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Want to learn more about applications to ESA’s astronaut selection? Watch the replay of this media briefing to get an insight into the total number and spread of applications across all ESA Member and Associate Member states. Vacancies for the positions of astronaut and astronaut (with a physical disability) have closed on 18 June 2021, after a two-and-a-half-month-long application period.

College Station TX (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
Texas A and M University astronomer Nick Suntzeff has been involved with space research for 30 years and spent 20 years in Chile, where he helped co-discover dark matter. Below, he offers his thoughts about UFOs and whether or not we are alone in the universe. b>What can we expect from the government's official UFO report? br> /b> I have no idea what the report will say, but I doubt

London, UK (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
A new analysis of known exoplanets has revealed that Earth-like conditions on potentially habitable planets may be much rarer than previously thought. The work focuses on the conditions required for oxygen-based photosynthesis to develop on a planet, which would enable complex biospheres of the type found on Earth. The study is published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

Aspiring astronauts from across Europe are awaiting the next step in ESA’s astronaut selection, following the 18 June closure of the Agency’s first application period in 11 years.  

Richmond VA (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
Right above you is the sky - or as scientists would call it, the atmosphere. It extends about 20 miles (32 kilometers) above the Earth. Floating around the atmosphere is a mixture of molecules - tiny bits of air so small you take in billions of them every time you breathe. Above the atmosphere is space. It's called that because it has far fewer molecules, with lots of empty space between t

Beijing (XNA) Jun 23, 2021
Astronauts on board the core module of China's space station have a wide variety of foods specifically designed for them to enjoy during their three-month space journey, according to project leaders. Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Space Agency, said that there are more than 120 kinds of food and beverages inside the core module, named Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens. These

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 23, 2021
A Perseverance rover scientist's favorite shot from the young Mars mission provides a new angle on an old and intriguing surface feature. Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite image or two from their mission. For Apollo 8's Bill Anders, it was a picture looking back at the Earth from near the Moon. Astronaut Randy Bresnik prizes a photo of an aurora he took while aboard the I

Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
"Detecting primordial black holes opens up new perspectives to understand the origin of the Universe, because these still hypothetical black holes are supposed to have formed just a few tiny fractions of a second after the Big Bang. Their study is of great interest for research in theoretical physics and cosmology, because they could notably explain the origin of dark matter in the Universe".

Houston TX (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
We can't detect them yet, but radio signals from distant solar systems could provide valuable information about the characteristics of their planets. A paper by Rice University scientists describes a way to better determine which exoplanets are most likely to produce detectable signals based on magnetosphere activity on exoplanets' previously discounted nightsides. The study by Rice alumnu

Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
For many years now, astronomers and physicists have been in a conflict. Is the mysterious dark matter that we observe deep in the Universe real, or is what we see the result of subtle deviations from the laws of gravity as we know them? In 2016, Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde proposed a theory of the second kind: emergent gravity. New research, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics this w