Interaction between moon’s plumes and Saturn’s ring system explored with Webb

A water vapour plume from Saturn’s moon Enceladus spanning more than 9600 kilometres — long enough to stretch across the Eurasian continent from Ireland to Japan — has been detected by researchers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Not only is this the first time such water ejection has been seen over such an expansive distance, but Webb is also giving scientists a direct look, for the first time, at how this emission feeds the water supply for the entire system of Saturn and its rings.

DARPA's Strategic Technology Office launched an initiative called Bridges to help companies get security clearances to work on classified programs.

Conversion of shuttle-era solid rocket boosters and engines for use on the Space Launch System has cost NASA billions more and taken years longer than originally planned, the agency’s inspector general concluded.

Jiuquan, China (AFP) May 30, 2023
China sent three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, putting a civilian into orbit for the first time as it pursues plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030. The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars in its military-run space programme in a push to catch up with the United States and Russia. The Shenzhou-16 crew took off atop a Long Ma

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 25, 2023
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) recently completed a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command's Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared Polar (NGP) program. The company is on track to begin production of the early-warning missile system in defense of the nation. The design review establishes the company's technical approach for the full i

Los Angeles AFB CA (SPX) May 26, 2023
The U.S. Space Force's Small Launch and Targets Division's Office at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, part of the Space Systems Command (SSC) Assured Access to Space organization, awarded a $45.5 million task order to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation on May 24 via an Orbital Services Program (OSP)-4 Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The contract will

Washington (AFP) May 25, 2023
The United States on Thursday called Iran's missile program a "serious threat" after the clerical state unveiled a new model with its longest range to date. "Iran's development, and proliferation of, ballistic missiles poses a serious threat to regional and international security and remains a significant non-proliferation challenge," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.

Boston MA (SPX) May 25, 2023
To launch extended missions in space, the NASA is borrowing a page from the nuclear engineering industry: It is trying to understand how boiling works. Planning for long-term missions has NASA researching ways of packing the least amount of cryogenic fuel possible for efficient liftoff. One potential solution is to refuel the rocket in space using fuel depots placed in low Earth orbits. This way

Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 24, 2023
On 23 May 2023, at 09:00, a very special Airbus A310 taxied to the runway at Bordeaux-Merignac Airport. The aircraft set off on a special flight - the first of a total of three flights that make up the 40th parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR, which will take place in Bordeaux from 15 to 25 May 2023. On board are 11 experiments - three from the fields of biology and human

Houston TX (SPX) May 26, 2023
Visually striking layers of burnt orange, yellow, silver, brown and blue-tinged black are characteristic of banded iron formations, sedimentary rocks that may have prompted some of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, according to new research from Rice University. The rocks contain iron oxides that sank to the bottom of oceans long ago, forming dense layers that eventually t