Webb telescope spots its first star -- and takes a selfie
Sunday, 13 February 2022 10:32Star light, star bright, the James Webb Space Telescope has seen its first star (though it wasn't quite tonight) - and even taken a selfie, NASA announced Friday. The steps are part of the months-long process of aligning the observatory's enormous golden mirror that astronomers hope will begin unraveling the mysteries of the early Universe by this summer. The first picture sent back of
Hubble Views a Cosmic Interaction
Sunday, 13 February 2022 10:32This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope feels incredibly three-dimensional for a piece of deep-space imagery. The image shows Arp 282, an interacting galaxy pair composed of the Seyfert galaxy NGC 169 (bottom) and the galaxy IC 1559 (top). Interestingly, both galaxies have monumentally energetic cores known as active galactic nuclei (AGN), although that is difficult to tell from this
Future gravitational wave detector in space could uncover secrets of the Universe
Sunday, 13 February 2022 10:32New research has shown that future gravitational wave detections from space will be capable of finding new fundamental fields and potentially shed new light on unexplained aspects of the Universe. Professor Thomas Sotiriou from the University of Nottingham's Centre of Gravity and Andrea Maselli, researcher at GSSI and INFN associate, together with researchers from SISSA, and La Sapienza of
Raytheon Intelligence and Space completes Next Gen OPIR GEO Block 0 Milestone
Sunday, 13 February 2022 10:32Raytheon Intelligence and Space has completed Thermal Vacuum Testing of its sensor payload for the U.S. Space Force's Next-Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared, or Next-Gen OPIR GEO, Block 0 missile warning satellites designed and built by spacecraft prime contractor Lockheed Martin. Testing was completed on Jan. 27, 2022. "Space is a dynamic environment. Ensuring our instruments are pr
Declining value of space SPACs could trigger mergers and acquisitions
Saturday, 12 February 2022 23:52Space companies that went public in the last year only to see their valuation drop precipitously may soon become targets of acquisitions.
The post Declining value of space SPACs could trigger mergers and acquisitions appeared first on SpaceNews.
U.S. intelligence wants to track currently undetectable orbital space debris
Saturday, 12 February 2022 19:04The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity in a request for information asks for 'innovative approaches to detect and track currently undetectable orbital space debris'
The post U.S. intelligence wants to track currently undetectable orbital space debris appeared first on SpaceNews.
Office of Space Commerce rolls out prototype space catalog for traffic management
Saturday, 12 February 2022 17:17Commerce Department officials on Feb. 11 revealed a prototype for a space catalog and traffic software platform that would provide basic situational awareness and traffic management services.
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The devil's in the detail
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34Chaotic mounds, wind-sculpted ripples and dust devil tracks: this image shows a fascinating and otherworldly landscape near Hooke Crater in Mars' southern highlands. The image was taken by the CaSSIS camera onboard the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) on 1 February 2021, and shows part of Argyre Planitia, centred at 46.2 S/318.3 E. This type of scenery is similar to 'cha
Rocket ready for record-setting role
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34A modified version of China's Long March 8 carrier rocket is scheduled to make its debut flight in the coming weeks to transport 22 satellites into orbit, a designer said. Chen Xiaofei, from the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in Beijing, said on Wednesday that if the launch mission succeeds, it will set a record for the most spacecraft launched by a single Chinese rocket.
Rocket Lab brings forward launch for earth imaging company Synspective
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB), a global leader in launch services and space systems, has announced the launch window for a dedicated Electron mission for Japanese Earth imaging company Synspective. The 14-day launch window opens February 28th UTC and will lift-off from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. Originally slated to launch after Rocket Lab's next mission for another cust
Sols 3383-3384: Picking Our Way to the Pediment
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34We are continuing our traverse towards the "Greenheugh pediment." We passed along this area on our detour to The Prow, and our sedimentologists have a long list of imaging wishes, features which caught their eyes on the initial pass through and which we now get the chance to really examine in detail as we skirt along the base of the pediment. From today's vantage point, Mastcam and ChemCam
Advanced Space, USAF sign deal to collaborate on Cislunar Activities
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34Advanced Space LLC., a leading space solutions company, has entered into a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Space Vehicles Directorate, and the Spacecraft Technology Division to share data collected from cislunar space through the CAPSTONE mission. Advanced Space owns and operates the CAPSTONE mission going to the Mo
In Place at Rimplas
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34Three abrasions and four sample cores later, the rover has finally departed the Seitah area and is embarking on the return leg of the crater floor campaign. One major difference between the "out" trip and this return trip is the pace of Perseverance's driving. As we drove towards Seitah earlier in the mission, our average daily drive distance was shorter, in part because we were doing scie
NASA Telescope Spots Highest-Energy Light Ever Detected From Jupiter
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34The planet's auroras are known to produce low-energy X-ray light. A new study finally reveals higher-frequency X-rays and explains why they eluded another mission 30 years ago. Scientists have been studying Jupiter up close since the 1970s, but the gas giant is still full of mysteries. New observations by NASA's NuSTAR space observatory have revealed the highest-energy light ever detected
Early findings from HERA telescope promise deeper understanding of the cosmic dawn
Saturday, 12 February 2022 02:34All through history, humans have created and shared stories that ponder the creation of stars - what they are and how the first stars came to be. Now, with new results from the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA), a radio telescope located at the South Africa Karoo Astronomy Reserve, MIT scientists are one small, but significant, step closer to understanding that history. HERA rese