Boston MA (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Each day, new and innovative space technologies are being developed in countries around the world, and with that, a steady stream of satellites, rockets, cargo ships, and crew vehicles are being launched into the Earth's orbit and beyond. So what happens to these systems when they come to the end of their functional life, or malfunction and break? Some are programmed to re-enter the Earth'

London, UK (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Singularities such as those at the centre of black holes, where density becomes infinite, are often said to be places where physics 'breaks down'. However, this doesn't mean that 'anything' could happen, and physicists are interested in which laws could break down, and how. Now, a research team from Imperial College London and the Cockcroft Institute and Lancaster University have proposed

Albuquerque NM (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
Like two superheroes finally joining forces, Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine - generator of the world's most powerful electrical pulses - and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility - the planet's most energetic laser source - in a series of 10 experiments have detailed the responses of gold and platinum at pressures so extreme that their atomic structures mom

Boston MA (SPX) Jun 28, 2021
We may be on the brink of a new paradigm for nuclear power, a group of nuclear specialists suggested recently in The Bridge, the journal of the National Academy of Engineering. Much as large, expensive, and centralized computers gave way to the widely distributed PCs of today, a new generation of relatively tiny and inexpensive factory-built reactors, designed for autonomous plug-and-play operat

TAMPA, Fla. — Astroscale is joining forces with four satellite ground station providers to deliver the level of connectivity it needs for the world’s first commercial debris removal demonstration this year.

Manchester UK (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
On the morning of June 17, China launched its long-awaited Shenzhou-12 spacecraft, carrying three Chinese astronauts - or taikonauts - towards the Tianhe core module. The module itself was launched at the end of April, forming part of the permanent Tiangong space station, which is planned to remain in orbit for the next ten years. China's construction of its own space station stems from th

Moscow (Sputnik) Jun 29, 2021
The robotic vehicle has been roaming the Martian surface since 2018. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, InSight's main aim is to measure the planet's seismic activity as well as to provide accurate 3D models of its interior. NASA has revealed that its Martian lander InSight may die this year due to Martian dust. According to the space agency, dust had affected 80 percent of the

Belfast UK (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
Jupiter's clouds have water conditions that would allow Earth-like life to exist, but this isn't possible in Venus' clouds, according to the groundbreaking finding of new research led by a Queen's University Belfast scientist. For some decades, space exploration missions have looked for evidence of life beyond Earth where we know that large bodies of water, such as lakes or oceans, exist o

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jun 29, 2021
A worldwide team led by UC Santa Barbara scientists at Las Cumbres Observatory has discovered the first convincing evidence for a new type of stellar explosion - an electron-capture supernova. While they have been theorized for 40 years, real-world examples have been elusive. They are thought to arise from the explosions of massive super-asymptotic giant branch (SAGB) stars, for which ther

Paris (ESA) Jun 29, 2021
Using data originally gathered for spacecraft 'housekeeping' aboard ESA's Rosetta and Mars Express missions, scientists have revealed how intense bursts of high-energy radiation, known as cosmic rays, behave at Mars and throughout the inner Solar System. Housekeeping data are gathered by most spacecraft and components, and is used by engineering teams to monitor spacecraft health and diagn