Copernical Team
Five things to know about the International Space Station
Here are some key facts about the orbiting laboratory set up to advance space exploration—and prepare to send humans to Mars—where Russians and Americans have worked together for a quarter of a century.
Size of a football field
The ISS is the largest man-made structure ever put into orbit.
Launched in 1998 by the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and members of the European Space Agency (ESA) it is the size of a football field and weighs about the same as a jam-packed Boeing 747.
Built at a total cost of about 100 billion dollars, mostly paid for by the US, it orbits the Earth every 90 minutes at an average altitude of 400 kilometres (250 miles).
It has been permanently occupied since November 2000 by Russian and American-led crews that usually stay for around six months to carry out experiments in microgravity (weightlessness) which have practical applications on Earth and help prepare for future Mars missions.
Webb confirms its first exoplanet
Researchers have confirmed the presence of an exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope for the first time. Formally classified as LHS 475 b, the planet is almost exactly the same size as our own, clocking in at 99% of Earth’s diameter.
Russia to launch new capsule to return space station crew
NASA wants you to help study planets around other stars
More than 5,000 planets have been confirmed to exist outside our solar system, featuring a wide array of characteristics like clouds made of glass and twin suns. Scientists estimate there could be millions more exoplanets in our home galaxy alone, which means professional astronomers could use your help tracking and studying them.
This is where Exoplanet Watch comes in. Participants in the SwRI scientists find evidence for magnetic reconnection between Ganymede and Jupiter
In June 2021, NASA's Juno spacecraft flew close to Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, observing evidence of magnetic reconnection. A team led by Southwest Research Institute used Juno data to examine the electron and ion particles and magnetic fields as the magnetic field lines of Jupiter and Ganymede merged, snapped and reoriented, heating and accelerating the charged particles in the region. NASA scientists study life origins by simulating a cosmic evolution
Amino acids make up millions of proteins that drive the chemical gears of life, including essential bodily functions in animals. Because of amino acids' relationship to living things scientists are eager to understand the origins of these molecules. After all, amino acids may have helped spawn life on Earth after being delivered here about 4 billion years ago by pieces of asteroids or comets. NASA missions find 'jetlets' could power the solar wind
Scientists with NASA's Parker Solar Probe mission have uncovered significant new clues about the origins of the solar wind - a continual stream of charged particles released from the Sun that fills the solar system.
Observations from multiple space and ground-based observatories show the solar wind could be largely fueled by small-scale jets, or "jetlets," at the base of the corona - the S The enduring stellar lifecycle in 30 Doradus
The largest and brightest region of star formation in the Local Group of galaxies, including the Milky Way, is called 30 Doradus (or, informally, the Tarantula Nebula). Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way, 30 Doradus has long been studied by astronomers who want to better understand how stars like the Sun are born and evolve.
NASA's Chandra X-ray Ovzon selects Dispersive to enhance satellite communications security
Dispersive Holdings Inc. (Dispersive), a rapidly emerging leader in the stealth networking and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) arena, and Ovzon, a world-leading provider of SATCOM-as-a-Service and mobile satellite communications solutions, have reached an agreement in which Ovzon will utilize Dispersive to provide enhanced, secure satellite communications as part of their total solution. Lynk launches world's 2nd and 3rd commercial Cell-Towers-in-Space
Lynk Global, Inc. (Lynk), the world's leading satellite-direct-to-standard-phone telecoms company, has reported the successful launch and deployment of two more satellites in the company's commercial cell-towers-in-space constellation. These satellites are covered by the world's first and only commercial satellite-direct-to-standard-phone license that Lynk received from the FCC in September 2022