Copernical Team
Soyuz rocket carrying first Belorussian woman in space en route to ISS
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Two astronauts from Belarus and the U.S. have set off for the International Space Station together with a Russian cosmonaut, marking the first time that a woman from Belarus is traveling to space.
The Soyuz MS-25 spacecraft lifted off from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 12:36 GMT.
A first launch attempt had been aborted 20 seconds before takeoff on Thursday due to technical problems.
Saturday's launch saw Belorussian astronaut Marina Vasilevskaya, who is being accompanied by NASA astronaut Tracy Dyson and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky, becoming the first woman from her country to make it into space.
Space cooperation between the U.S. and Russia, including Moscow's ally Belarus, continues despite the U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The launch also saw two women aboard a Soyuz capsule flying to the ISS for the first time.
This is Dyson's third flight into space and Novitsky's fourth.
Vasilevskaya works as a flight attendant for the Belorussian company Belavia. During her two-week stay on the ISS, she will carry out scientific experiments and take spectral images of the Earth's surface.
Saturn's moon Enceladus top target for ESA
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A fresh, icy crust hides a deep, enigmatic ocean. Plumes of water burst through cracks in the ice, shooting into space. An intrepid lander collects samples and analyses them for hints of life.
ESA has started to turn this scene into a reality, devising a mission to investigate an ocean world around either Jupiter or Saturn. But which moon should we choose? What should the mission do exactly? A team of expert scientists has delivered their findings.
Help make an orbital megastructure with genetic computation
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More than two hundred years into the future, our descendants contemplate creating the largest single structure in human history for the next evolutionary leap: a multi-generational starship capable of bringing people to the first truly Earth-like exoplanet. Yet this interstellar ark – to be self-assembled out of builder units in Earth orbit – will be sufficiently complex as well as vast that even designing it involves formidable mathematical challenges. And this odyssey needs to be preceded by a mammoth astronomy effort to prospect the way ahead, involving a formation of orbital telescopes able to operate together as one, yielding
Building ChatGPT-style tools with Earth observation
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Imagine being able to ask a chatbot, “Can you make me an extremely accurate classification map of crop cultivation in Kenya?” or “Are buildings subsiding in my street?” And imagine that the information that comes back is scientifically sound and based on verified Earth observation data.
ESA, in conjunction with technology partners, is working to make such a tool a reality by developing AI applications that will revolutionise information retrieval in Earth observation.
US Moon lander 'permanently' asleep after historic landing: Company
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An uncrewed American lander that became the first private spaceship on the moon has met its ultimate end after failing to "wake up," the company that built it said.
Houston-based Intuitive Machines said late Saturday that the lander, named Odysseus, had not phoned home this week when its solar panels were projected to receive enough sunlight to turn on its radio.
The lander touched down at a wonky angle on February 22, but was still able to complete several tests and send back photos before its mission was determined to have ended a week later, as it entered a weeks-long lunar night.
Intuitive Machines had hoped that it might "wake up" once it received sunlight again, as Japan's SLIM spaceship—which landed upside down in January—did last month.
Space-connected ambulances improve patient care
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Satellites are helping to improve at-home patient care for those living in remote areas of the UK. ESA and the UK Space Agency (UKSA) are working with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) to trial the Digital Ambulance of the Future project, which enables paramedics to stay connected to vital patient data, support and resources as they serve people in remote areas. The ultimate aim is to improve patient care and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
NASA touts space research in anti-cancer fight
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Experiments in the weightless environment of space have led to "crazy progress" in the fight against cancer, NASA officials said at a recent event highlighting an important and personal initiative of US President Joe Biden.
Space is "a unique place for research," astronaut Frank Rubio said at the event in Washington.
The 48-year-old, a physician and former military helicopter pilot, conducted cancer research during his recent mission to the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting some 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Not only do cells there age more rapidly, speeding up research, their structures are also described as "purer."
"They all don't clump together (as they do) on Earth because of gravity. They are suspended in space," enabling better analysis of their molecular structures, NASA chief Bill Nelson told AFP in an interview.
Research conducted in space can help make cancer drugs more effective, Nelson added.
Pharmaceutical giant Merck has conducted research on the ISS with Keytruda, an anti-cancer drug that patients now receive intravenously.
Its key ingredient is difficult to transform into a liquid. One solution is crystallization, a process often used in drug manufacturing.
EPFL Study Illuminates How the Brain Understands Body Movement and Position
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Scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding how the brain senses our body's position and movement, known as proprioception. This discovery, led by Alexander Mathis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), offers significant insights into a process that allows humans to move freely without the need to visually monitor their limbs.
Proprioception relies on a net Sidus Space Revolutionizes Satellite Communication with Advanced 3D-Printed LizzieSat
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Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ: SIDU), a pioneering Space and Data-as-a-Service satellite firm, has achieved a significant milestone by establishing two-way communications with its innovative 3D-printed satellite, LizzieSat. This achievement underscores Sidus' commitment to advancing earth observation and remote sensing capabilities through Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (Geo-AI).
LizzieSat Gaia's Discovery Illuminates Ancient Star Streams Shaping the Milky Way
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ESA's Gaia space telescope has made a interesting discovery in the history of the Milky Way by identifying two ancient star streams, Shakti and Shiva, which played a crucial role in the formation of our galaxy over 12 billion years ago. These streams, predating the oldest parts of the Milky Way's spiral arms and disc, offer unprecedented insights into the early stages of galactic formation.