Copernical Team
RNA base in asteroid samples suggests origins of life on Earth
The black particles from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres away look unremarkable, like pieces of charcoal, but they hold a component of life itself.
Scientists have discovered the chemical compound uracil, one of the building blocks of RNA, in just 10 milligrammes of material from the asteroid Ryugu, according to new research published on Tuesday.
The finding lends weight to a lon Ultra-lightweight multifunctional space skin created to withstand the extreme conditions in space
A new nanobarrier coating could help protect ultra-lightweight carbon composite materials from extreme conditions in space, according to a study from the University of Surrey and Airbus Defence and Space.
NASA seeks student ideas for moon landing dust control
As NASA and industry partners develop new human landing systems to transport astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon's surface and back as part of Artemis, the agency is asking university students to investigate solutions to one particularly dusty aspect of landing spacecraft on the lunar surface.
NASA's new Human Lander Challenge invites college students to explore ways to manage or prevent the cloud of dust a spacecraft stirs up when using rocket engines to land on unprepared surfaces like the moon. This effect is called plume surface interaction and can increase risks caused by lunar dust on future human missions.
"The moon is covered with granular, rocky material called regolith, which can be lifted from the surface by rocket engines during landing and ascent.
ESA Impact – March 2023 Council edition
ESA Impact – March 2023 Council edition
Welcome to the March Council edition of ESA Impact, an interactive showcase of the best images and videos since the last Council meeting
Amateur astronomers needed: help classify stars with Gaia's data
ESA's Gaia mission has been collecting data on millions of space objects like stars and asteroids to build an extensive cosmic record. Now, to take it up a notch, it needs your eyes.
Studying rocks in Norway
Image:
Andreas Mogensen at the PANGAEA course in Lofoten, Norway Journey through Jezero
Video:
00:03:03
Explore the fascinating landing site of NASA’s Perseverance rover in this fly-through video, featuring new views of Jezero crater and its surroundings from ESA’s Mars Express and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The video begins by panning around Jezero crater, which can be seen in the centre background surrounded by textured and cratered terrain. The crater moves into the foreground roughly halfway through, when an outflow channel can be seen snaking away from the crater wall and towards the camera perspective. Two inflow channels (Neretva Vallis and Sava Vallis, found on the western-northwestern rim of Jezero) then become visible;
How heat flow affects the Earth's magnetic field
Compass readings that do not show the direction of true north and interference with the operations of satellites are a few of the problems caused by peculiarities of the Earth's magnetic field.
The magnetic field radiates around the world and far into space, but it is set by processes that happen deep within the Earth's core, where temperatures exceed 5,000-degress C.
New research fr NASA selects L3Harris to develop imager for NOAA satellite
NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected L3Harris Technologies Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana, to develop the imager for NOAA's Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.
This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately $765.5 million. It includes the development of two flight instruments as well as options for NASA uses 30-Year record to track rising seas
Observations from space show that the rate of sea level rise is increasing. Knowing where and how much rise is happening can help coastal planners prepare for future hazards. The average global sea level rose by 0.11 inches (0.27 centimeters) from 2021 to 2022, according to a NASA analysis of satellite data. That's the equivalent of adding water from a million Olympic-size swimming pools to the