SpaceX performs three launches within two days amid internal dissent
Sunday, 19 June 2022 15:18
SpaceX completed a surge of three successful launches in a little more than 36 hours early June 19, days after an open letter within the company critical of founder Elon Musk led to the firing of several employees.
Mysterious 'blue blobs' reveal a new kind of star system
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
University of Arizona astronomers have identified five examples of a new class of stellar system. They're not quite galaxies and only exist in isolation.
The new stellar systems contain only young, blue stars, which are distributed in an irregular pattern and seem to exist in surprising isolation from any potential parent galaxy.
The stellar systems - which astronomers say appear thr NASA mission discovers 2 Earth-like exoplanets
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
NASA announced Wednesday it discovered two rocky exoplanets similar to Earth orbiting a dwarf star near our solar system but are believed to both be too hot to sustain life as we know it.
The space agency's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, or TESS, said the planets are 33 light-years away, some of the closest rocky exoplanets ever found.
"Both planets rate in the to Three-stage engine of China's new manned carrier rocket to enter prototype development
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
A three-stage engine of China's new generation manned carrier rocket will go to prototype sample development, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
The long-distance and multiple ignition tests of the engine have been successfully completed, indicating that it is ready to enter the next stage of prototype sample development.
The test examined the key te NASA spacecraft observes Asteroid Bennu's boulder 'Body Armor'
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
Asteroid Bennu's boulder-covered surface gives it protection against small meteoroid impacts, according to observations of craters by NASA's OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft.
"These observations give new insight into how asteroids like Bennu respond to energetic impacts," said Edward (Beau) Bierhaus of Lockheed Ma Researcher awarded $100,000 to identify potential fuel source on Mars
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
Associate professor Vincent Chevrier at the U of A Center for Space and Planetary Sciences was awarded $100,000 to study the stability and distribution of clathrate hydrates and clathrasils on the surface of Mars in hopes of discovering a source of methane.
Identifying probable sources of methane would be a critical step in advancing the exploration of Mars, as methane could be utilized to A summer science smorgasbord: Sols 3505-3506
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
The difficulty of driving on Martian terrain proves itself once again! Our Sol 3504 drive did not complete successfully, leaving us in basically the same spot as our last plan. Thankfully, all the science we planned executed successfully: check out an interesting Dust Removal Tool result on "Omai" showing erosion-resistant veins beneath the surface and a MAHLI closeup of ChemCam's eye where the Martian meteorite upsets planet formation theory
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
Anew study of an old meteorite contradicts current thinking about how rocky planets like the Earth and Mars acquire volatile elements such as hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and noble gases as they form. The work is published June 16 in Science.
A basic assumption about planet formation is that planets first collect these volatiles from the nebula around a young star, said Sandrine Pero Are the Sun's magnetic arches an optical illusion
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
From afar, the Sun appears blank and featureless in visible light. But through a solar telescope in different wavelength, it is revealed to be much, much more.
In extreme ultraviolet light, the Sun resembles a rumpled ball of yarn. It teems with giant radiant arcs known as coronal loops soaring through the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere. Coronal loops are considered fundamental to the S Dying stars could seed interstellar medium with carbon nanotubes
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
In the mid-1980s, the discovery of complex carbon molecules drifting through the interstellar medium garnered significant attention, with possibly the most famous examples being Buckminsterfullerene, or "buckyballs" - spheres consisting of 60 or 70 carbon atoms. However, scientists have struggled to understand how these molecules can form in space.
In a paper accepted for publication in th New images using data from retired telescopes reveal hidden features
Sunday, 19 June 2022 10:06
New images using data from ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA missions showcase the dust that fills the space between stars in four of the galaxies closest to our own Milky Way. More than striking, the snapshots are also a scientific trove, lending insight into how dramatically the density of dust clouds can vary within a galaxy.
With a consistency similar to smoke, dust is created by dy 4 buildings at observatory in Arizona lost in wildfire
Saturday, 18 June 2022 20:30
Four non-scientific buildings at the Kitt Peak National Observatory southwest of Tucson were lost in a wildfire, but early indications show other buildings on the property didn't appear to be damaged, authorities said Saturday.
Buell T. Jannuzi, who leads the Department of Astronomy at the University of Arizona, said the fire didn't appear to have damaged the telescope and science buildings at the observatory, though a closer examination of the site hadn't yet been made due to safety concerns.
"This is the most threatening fire I can remember at Kitt Peak in the last 25 years," Jannuzi said.
The fire reached the observatory early Friday. Crews were planning to assess the damage at the observatory later Saturday if conditions allowed for safe entry into the area.
Kitt Peak National Observatory is operated by NOIRLab, the National Science Foundation's center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy. The University of Arizona, which has had a telescope at the site since 1962, is a tenant of the observatory.
The lightning-caused fire, which led to an evacuation of the observatory earlier this week, had grown to 27 square miles (71 kilometers) by Saturday.
Did a giant radio telescope in China just discover aliens? Not so FAST
Saturday, 18 June 2022 00:17
This phrase is the standard that astronomers will be applying to a curious signal captured with China's "Sky Eye" telescope that might be a transmission from alien technology.
An article reporting the signal was posted on the website of China's state-backed Science and Technology Daily newspaper, but was later removed. So have astronomers finally found evidence of intelligent found life be SpaceX Falcon 9 launches for its 13th time, a record for the company
Saturday, 18 June 2022 00:17
A SpaceX Falcon 9 lifted off on its record 13th launch on Friday afternoon as it sent 53 Starlink satellites into orbit.
The rocket took off from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center, with the first stage sticking a successful return and landing at the Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship shortly after lift off.
SpaceX said the same first stage booster support was used in the GPS III-3, T Speedcast plotting major satellite capacity expansion
Friday, 17 June 2022 18:44
Remote communications provider Speedcast is preparing to buy another sizable chunk of satellite capacity as demand soars beyond pre-pandemic levels.
The post Speedcast plotting major satellite capacity expansion appeared first on SpaceNews.