Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
Since its launch on Christmas day, astronomers have eagerly followed the complex deployment and unfurling of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - the largest to ever take to the skies. Right around the time this article is published, it's expected Webb will have reached a place called the Earth-Sun "second Lagrange point", or "L2". This is a point in space about 1.5 million kilometres away

Berkeley CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
NASA's latest and snazziest satellite, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on Christmas Day, deployed its 21-foot-wide mirror a mere two weeks ago and reached its orbital destination earlier this week. With a flashy new telescope now nearly a reality, astronomers at the University of California, Berkeley, are chomping at the bit to start observing. After months of anxiety about

New York NY (SPX) Jan 25, 2022
The forensic evidence left in the 14 Her giant planetary system suggests an active dynamical past. Two giant planets, several times more massive than Jupiter, in highly eccentric orbits around a solar-type star were found orbiting at nearly right angles to each other. In the recently published paper "14 Her: a likely case of planet-planet scattering," Daniella Bardalez Gagliuffi-a senior m

San Antonio, TX (SPX) Jan 26, 2022
A Southwest Research Institute scientist measured the properties of ice-brine mixtures as cold as -145 degrees Fahrenheit to help confirm that salty water likely exists between grains of ice or sediment under the ice cap at Mars' south pole. Laboratory measurements conducted by SwRI geophysicist Dr. David Stillman support oddly bright reflections detected by the MARSIS subsurface sounding radar

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 26, 2022
The weekend plan included a short drive (or bump) to get us closer to one of the interesting, more resistant ledges that are exposed in this area ("The Prow"), as Curiosity continues her climb up Mount Sharp. These resistant ledges have caught our attention because they reveal distinct textures. Being able to get close-up, high resolution imaging accompanied by compositional data, will help the

Urbana IL (SPX) Jan 25, 2022
A satellite on a science mission to Mars aims for a low-altitude orbit, but the lower the orbit, the more propellant is required to enter orbit when arriving from Earth. To save propellant, a technique called aerobraking uses a small propulsive maneuver for orbit insertion to enter a large orbit; the satellite then makes many passes through the upper atmosphere, using drag on the solar panels to

Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 26, 2022
Refusal of the United States to issue an entry visa for Russian cosmonaut Nikolay Chub, who was to undergo training at the NASA space center, threatens his safety during his stay at the International Space Station (ISS), as well as the safety of his US colleagues, Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos said on Saturday. Earlier in the day, a source told Sputnik that the US did not gran

Houston TX (SPX) Jan 25, 2022
More than 3,000 experiments have been conducted aboard the International Space Station during the 21 years humans have been living and working in space. These experiments have provided insights helping improve life back on Earth and explore farther into the solar system. Researchers have shared these results in thousands of scientific publications. Over the past few months, scientists shar

Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 26, 2022
SpaceX launched its first deep-space mission in February 2015. The uncrewed Falcon 9 transported the refrigerator-sized Deep Space Climate Observatory into the void. However, because it doesn't have enough fuel to return to Earth and land on a floating platform as planned, the rocket will instead be ploughed into the Moon. In a first, a Space X rocket that has been navigating deep space si

Beijing (XNA) Jan 26, 2022
China on Monday conducted a test flight for a new engine that experts said could power China's future hypersonic aircraft and near-space plane. The engine, developed by the Laboratory of Spray Combustion and Propulsion under School of Aerospace Engineering at Tsinghua University, successfully conducted a flight test on Monday morning, China Central Television (CCTV) reported. A two