A newly identified virus emerges from the deep
Tuesday, 03 October 2023 09:14
The Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth, plunges nearly 11,000 meters at its lowest point on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Life persists in the deep and cold darkness, and "wherever there's life, you can bet there are regulators at work," said marine virologist Min Wang, Ph.D, at the Ocean University of China, in Qingdao. "Viruses, in this case."
This week in Microbiology Spectrum As Earth heats up, rain pours down
Tuesday, 03 October 2023 09:14
Earth's land masses have a higher chance of becoming wetter than drier as temperatures rise. In a new study, researchers found that co-occurring precipitation and heat extremes will become more frequent, severe and widespread under climate change, more so than dry and hot conditions.
When wet-hot conditions strike, heat waves first dry out the soil and reduce its ability to absorb water. S Researchers illuminate "Snowball Earth" melting and early life evolution
Tuesday, 03 October 2023 09:14
A research team led by Prof. SHEN Yan'an from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) conducted a systematic study of the interglacial stratigraphy in South China by means of high-precision sulphur and mercury isotope analyses. This study introduced a new perspective, suggesting that the melting of the "Snowball Earth" induced large-scale US slaps TV provider with first-ever space debris fine
Tuesday, 03 October 2023 08:48
US authorities said they have issued a "breakthrough" first-ever fine over space debris, slapping a $150,000 penalty on a TV company that failed to properly dispose of a satellite.
On Monday the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) came down on Dish for "failure to properly deorbit" a satellite called EchoStar-7, in orbit since 2002.
"This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts," the FCC, which authorizes space-based telecom services, said in a statement.
As the geostationary satellite came to the end of its operational life, Dish had moved it to an altitude lower than the two parties had agreed on, where it "could pose orbital debris concerns," the FCC said.
Air Force Research Lab awards design contracts for nuclear powered spacecraft
Tuesday, 03 October 2023 08:30
China outlines Chang’e-8 resource utilization mission to the lunar south pole
Monday, 02 October 2023 19:48
SpaceX launches 69th orbital flight of the year with Canaveral liftoff
Monday, 02 October 2023 19:42
A SpaceX Falcon 9 took off for the 39th time from Cape Canaveral this year, marking the 49th SpaceX flight from the Space Coast and 69th orbital mission among all of its launch sites.
The rocket lifted off from Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 40 at 10 p.m. Friday after poor weather conditions delayed earlier attempts.
The first-stage booster made its 10th flight once again, making a recovery landing on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX has flown all but three of the Space Coast's 52 missions this year, with Relativity Space adding one and United Launch Alliance managing two more.
ULA, though, may have the next launch on tap as it announced a target liftoff of next Friday for an Atlas V rocket from neighboring Space Launch Complex 41 with a launch window that opens at 2 p.m.
Its payload is Amazon's first two test Project Kuiper satellites, which open the floodgates for ULA launches on a much more regular basis, as Amazon has purchased eight more Atlas rockets as well as 38 missions on its in-development Vulcan Centaur, which would together launch more than half of its planned 3,236-satellite constellation that would compete with the likes of SpaceX's Starlink.
SpaceNews Announces Promotion of Kamal Flucker to Global Sales Director
Monday, 02 October 2023 19:03
Space Force goal of a multi-vendor space network called impractical
Monday, 02 October 2023 17:39
NASA's New Horizons to continue exploring outer solar system
Monday, 02 October 2023 16:38
NASA has announced an updated plan to continue New Horizons' mission of exploration of the outer solar system.
Beginning in fiscal year 2025, New Horizons will focus on gathering unique heliophysics data, which can be readily obtained during an extended, low-activity mode of operations.
While the science community is not currently aware of any reachable Kuiper Belt object, this new path allows for the possibility of using the spacecraft for a future close flyby of such an object, should one be identified. It also will enable the spacecraft to preserve fuel and reduce operational complexity while a search is conducted for a compelling flyby candidate.
"The New Horizons mission has a unique position in our solar system to answer important questions about our heliosphere and provide extraordinary opportunities for multidisciplinary science for NASA and the scientific community," said Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "The agency decided that it was best to extend operations for New Horizons until the spacecraft exits the Kuiper Belt, which is expected in 2028 through 2029.
To study atmosphere, NASA rockets will fly into October eclipse's shadow
Monday, 02 October 2023 15:49
A NASA sounding rocket mission will launch three rockets during the 2023 annular eclipse in October to study how the sudden drop in sunlight affects our upper atmosphere.
On Oct. 14, 2023, viewers of an annular solar eclipse in the Americas will experience the sun dimming to 10% its normal brightness, leaving only a bright "ring of fire" of sunlight as the moon eclipses the sun.
Let the robot take the wheel: Autonomous navigation in space
Monday, 02 October 2023 15:44
Tracking spacecraft as they traverse deep space isn't easy. So far, it's been done manually, with operators of NASA's Deep Space Network, one of the most capable communication arrays for contacting probes on interplanetary journeys, checking data from each spacecraft to determine where it is in the solar system.
As more and more spacecraft start to make those harrowing trips between planets, that system will not be scalable. So engineers and orbital mechanics experts are rushing to solve this problem—and now a team from Politecnico di Milano has developed an effective technique that would be familiar to anyone who has seen an autonomous car.
Visual systems are at the heart of most autonomous vehicles here on Earth, and they are also the heart of the system outlined by Eleonora Andreis and her colleagues.
Massive low-Earth orbit communications satellites could disrupt astronomy
Monday, 02 October 2023 14:00
Observations of the BlueWalker 3 prototype satellite show it is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, outshining all but the brightest stars.
Astronomers have raised concerns that without mitigation, groups of large satellites could disrupt our ability to observe the stars from Earth and perform radio astronomy.
Several companies are planning "constellations" of satellites—groups of potentially hundreds of satellites that can deliver mobile or broadband services anywhere in the world.
However, these satellites need to be in "low-Earth" orbit and can be relatively large, so their potential to disrupt night-sky observations is a concern.
Now, an international team of scientists led by astronomers from the IAU Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS) and including Imperial College London researchers, have published a paper in Nature assessing the detailed impact of the prototype BlueWalker 3satellite on astronomy.