Houston TX (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
For more than two decades, the International Space Station has provided a platform for growing and studying protein crystals. In the early days of microgravity research, scientists discovered that they protein crystals grown in space were more uniform and larger than those grown in Earth's gravity. Since then, drug companies and academic researchers have conducted hundreds of protein crystal gro

Fayetteville AR (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
Andy Weir's bestselling 2011 book, The Martian, features botanist Mark Watney's efforts to grow food on Mars after he becomes stranded there. While Watney's initial efforts focus on growing potatoes, new research presented at the 54th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference by a team of interdisciplinary researchers from the U of A suggests future Martian botanists like Watney may have a better o

Paris (ESA) Apr 27, 2023
ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, has recorded magnetic field data as its 10.6 m-long magnetometer boom deployed. Juice launched on 14 April, with deployments and activation of its antennas, booms, sensors and instruments ongoing over the next months in a dedicated check-out period known as the commissioning phase. The Juice magnetometer boom (J-MAG) was deployed on 21 April,

byJennifer Chu for MIT News
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 27, 2023 In 2017, astronomers captured the first image of a black hole by coordinating radio dishes around the world to act as a single, planet-sized telescope. The synchronized network, known collectively as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), focused in on M87*, the black hole at the center of the nearby Messier 87 galaxy. The telescope's laser-focused resolution revealed a

Lund, Sweden (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
The rare metal terbium has been found in an exoplanet's atmosphere for the first time. The researchers at Lund University in Sweden have also developed a new method for analyzing exoplanets, making it possible to study them in more detail. KELT-9 b is the galaxy's hottest exoplanet, orbiting its distant star about 670 light years from Earth. The celestial body, with an average temperature

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 26, 2023
Astronomers in a Canadian research program made a significant discovery that could lead to a better understanding of the mysterious phenomenon known as fast radio bursts. The Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment's fast radio burst project discovered 25 repeating fast radio bursts coming from deep space and 14 potential repeaters. This discovery doubles the number of known fast

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
The primary structure that will serve as the "bones" of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has moved into the big clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft bus, Roman's primary support element, will now be built upon this skeletal framework. When it launches by May 2027, Roman will help unravel the secrets of dark energy and dark matter, search

London, UK (SPX) Apr 27, 2023
CGI (NYSE: GIB) has been awarded a further contract by the European Space Agency (ESA) under ESA's ARTES Core Competitiveness program, with the support of the UK Space Agency, to expand the development of its Dynamic Predictive Routing (DPR) tool. The tool uses machine learning to enhance the routing of traffic in dynamic networks in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), especially those incorporating la

The Defense Department is considering ways to partner with commercial space companies so their services can be accessed during national security emergencies, DoD space policy chief John Plumb told lawmakers April 26.