Washington DC (UPI) Sep 2, 2021
NASA welcomed reports Thursday that Russia's space agency is committed to supporting the International Space Station as long as it operates, administrator Bill Nelson said. "I look forward to continued cooperation with Roscosmos on the International Space Station until 2030 and into the future," Nelson said in the emailed statement. The space station's official decommission date

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 2, 2021
NASA won't send astronauts to Mars for at least a decade, but the agency said interest is running high in applying for a year's stint in a simulated home base on the Red Planet. The space agency's simulation is to begin in fall 2022 inside a 3D-printed habitat at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Applications are due Sept. 17. And being chosen for this simulation seems as difficul

Virgin Orbit is looking to grow its military business by proving that rockets launched from airplanes in flight can be instruments of national security.

SpaceNews

Video: 00:03:42

Experience the preparation and launch of telecommunications satellite Eutelsat Quantum by watching this unique timelapse video.

Developed under an ESA Partnership Project with satellite operator Eutelsat and prime manufacturer Airbus, Eutelsat Quantum has pioneered a new generation of satellites with the European space industry.

The footage was captured at the Airbus facility in Toulouse – where the satellite was assembled and tested – and Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.

The world’s first fully software-defined satellite – which will be used for communication in government, mobility and data markets – was launched on board an Ariane 5 on 30 July.

Following its

Firefly Aerospace is ready for the first orbital launch attempt of its Alpha rocket on a flight that is as much about collecting vehicle data as it is about reaching orbit.

SpaceNews

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 1, 2021
NASA wants four people to test the limits of human isolation by placing them in a simulated Mars habitat for a year, cut off from the world except for delayed communication and possible simulated spacesuit walks. The simulation, planned for Johnson Space Center in Houston, won't be the first time the space agency attempts to mimic a stay on Mars, but it will be one of the longest.

Tempe AZ (SPX) Sep 02, 2021
In the early solar system, terrestrial planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are thought to have formed from planetesimals, small early planets. These early planets grew over time, through collisions and mergers, to make them the size they are today. The material released from these violent collisions is commonly thought to have escaped and orbited around the sun, bombarding the grow

Flagstaff AZ (SPX) Sep 02, 2021
The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails. Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them. Rou

Leiden, Netherlands (SPX) Sep 02, 2021
Conventional theory states that light stars like our Sun gently blow off their layers when they die, while heavy stars explode as a supernova. But for some reason, we are so far failing to find supernovae from stars heavier than eighteen solar masses. Now a team led by SRON astronomers finds a new clue that fuels this apparent mystery. Publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. The rese

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 02, 2021
The familiar star at the center of our solar system has had billions of years to mature and ultimately provide life-giving energy to us here on Earth. But a very long time ago, our sun was just a growing baby star. What did the sun look like when it was so young? That's long been a mystery that, if solved, could teach us about the formation of our solar system-so-named because sol is the Latin w