets, several times more massive than Jupiter, in highly eccentric orbits around a solar-type star were found orbiting at nearly right angles to each other. In the recently published paper "14 Her: a likely case of planet-planet scattering," Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi-a senior m

San Antonio, TX (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
A Southwest Research Institute scientist measured the properties of ice-brine mixtures as cold as -145 degrees Fahrenheit to help confirm that salty water likely exists between grains of ice or sediment under the ice cap at Mars' south pole. Laboratory measurements conducted by SwRI geophysicist Dr. David Stillman support oddly bright reflections detected by the MARSIS subsurface sounding radar

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 26, 2022
The weekend plan included a short drive (or bump) to get us closer to one of the interesting, more resistant ledges that are exposed in this area ("The Prow"), as Curiosity continues her climb up Mount Sharp. These resistant ledges have caught our attention because they reveal distinct textures. Being able to get close-up, high resolution imaging accompanied by compositional data, will help the

Urbana IL (SPX) Jan 25, 2022
A satellite on a science mission to Mars aims for a low-altitude orbit, but the lower the orbit, the more propellant is required to enter orbit when arriving from Earth. To save propellant, a technique called aerobraking uses a small propulsive maneuver for orbit insertion to enter a large orbit; the satellite then makes many passes through the upper atmosphere, using drag on the solar panels to