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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 26, 2024
A recent study reveals that NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft, which collided with the asteroid moon Dimorphos in 2022, permanently altered both its shape and its orbit. The impact deformed Dimorphos, creating a large crater and reshaping it to the extent that it disrupted the moon's natural evolutionary trajectory. Researchers now believe that Dimorphos might start "tumb
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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2024
A global team of 45 scientists studying meteor showers has uncovered that comets break apart in different ways when nearing the Sun, with these variations tied to the environments where the comets initially formed 4.5 billion years ago. The findings, recently published in the journal 'Icarus', suggest that these differences in comet disintegration are influenced by the conditions in the protopla
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Paris, France (SPX) Aug 23, 2024
The third European Service Module (ESM-3) for NASA's Orion spacecraft has departed from Airbus' Bremen, Germany, facilities, bound for Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This module will be integrated with the Crew Module in preparation for the Artemis III mission, which will see astronauts return to the lunar surface for the first time since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. Constructed by Air
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London, UK (SPX) Aug 26, 2024
A team of researchers has identified a rare binary star system, estimated to be around 10 billion years old, that has traveled from the remote regions of the Milky Way's halo to our local stellar neighborhood. The international team, including experts from the University of Hertfordshire, the UK, Spain, and China, made the discovery while examining stars near Earth. They identified a pair
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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 23, 2024
The violent collapse of massive, rapidly spinning stars could generate detectable gravitational waves, according to new research published in 'The Astrophysical Journal Letters'. Scientists suggest that these waves, resulting from collapsing stars known as collapsars, are just waiting to be discovered by current observatories. These gravitational waves are produced when stars, 15 to 20 tim
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Could 2 NASA astronauts be stuck at the space station until next year? A decision is imminent
NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on the Boeing Starliner capsule to the international space station. Credit: AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File

Will two NASA astronauts return to Earth soon in their troubled Boeing capsule? Or wait at the International Space Station for a ride home next year with SpaceX?

NASA has been wrestling with that decision ever since Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the orbiting lab in early June on what was supposed to be a weeklong test flight.

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Researchers identify effective materials for protecting astronauts from harmful cosmic radiation on Mars
Visualization of the rays’ trajectories originating from a pencil beam with a small beam angle. Credit: The European Physical Journal Plus (2024). DOI: 10.1140/epjp/s13360-024-05519-y

Researchers have identified specific materials, including certain plastics, rubber, and synthetic fibers, as well as Martian soil (regolith), which would effectively protect astronauts by blocking harmful space radiation on Mars. These findings could inform the design of protective habitats and spacesuits, making long-duration Mars missions more feasible. Because Mars lacks Earth's thick atmosphere and magnetic field, astronauts exploring the planet would be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.

Dimitra Atri, Investigator, Center for Astrophysics and Space Science and Group Leader of the Mars Research Group at NYU Abu Dhabi's Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, and lead author Dionysios Gakis from the University of Patras in Greece, report these new findings in "Modeling the effectiveness of radiation shielding materials for astronaut protection on Mars," appearing in the journal The European Physical Journal Plus.

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Comparing two proposed NASA missions to Jupiter's moon Io
Juno captured this image of Io during Perijove 57. Juno's images of the volcanic moon are adding momentum to the calls for a mission to the moon. Is it time? Credit: NASA / SWRI / MSSS / Jason Perry

Thanks to NASA's Juno mission to the Jupiter system, we're getting our best looks ever at the gas giant's volcanic moon Io. Even as Juno provides our best views of the moon, it also deepens our existing questions. Only a dedicated mission to Io can answer those questions, and there are two proposed missions.

Io is well-known as the most geologically active world in the solar system, and it's not even close.

Week in images: 19-23 August 2024

Friday, 23 August 2024 12:10
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Juice NavCam view of the Moon

Week in images: 19-23 August 2024

Discover our week through the lens

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