Durham UK (SPX) Apr 21, 2023
Astronomers have successfully launched a balloon-borne telescope which has begun capturing images of the Universe on its first research flight. The super pressure balloon-borne Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) was flown to the edge of space by a helium-filled NASA scientific balloon the size of a football stadium where it will help researchers investigate the mystery of dark matter. SuperBIT h

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 21, 2023
The Super Pressure Balloon Imaging Telescope (SuperBIT) that launched on a scientific super pressure balloon April 16, 2023, local time from Wanaka, New Zealand, captured its first research images from this flight of the Tarantula Nebula and Antennae Galaxies. These images were captured on a balloon-borne telescope floating at 108,000 feet above Earth's surface, allowing scientists to view these

Huntsville AL (SPX) Apr 21, 2023
Astronomers using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and other telescopes have identified a new threat to life on planets like Earth: a phase during which intense X-rays from exploded stars can affect planets over 100 light-years away. This result, as outlined in our latest press release, has implication for the study of exoplanets and their habitability. This newly found threat co

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 21, 2023
After our exploration of a boulder field last week, Perseverance is continuing the Upper Fan campaign. We have driven to Echo Creek, from which we also have a view of Belva Crater. Along our journey, we have seen many interesting rocks. These include a lumpy rock that the team named "Blueberry Island", seen in the above Mastcam-Z image (Sol 765). This rock may be a conglomerate (sedimentary) roc

Boca Chica And Medford Colonia, United States (AFP) April 20, 2023
Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, exploded during its first flight on Thursday, but Elon Musk congratulated his SpaceX team on an "exciting" test of the next-generation spacecraft designed to send astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond. SpaceX blew up the uncrewed rocket four minutes after it blasted off at 8:33 am Central Time (1333 GMT) from Starbase, the SpaceX spaceport in

Washington DC (SPX) Apr 21, 2023
More than 40 high-powered, amateur rockets successfully launched April 15, in North Alabama, each carrying a scientific payload nearly one-mile-high above ground level, as part of a NASA student competition. "These are sophisticated rockets with advanced payloads, each meeting strict NASA requirements," said Fred Kepner, NASA's activity lead for the launch. "Students are demonstrating the

Paris (ESA) Apr 21, 2023
A next-generation spacesuit - in effect an astronaut's personal spaceship - will advance NASA's spacewalking capabilities in low Earth orbit and at the International Space Station. Collins Aerospace, working with partners ILC Dover and Oceaneering, is designing and building a new suit for NASA. Designed to fit the diverse astronaut corps size range and provide a broader range of motion, th

Moscow (AFP) April 20, 2023
The first feature film shot in space premiered in Russian cinemas on Thursday, as Moscow delighted in beating a rival Hollywood project amid a confrontation with the West over Ukraine. "The Challenge" is about a surgeon dispatched to the International Space Station (ISS) to save an injured cosmonaut. Russia sent an actress and a film director for a 12-day stint on the ISS in October 20

Boston MA (SPX) Apr 21, 2023
Each year, thousands of space rocks pierce through the Earth's atmosphere and hit the ground as meteorites. These fragments of comets and asteroids can land anywhere but are most often spotted in open terrain, such as the deserts of Africa and the Antarctic blue ice, where a meteorite's blackened exterior can stand out. Still, these extraterrestrial remnants can resemble Earth rocks, and t

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 21, 2023
The Federal Aviation Administration has grounded SpaceX's Starship hours after a test launch from Texas ended with the destruction of the spacecraft and its booster. While the spacecraft cleared the launch pad, the Super Heavy booster carrying it failed to separate from the second stage and subsequently exploded. The rocket lifted off at 9:33 a.m. EDT and reached the altitude where s