Astra to make next orbital launch attempt in late August for the Space Force
Thursday, 05 August 2021 16:56
Small launch vehicle developer Astra will carry a test payload for the U.S. Space Force on its next attempt to reach orbit in August.
Missile defense space sensor made by Northrop Grumman and Ball Aerospace clears design review
Thursday, 05 August 2021 14:43
A new sensor payload developed by Northrop Grumman Corporation and Ball Aerospace to detect missile launches has passed a critical design review.
What lies beneath the far side of the moon?
Thursday, 05 August 2021 13:50
A new technique for processing lunar radar data has allowed scientists to see what lies beneath the surface of the moon in the clearest ever detail.
In a study led by the University of Aberdeen, a team of researchers discovered multiple layers of soil that lie directly beneath an area on the far side of the moon's surface, overturning an existing theory of a single deep layer in the same area.
The area studied was the landing site of the Chang'E-4 spacecraft mission—the first to the far side of the moon.
Analysis of radar data captured by the mission's rover, Yutu-2, had suggested the existence of a single soil layer in the moon's regolith (subsurface). However, the data did not indicate the existence of different layers of soil, which were transparent to electromagnetic waves due to the smooth boundaries between them.
By developing a new method of processing the data captured by Yutu-2, which uses the shape of radar signatures of buried rocks and boulders to infer the properties of surrounding lunar soil and detect previously unseen layers with smooth boundaries, scientists were able to detect four distinct layers of soil, stacked to a depth of 12 meters.
Op-ed | China’s Success in Space Calls for Caution in Pursuing a New Treaty for Outer Space
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:57
Any decision by the U.S. to pursue a new treaty for outer space should take into account whether the worldview espoused by the U.S. and its allies is solidified in international law and has the political will to prevail over attempts by China and its client states to subvert an enacted treaty.
Lunar samples solve mystery of the moon's supposed magnetic shield
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:05
In 2024, a new age of space exploration will begin when NASA sends astronauts to the moon as part of their Artemis mission, a follow-up to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Some of the biggest questions that scientists hope to explore include determining what resources are found in the moon's soil and how those resources might be used to sustain life.
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the University of Rochester, leading a team of colleagues at seven other institutions, report their findings on a major factor that influences the types of resources that may be found on the moon: whether or not the moon has had a long-lived magnetic shield at any point in its 4.53 billion-year history.
Planet and SpaceX announce multiyear launch agreement
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:00
Planet announced a multiyear agreement Aug. 5 that designates SpaceX as the Earth-observation company’s “go-to-launch provider through the end of 2025.”
China’s space station emerges as competitor to commercial ventures
Thursday, 05 August 2021 10:41
Companies involved with commercial activities on the International Space Station or planning their own space stations may face a new competitor in China’s new space station.
Satellites reveal how forests increase cloud and cool climate
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:45
Forests are not only key to moderating our climate by sequestering atmospheric carbon, but they also create a cooling effect by increasing low-level cloud. A first global assessment using satellite observations has shown that for two-thirds of the world, afforestation increases low-level cloud cover, with the effect being strongest over evergreen needleleaf forest.
Helicopter scouts ridge area for Perseverance
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite photo or two from their mission. For Kevin Hand, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and co-lead of the Perseverance rover's first science campaign, his latest favorite is a 3D image of low-lying wrinkles in the surface of Jezero Crater. The science team calls this area "Raised Ridges." NASA's Ingenuity Mars H North-By-Northwest for Ingenuity's 11th Flight
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
We're heading northwest for the 11th flight of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will happen no earlier than Wednesday night, Aug. 4. The mission profile is designed to stay ahead of the rover - supporting its future science goals in the "South Seitah" region, where it will be able to gather aerial imagery in support of future Perseverance Mars rover surface operations in the area.
H Juno joins Japan's Hisaki satellite and Keck Observatory to solve "energy crisis" on Jupiter
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Sitting more than five times the distance from the Sun as Earth, Jupiter is not expected to be particularly warm. Based on the amount of sunlight received, the average temperature in the planet's upper atmosphere should be about minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit or a chilly minus 73 Celsius. Instead, the measured value soars to around 800 degrees Fahrenheit or 426 Celsius. The source of this extra he NASA launches x-ray spectrometer mission to probe mysteries of solar corona
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
NASA researchers successfully launched a sophisticated X-ray solar imager on a brief but potentially illuminating suborbital flight via sounding rocket to gather new insight regarding how and why the Sun's corona grows so much hotter than the actual surface of Earth's parent star.
Developers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, call the mission "MaGIXS" - short fo Experiment bound for Space Station turns down the heat
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
A lot of power means a lot of heat. NASA's future missions to explore the Moon and Mars will require enormous amounts of electrical power and hardware to support astronauts and drive new technologies. This increase in power, however, also increases the amount of heat generated-and then that heat needs to be removed so all the spacecraft systems can function.
To remove heat efficiently and NASA satellites help plan future for Palau fish stocks
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
It's the weekend, and freshly caught fish sizzles on the grill. The view: an unforgettable beach and the cobalt blues of the Pacific Ocean in the backdrop.
This is not paradise. It's a typical Sunday for many people in Palau, an archipelago nation in Micronesia.
"We would go to the Rock Islands, spend a couple of nights there, and we would go fishing," recalled Fabio Siksei, a fisher Trapped saltwater caused mangrove death after Hurricane Irma
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
When Hurricane Irma hit southern Florida in September of 2017, the storm buffeted coastal mangrove forests with winds over 116 mph - strong enough to rip off leaves, break branches, and snap tree trunks in half. Of the mangrove forest damaged by Hurricane Irma, about 83% recovered after the first year. But the rest didn't, leaving scientists wondering why some trees didn't bounce back.
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