Cornell astronomers show how terrain evolves on icy comets
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11With an eye toward a possible return mission years in the future, Cornell University astronomers have shown how smooth terrains - a good place to land a spacecraft and to scoop up samples - evolve on the icy world of comets. By applying thermal models to data gathered by the Rosetta mission - which caught up to the barbell-shaped Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko almost a decade ago - they s
NASA's Juno Mission Reveals Jupiter's Complex Colors
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11NASA's Juno spacecraft observed the complex colors and structure of Jupiter's clouds as it completed its 43rd close flyby of the giant planet on July 5, 2022. Citizen scientist Bjorn Jonsson created these two images using raw data from the JunoCam instrument aboard the spacecraft. At the time the raw image was taken, Juno was about 3,300 miles (5,300 kilometers) above Jupiter's cloud tops,
UVA joins Artemis missions to seek traces of extraterrestrial life
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11Was there ever life on the moon? What about on other planets? With the U.S. slated to blast off soon to orbit the moon - its first trip there in 50 years - the University of Virginia and NASA's Artemis space missions seek to answer big questions like these, while pushing the scope of what can be analyzed on alien soils. The new collaborative research will take the form of a roving, ground-
VLBA produces first full 3-D view of binary star-planet system
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11By precisely tracing a small, almost imperceptible, wobble in a nearby star's motion through space, astronomers have discovered a Jupiter-like planet orbiting that star, which is one of a binary pair. Their work, using the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), produced the first-ever determination of the complete, 3-dimensional structure of the orbits of a binary pair of
Webb Telescope takes its first-ever direct image of an exoplanet
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11For the first time, astronomers have used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to take a direct image of a planet outside our solar system. The exoplanet is a gas giant, meaning it has no rocky surface and could not be habitable. The image, as seen through four different light filters, shows how Webb's powerful infrared gaze can easily capture worlds beyond our solar system, pointing the way
SU N matter is about 3 billion times colder than deep space
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11Japanese and U.S. physicists have used atoms about 3 billion times colder than interstellar space to open a portal to an unexplored realm of quantum magnetism. "Unless an alien civilization is doing experiments like these right now, anytime this experiment is running at Kyoto University it is making the coldest fermions in the universe," said Rice University's Kaden Hazzard, corresponding theory
Unraveling the mysteries of the night sky with Artificial Intelligence
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11Technische Universitat Ilmenau (Germany) is using Artificial Intelligence to improve the detection and classification of unidentified phenomena in the night sky. The research team of the Group for data-intensive Systems and Visualization collaborated with the American Meteor Society which initiated the AllSky7, an international network of scientists and amateur astronomers that permanently obser
China's Shenzhou-14 astronauts carry out spacewalk
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11Two astronauts on board China's Tiangong space station successfully completed a six-hour spacewalk Friday, the national human spaceflight agency said. Astronauts Chen Dong and Liu Yang returned to their cabin module in the early hours of Friday, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said, declaring the first spacewalk of the six-month Shenzhou-14 mission a "complete success". China's heav
Chinese scientist advocates int'l cooperation in space science
Friday, 02 September 2022 09:11A thousand people may have a thousand answers as to why we explore space. For 64-year-old Chinese scientist Wu Ji, exploring space has a more self-reflective meaning. "When one enters space, one will realize that human beings are an indivisible whole. Regardless of skin color, they have far more in common than they have differences," said Wu, chairman of the Chinese Society of Space Resear
Behind the photo: Vega-C inaugural liftoff
Friday, 02 September 2022 08:56As head of ESA’s photo service, Stephane Corvaja’s job is to share the wonder – and awesome power – of spaceflight. Here, he reveals how he captured this image of VV21, the inaugural flight of the new Vega-C rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
Once in the doldrums, Florida coast hums with space launches
Friday, 02 September 2022 07:14A decade ago, Florida's Space Coast was in the doldrums.
The space shuttle program had ended, and with it the steady stream of space enthusiasts who filled the area's restaurants and hotel and motel rooms during regular astronaut launches.
Countdown begins for second Artemis 1 launch attempt
Friday, 02 September 2022 07:01NASA has restarted the countdown for the first launch of its Space Launch System vehicle and Orion spacecraft after concluding a faulty sensor caused the first attempt to scrub earlier in the week.
The post Countdown begins for second Artemis 1 launch attempt appeared first on SpaceNews.
UK releases military ‘space power’ doctrine
Thursday, 01 September 2022 19:34The United Kingdom on Sept. 1 released “UK Space Power,” the military’s keystone doctrine publication focused on the space domain.
The post UK releases military ‘space power’ doctrine appeared first on SpaceNews.
Spire to add ThrustMe propulsion to Lemur cubesats
Thursday, 01 September 2022 19:28Spire Global is adding propulsion to its multipurpose Lemur satellite constellation.
The post Spire to add ThrustMe propulsion to Lemur cubesats appeared first on SpaceNews.
SpaceX wins another $1.4 billion from NASA to fly missions to ISS
Thursday, 01 September 2022 19:08NASA has awarded five new missions to private exploration company SpaceX in a deal worth $1.4 billion that will transport astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station over the next eight years. The contracts were awarded as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract (CCtCap), an initiative that opens the door for business with the private sector, the sp