A pair of experiments exploring bone density, designed by engineers at the University of Michigan, has left the Wallops Island, Virginia launchpad aboard a Northrop Grumman Corp. Antares rocket for the International Space Station (ISS).

Allen Liu, U-M associate professor of mechanical engineering, and members of his research team detail how experiments in space can shed light on osteoporosis, a condition affecting hundreds of millions of people around the world—as well as how to keep astronauts safer.

What's the connection between bone density, osteoporosis and gravity that makes this space-based research relevant to regular people?

Zimbabwe on Monday announced the launch of its first nano-satellite into space in a bid to help collect data to monitor disasters, boost agriculture and enhance mineral mapping.

A rocket carrying the tiny satellite, dubbed ZIMSAT-1, successfully launched from Virginia in the United States alongside Uganda's first satellite as part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) multi-nation project.

"History unfolding.#ZimSat1 now space bound!" government spokesman Nick Mangwana wrote in a tweet. "This is a scientific milestone for the country."

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) tweeted Monday the rocket "will carry experiments about plant mutations and mudflow structure, as well as satellites from Japan, Uganda & Zimbabwe".

Zimbabwe's plans to launch the satellite started in 2018, less than a year after President Emmerson Mnangagwa came into office following the removal of veteran ruler Robert Mugabe through a military coup.

He created the Zimbabwean National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) to promote research and innovation in the embattled southern African nation.

The launch of the satellite—barely the size of a shoebox—sparked much debate on social media with some hailing the government for the achievement while others mocked the effort.

"Launching a satellite when the economy is fragile is stupidity.

A Northrop Grumman cargo capsule ran into trouble with a solar panel after Monday's liftoff to the International Space Station.

Only one of the two solar panels on the Cygnus capsule opened successfully following the predawn liftoff from Virginia.

Northrop Grumman officials assured NASA that there's enough power from the solar panel for Wednesday's planned space station rendezvous, but the space agency was still assessing the situation.

It's too early to know whether the capsule would be stable enough to be captured by the space station's robot arm, if the problem persists, said NASA's Dina Contella, a space station manager.

Northrop Grumman launched the capsule from coastal Wallops Island with more than 8,200 pounds of equipment and experiments, including brackets needed for upcoming spacewalks to upgrade the space station's power grid. It's dubbed the S.S. Sally Ride after the first American woman in space who died a decade ago.

The Virginia-based company has been sending shipments to the space station since 2013. There's been only one failure in its previous 18 supply runs, a launch explosion in 2014.

SpaceX is NASA's other contracted delivery service.

For 40 years, people have used space-based sensors to measure the amount of light coming from the sun, which gives scientists insight into climate change on Earth.

Most of the energy powering Earth's climate system comes from sunlight. So, if scientists measure the energy hitting Earth from the sun, and also measure the energy leaving Earth, then they can determine how much energy remains behind.

Scientists measure the sunlight reaching Earth from space. The quantity they are measuring—called the "total solar irradiance" (TSI)—includes all the energy from all the different wavelengths of light coming out of the sun, from ultraviolet through visible and into infrared.

However, the devices currently being used to monitor the TSI are comparatively expensive to build and launch.