
Copernical Team
Watch (and hear) how NASA's Perseverance rover took its first selfie

Ever wondered how Mars rovers take a selfie? Color video from NASA's Perseverance shows how the rover captured the historic April 6, 2021, image of itself beside the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. As a bonus, the rover's entry, descent, and landing microphone captured the sound of the arm's motors whirring during the process.
Astronauts complete solar panel work in 3rd spacewalk

Astronauts finished unfurling a new pair of solar panels outside the International Space Station on Friday, making their third spacewalk in just over a week.
NASA's Shane Kimbrough and France's Thomas Pesquet successfully installed the second in a series of powerful solar wings that should keep the space station running the rest of this decade, as space tourism ramps up with visitors beginning in the fall.
Virgin Galactic gets FAA's OK to launch customers to space

Mars colonists are going to wish they had an atmosphere above them

There will be all sorts of risks for any future colonists on Mars, such as extreme weather and temperatures, radiation, and the human physiological problems associated with living in with decreased gravity. But another issue is that colonists on Mars will have to be on a constant lookout above their heads.
While Mars and Earth are both hit by space debris regularly—dust, small rocks and bigger meteoroids—on our planet, meteors usually vaporize in the atmosphere.
"On Mars however, with a surface pressure one 100th that of the Earth, the impactors generally make it to the surface," says the team from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Week in images: 21 - 25 June 2021

Week in images: 21 - 25 June 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Lake Mar Chiquita

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over Lake Mar Chiquita – an endorheic salt lake in the northeast province of Córdoba, Argentina.
The fifth quartet: Excited neon discovery could reveal star qualities

Solar System samples touch down in Leicester

British-built satellites will help fight climate change and save wildlife

Cosmic dawn occurred 250 to 350 million years after Big Bang
