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Copernical Team
DARPA's ANSR to Improving Trustworthy AI
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![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/darpa-assured-neuro-symbolic-learning-and-reasoning-ansr-marker-bg.jpg)
SEAKR Engineering Demonstrates Optical Communications on DARPA's Mandrake 2 Satellites
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Updating our understanding of Earth's architecture
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![](https://www.spxdaily.com/images-bg/new-tectonic-plate-model-boundary-zones-darker-shading-bg.jpg)
Asteroid samples contain 'clues to origin of life': Japan scientists
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Earth from Space: Singapore
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![Singapore](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2022/06/singapore/24303624-2-eng-GB/Singapore_card_full.jpg)
This radar image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, shows us the only city-island-nation – Singapore – and one of the busiest ports in the world.
Watch live: first impressions of Gaia data release 3
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![Gaia observes the Milky Way](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2022/06/gaia_observes_the_milky_way/24305944-1-eng-GB/Gaia_observes_the_Milky_Way_card_full.jpg)
Join European Space Agency and Gaia mission representatives on Monday 13 June for a preview of the third major data release. This world-class treasure trove is set to reveal new insights into our Solar System, our Milky Way galaxy, and our wider cosmic neighbourhood.
The face of Galileo
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![The face of Galileo](https://www.esa.int/var/esa/storage/images/esa_multimedia/images/2022/06/the_face_of_galileo/24302871-1-eng-GB/The_face_of_Galileo_card_full.jpg)
James Webb telescope hit by micrometeoroid: NASA
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![A mirror segment on the James Webb Space Telescope was struck by a micrometeoroid but is expected to continue to function normally, NASA says. A mirror segment on the James Webb Space Telescope was struck by a micrometeoroid but is expected to continue to function normal](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2022/a-mirror-segment-on-th.jpg)
A mirror on the James Webb Space Telescope was struck by a micrometeoroid last month but is expected to continue to function normally, NASA said Thursday.
"After initial assessments, the team found the telescope is still performing at a level that exceeds all mission requirements despite a marginally detectable effect in the data," the US space agency said.
"Webb's beginning-of-life performance is still well above expectations, and the observatory is fully capable of performing the science it was designed to achieve," it added.
One of the space observatory's primary mirror segments suffered an impact from a micrometeoroid, which tend to be smaller than a grain of sand, between May 23 and 25.
Scheduling NASA's Webb telescope's science
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![Artist's concept of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA James Webb Space Telescope](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2022/james-webb-space-teles-1.jpg)
In the lead-up to the release of Webb's first full-color images and spectroscopic data on July 12, the Webb team is now in the last phase of commissioning the science instruments. The first two instrument modes, NIRCam imaging and NIRISS imaging, have been declared ready for science; watch the "Where is Webb" page as the team works their way through the other 15 instrument modes.
After commissioning is finished, the fun—and discoveries—will start: implementing the hundreds of peer-reviewed science programs that have been selected for Webb's first year. The area on the sky that Webb can see at any given time is called the field of regard. Deciding which observations to make on which day is a complicated process designed to optimize observational efficiency and manage the observatory's resources. We asked Christine Chen, science policies group lead at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), to tell us how Webb's schedule comes together.
"Webb will soon transition from commissioning to regular operations when Webb's time will be devoted to scientific observations," said Christine Chen, Webb science policies group lead, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Maryland.
NASA gets serious about UFOs
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![This video grab image obtained April 28, 2020 courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with "unidentified aerial phenomena" This video grab image obtained April 28, 2020 courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2022/this-video-grab-image.jpg)
NASA is officially joining the hunt for UFOs.
The space agency on Thursday announced a new study that will recruit leading scientists to examine unidentified aerial phenomena—a subject that has long fascinated the public and recently gained high-level attention from Congress.
The project will begin early this fall and last around nine months, focusing on identifying available data, how to gather more data in future, and how NASA can analyze the findings to try to move the needle on scientific understanding.