Copernical Team
Expert Q&A: NASA's cancellation of VIPER is a frustrating setback for lunar exploration
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In July 2024, NASA announced it canceled its plans to send the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the moon's southern polar region. The rover was meant to search for water and other resources called volatiles, such as hydrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide, which easily evaporate in warm temperatures.
Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, reiterated the agency's commitment "to exploring the moon for the benefit of humanity" through other missions.
Fifty-five years have passed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made a giant leap for mankind.
Space-trekking muscle tests drugs for microgravity-induced muscle impairment
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A gentle rumble ran under Ngan Huang's feet as a rocket carrying her research—live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips—lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory. These chips would help Huang better understand muscle impairment, often seen in astronauts and older adults, and test drugs to counter the condition.
Now, the results are back. Reporting in a study published July 25 in Stem Cell Reports, Huang's team showed that space-traveling muscle had metabolic changes that indicate impaired muscle regeneration and gene activities associated with age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia. But drug treatment partially prevented microgravity's adverse effects.
"Space is a really unique environment that accelerates qualities associated with aging and also impairs many healthy processes," says Huang, an associate professor at Stanford University.
"Astronauts come back with muscle atrophy, or a reduction of muscle function, because the muscle isn't being actively used in the absence of gravity.
How Europe’s biggest rocket came to be: Ariane 6 montage
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The first half of 2024 saw hundreds of people across Europe building, cajoling, shipping, lowering, integrating, securing and protecting the precious pieces and parts that came together to create Ariane 6 – Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket.
Huge engines, boosters and outer shells met tiny screws, electrical boards and masses of supercooled fuel. All this came together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, for the spectacular first launch of Ariane 6 on 9 July 2024, restoring Europe’s access to space.
Get a glimpse at the teamwork, skill and care that went into this moment over many months, in this montage
From Concordia to the Moon
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Concordia is a research station in Antarctica that places you farther away from humankind than even the International Space Station. Every year, ESA sponsors a medical doctor to spend a year, or "winterover," at Concordia station. This year, our medical doctor is Jessica Kehala Studer, who is seen in this picture gazing at the Moon and the vast expanse of Antarctica. Around May, the Sun dips below the horizon for the last time, and the crew experiences four months of total darkness, with temperatures dropping to –80°C in winter.
The station serves as an analogue for space, mirroring the
FIA 2024 - Day 4
Make the most of ESA’s Industry Space Days 2024
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Participants of ESA’s Industry Space Days (ISD 2024) share insights and tips on how to make the most of this space technology business event on 18–19 September at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.
Juice’s lunar-Earth flyby: all you need to know LINK
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Juice’s lunar-Earth flyby: all you need to know
ICON mission ends with critical breakthroughs on Earth, space weather
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Nearly five years after it launched, NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer - or ICON - mission has officially come to an end, the space agency announced Wednesday.
NASA's ICON mission gathered valuable data as it orbited the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, about 55 miles to 360 miles into space in the ionosphere, and provided critical breakthroughs on how space weather affects Hubble Observes Possible Galactic Collision
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The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 5238, situated 14.5 million light-years away in the Canes Venatici constellation. This galaxy, resembling an oversized star cluster rather than a typical galaxy, is a key focus of current research due to its complex structure.
Hubble's detailed image highlights numerous stars and associated globular Rocket Lab Sets Date for 51st Electron Mission with Synspective Satellites
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Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for its 51st Electron mission, set to deploy the latest satellite for long-term customer Synspective.
The "Owl for One, One for Owl" mission will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, during a 14-day window starting on July 31st NZST / July 30th UTC. This mission will place a single StriX satellite