The second-generation PRISMA Earth observation system gets underway
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57
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Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has signed a contract with the Italian space agency (ASI) to conduct a feasibility study for the PRISMA Second Generation (PSG) hyperspectral Earth observation system. It will be leading a consortium that includes Leonardo, Telespazio (the joint venture between Leonardo (67%) and Thales (33%)), e- GEOS and SITAEL. Rocky Road offers plenty of tasty science bites during Sols 3391-3394
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
MSL planning was met with beautiful images of our path ahead, like this one. We ended up planning to look at many of these rocks with our science instruments before driving on. This is a busy plan, covering four sols due to the holiday on Monday. In order to keep things manageable, especially given that our uplink is early tonight, we are doing all of our activities on the last 3 sols of the pla Day of Discovery: 7 Earth-Size Planets
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
Newspapers around the world printed the discovery on their front pages: Astronomers had found that a red dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1 was home to a close-knit family of seven Earth-size planets. NASA announced the system Feb. 22, 2017.
Using telescopes on the ground and in space, scientists revealed one of the most unusual planetary systems yet found beyond our Sun and opened the tantalizi The secret of Venus may be hidden in the heat of the night
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
Despite being close to Earth and having nearly the same size, Venus is another world. Underneath its thick mantle of acid sulfuric clouds, at the surface 460 degrees Celsius are the rule. This temperature is kept by the greenhouse effect of a virtually carbon dioxide only atmosphere. Seventy kilometres above, one has to withstand a perpetual wind storm, the product of the so called Venus superro 'Tatooine-like' exoplanet spotted by ground-based telescope
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
A rare exoplanet which orbits around two stars at once has been detected using a ground-based telescope by a team led by the University of Birmingham.
The planet, called Kepler-16b, has so far only been seen using the Kepler space telescope. It orbits around two stars, with the two orbits also orbiting one another, forming a binary star system. Kepler-16b is located some 245 light years fr Galaxy collision creates 'space triangle' in new Hubble image
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
A spectacular head-on collision between two galaxies fueled the unusual triangular-shaped star-birthing frenzy, as captured in a new image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. The interacting galaxy duo is collectively called Arp 143. The pair contains the glittery, distorted, star-forming spiral galaxy NGC 2445 at right, along with its less flashy companion, NGC 2444 at left.
Astronomers s What ingredients went into the galactic blender to create the Milky Way
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 04:57 Write a comment
Our galaxy is a giant 'smoothie' of blended stars and gas but a new study tells us where the components came from. In its early days, the Milky Way was like a giant smoothie, as if galaxies consisting of billions of stars, and an enormous amount of gas had been thrown together into a gigantic blender. But a new study picks apart this mixture by analysing individual stars to identify which origin Virgin Galactic on schedule to start commercial human suborbital flights this year
Wednesday, 23 February 2022 02:10 Write a comment
Virgin Galactic executives said Feb. 22 that they remain on schedule to begin commercial human suborbital missions before the end of the year but acknowledged it will take several years for the company to become profitable.
Washington state space economy more than doubles
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 22:32 Write a comment
Washington state’s space economy is booming.
The post Washington state space economy more than doubles appeared first on SpaceNews.
U.S. and international partners to share launch cost of new communications satellite
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 21:13 Write a comment
U.S. officials are in talks with international users of the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) communications satellites about a cost-sharing agreement to fund the launch of the new WGS-11+.
U.S. and allies to strengthen cooperation in space
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 19:09 Write a comment
The Defense Department announced Feb. 22 that the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have signed a joint vision document that calls for greater cooperation to prevent conflicts in space.
High-flying NASA 'NACHOS' instrument may help predict volcanic eruptions
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 16:35 Write a comment
NASA is launching a prototype instrument that could make it easier to monitor volcanic activity and air quality. Perched aboard a CubeSat about 300 miles (480 kilometers) above Earth's surface, the "Nanosat Atmospheric Chemistry Hyperspectral Observation System," or NACHOS, will use a compact hyperspectral imager to locate sources of trace gasses in areas as small as 0.15 square miles (0.4 square kilometers)—about the size of the Mall of America in Minnesota. NACHOS is part of Northrop Grumman's 17th resupply mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.
If successful, NACHOS will be the smallest, highest resolution space-based instrument dedicated to monitoring atmospheric trace gasses like sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen dioxide, paving the way for future Earth-observing systems that will not only help predict volcanic eruptions, but also monitor air quality around specific cities, neighborhoods, and even individual power plants.
NASA rocket team to chase pulsating aurora
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 16:35 Write a comment
A new NASA sounding rocket mission will soon take to the Alaskan skies. The LAMP mission, short for Loss through Auroral Microburst Pulsations, will fly above an often-overlooked kind of northern lights to test a theory on what causes them. The launch window at Poker Flat Research Range in Fairbanks, Alaska, opens on Feb. 24, 2022.
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, is a familiar treat to those who call northern latitudes home. Auroras come in different shapes and colors, waving their ribbons of vibrant green, red and purple across the sky. But one variety of aurora displays a peculiar behavior: it pulsates.
Op-ed | Why Space Alarmism is Wrong and Dangerous
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 14:38 Write a comment
The United States faces real and significant security threats in space, but efforts to develop an effective space strategy must begin with a more clear-eyed net assessment. Promoting space cooperation with China would also help to dampen hype around a space race.
CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission to launch this spring
Tuesday, 22 February 2022 11:29 Write a comment
A cubesat mission to test a lunar orbit critical to NASA’s Artemis program is in the final stages of preparations for a launch this spring.
The post CAPSTONE lunar cubesat mission to launch this spring appeared first on SpaceNews.