London, UK (SPX) Apr 14, 2022
Diverse microbial life existed on Earth at least 3.75 billion years ago, suggests a new study led by UCL researchers that challenges the conventional view of when life began. For the study, published in Science Advances, the research team analysed a fist-sized rock from Quebec, Canada, estimated to be between 3.75 and 4.28 billion years old. In an earlier Nature paper*, the team found tiny

Germantown MD (SPX) Apr 06, 2022
Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), an innovator in satellite and multi-transport technologies and networks for 50 years, has announced it signed a distribution agreement with OneWeb Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of OneWeb, to deliver managed Low Earth Orbit (LEO) services to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The agreement follows the launch of the industry's first managed L

Beijing (AFP) April 16, 2022
Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth on Saturday after 183 days in space, ending China's longest crewed mission as it continues its quest to become a major space power. The Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was the latest mission in Beijing's drive to rival the United States, after landing a rover on Mars and sending probes to the Moon. Live footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed the caps

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 14, 2021
The oldest evidence of the Maya calendar has been excavated at San Bartolo, Guatemala, found among fragments of painted murals. Acording to a new study, two fragments with a "7 deer" date notation date to between 300 and 200 BCE, based on radiocarbon dating. Authors of the study said that the finding "represents a day in the 260-day divinatory calendar used throughout Mesoamerica

Helsinki, Finland (SPX) Apr 15, 2022
TransAstra, a provider of breakthrough orbital logistics and space domain awareness solutions, and ReOrbit, a provider of software-defined small satellites for beyond LEO missions, announced today that they have signed binding contracts for initial spacecraft development and orbital logistics services. Under these contracts, TransAstra will provide mission definition and engineering analys

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 15, 2022
Moon dust Neil Armstrong collected in 1969 has sold for more than $500,000 at auction after NASA lost legal battles over its ownership. Five samples of the NASA-verified moon dust and the NASA container they're held in from the Apollo 11 mission sold for $504,375 on Wednesday, which was far below pre-auction estimate of between $800,000 and $1.2 million, according to the auction house Bonh

Hatfield UK (SPX) Apr 15, 2022
The Hubble Space Telescope has observed the most distant star ever seen - Earendel, meaning morning star. Even though Earendel is 50 times the mass of the Sun, and millions of times brighter, we would not normally be able to see it. We can see it due to an alignment of the star with a large galaxy cluster in front of it whose gravity bends the light from the star to make it brighter and more foc

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 15, 2022
Astronomers at the University of Sydney have found a slimmer type of red giant star for the first time. These stars have undergone dramatic weight loss, possibly due to the presence a greedy neighbour. Published in Nature Astronomy, the discovery is an important step forward to understanding the life of stars in the Milky Way - our closest stellar neighbours. There are millions of 'red gia

Munich, Germany (SPX) Apr 15, 2022
Light on, light off - this is how one could describe the behavior of the nova, which goes by the name RS Ophiuchi (RS Oph). Every 15 years or so, a dramatic explosion occurs in the constellation of the Serpent Bearer. Birthplaces of a nova are systems in which two very different stars live in a parasitic relationship: A white dwarf, a small, burned-out and tremendously dense star - a teaspoon of

Beijing (XNA) Apr 15, 2022
The 13th China Satellite Navigation Conference will be held in Beijing in May, highlighting the digital economy and intelligent navigation, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. The conference will showcase the latest industrialization achievement of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), the office said. Diverse events such as summit forums, academic exchanges,