Copernical Team
Using exoplanets to study dark matter
More than 5,000 planets have been discovered beyond our solar system, allowing scientists to explore planetary evolution and consider the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Now, a UC Riverside study published in Physical Review D suggests that these "exoplanets" could also serve as tools to investigate dark matter.
The researchers examined how dark matter, which makes up 85% of the un
New Horizons begins record hibernation in Kuiper Belt
At 4:12 a.m. EDT on Aug. 7, mission controllers at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory confirmed that New Horizons had safely entered hibernation mode. The spacecraft, operating more than 5.7 billion miles (9.2 billion kilometers) from Earth in the Kuiper Belt, acted on commands uploaded July 23. The confirmation signal required 8 hours and 31 minutes to reach Earth, traveling at light spee Fresh twist to mystery of Jupiter's core
The mystery at Jupiter's heart has taken a fresh twist - as new research suggests a giant impact may not have been responsible for the formation of its core.
It had been thought that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of Jupiter's core material could have mixed up the central region of the gas giant, enough to explain its interior today Jupiter core mystery not explained by giant planetary impact
A new Durham University study challenges the idea that Jupiter's unusual dilute core was formed by a giant collision, overturning a leading explanation of the planet's interior structure.
Jupiter's core does not have a sharp boundary but gradually merges into its hydrogen-rich layers. This dilute core was first revealed by NASA's Juno spacecraft, sparking debate about how it formed. Earlie Solar System Internet Achieves Breakthrough DTN Edge Processing Test on Lunar Mission
In a milestone for interplanetary communications, Lonestar Data Holdings confirmed the successful test of the Solar System Internet's Delay Tolerant Network (DTN) aboard its lunar data center mission launched on Intuitive Machines' Athena lander in February.
The demonstration validated the use of DTN technology, engineered to maintain robust communications in high-latency space environment NASA's Artemis II lunar science operations to inform future missions
NASA's Artemis II mission, set to send four astronauts on a nearly 10-day mission around the Moon and back, will advance the agency's goal to land astronauts at the Moon's south polar region and will help set the stage for future crewed Mars missions.
While the Artemis II crew will be the first humans to test NASA's Orion spacecraft in space, they will also conduct science investigations
Close-up views of NASA's DART impact to inform planetary defense
On Sept. 11, 2022, engineers at a flight control center in Turin, Italy, sent a radio signal into deep space. Its destination was NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) spacecraft flying toward an asteroid more than 5 million miles away.
The message prompted the spacecraft to execute a series of pre-programmed commands that caused a small, shoebox-sized satellite contributed by t
Curiosity Captures Mars Landscape While Talking to an Orbiter
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover demonstrated a new multitasking capability when capturing this view: It snapped the 15 images that make up the mosaic while simultaneously communicating with an orbiter. The images were taken by the right navigation camera on Curiosity's mast July 26, 2025, the 4,611th sol, or day, of the mission. The rover's tracks cross through a region filled with boxwork formation Rocket Lab marks milestone with 70th Electron launch
Rocket Lab Corporation has achieved its 70th successful Electron mission, underscoring the rocket's status as the world's most frequently launched small orbital vehicle and reinforcing the company's role as a leader in responsive space launch services.
The mission, called "Live, Laugh, Launch," lifted off from Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand on August 23 at 22:42 UTC. The launch occ Musk's megarocket faces crucial new test after failures
Elon Musk's SpaceX is gearing up for the next test of its Starship megarocket on Sunday, after a string of recent failures that has prompted some observers to question its viability.
The world's most powerful launch vehicle is set to lift off from the company's Starbase in southern Texas at 6:30 pm local time (2330 GMT) for its tenth flight.
The mission aims to put the upper stage t