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Aside from sunlight, the Sun sends out a gusty stream of particles called the solar wind. The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission is the first to capture on camera this wind flying out from the Sun in a twisting, whirling motion. The solar wind particles spiral outwards as if caught in a cyclone that extends millions of kilometres from the Sun.

Solar wind rains down on Earth's atmosphere constantly, but the intensity of this rain depends on solar activity. More than just a space phenomenon, solar wind can disrupt our telecommunication and navigation systems.

Solar Orbiter is on a mission to

As maintaining leadership in space is a primary goal, particularly across the United States Space Force, NASA and other federal agencies, the U.S.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 26, 2025
Spirent Communications plc (LSE:SPT), a leader in test and assurance solutions for emerging network technologies, has been chosen by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to deliver an advanced lunar positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) simulation system. This groundbreaking tool is designed to underpin JAXA's ongoing lunar exploration efforts and support the creation of essential n

Pasadena CA (JPL) Mar 26, 2025
Earth planning date: Friday, March 21, 2025: It's the start of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere on Earth, but in Gale Crater on Mars our rover is still heading into the depths of Martian winter. We're just a few weeks away from Mars' aphelion - the time when it's farthest from the Sun. The Mars-Sun distance varies more significantly than the Earth-Sun distance because of the greater eccent

Paris, France (SPX) Mar 26, 2025
Atmospheric waves, which resemble ripples that spread across water surfaces, have long intrigued scientists for their role in planetary climate systems. A new international study titled "Atmospheric Gravity Waves in Mars' Lower Atmosphere: Nadir Observations From OMEGA/Mars Express Data" takes a deep dive into these features on Mars, uncovering major distinctions from Earth. Leveraging dat

Paris, France (SPX) Mar 26, 2025
ESA's Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) has reached NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, marking a pivotal step in its upcoming deployment to the International Space Station. This European-led mission is designed to explore the boundaries of fundamental physics by measuring time from orbit with extraordinary accuracy. Earlier in March, the ACES payload departed Europe and made its w

Boulder CO (SPX) Mar 18, 2025
For decades, atomic clocks have been the pinnacle of precision timekeeping, enabling GPS navigation, cutting-edge physics research, and tests of fundamental theories. But researchers at JILA, led by JILA and NIST Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Jun Ye, in collaboration with the Technical University of Vienna, are pushing beyond atomic transitions to something potentia

Tallahassee, FL (SPX) Mar 25, 2025
For decades, people have been trying to directly detect dark matter: the missing mass in our universe. Now, research from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering is making possible a new, super-sensitive detector - and even though it's still in the research and development phase, it's already been able to search for kinds of dark matter that other detectors can't find. Historically, most dark

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 26, 2025
NASA's Parker Solar Probe completed its 23rd close approach to the Sun on March 22, equaling its own distance record by coming within about 3.8 million miles (6.1 million kilometers) of the solar surface. The close approach (known as perihelion) occurred at 22:42 UTC - or 6:42 p.m. EDT - with Parker Solar Probe moving 430,000 miles per hour (692,000 kilometers per hour) around the Sun, aga