Accelerators gear up at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 05:58
Global climate change is the single most challenging issue faced by humanity – affecting every region, continent and ocean on Earth. It fuels a range of other top-level challenges such as food security, migration, biodiversity loss, risks to human health and economic losses.
This week, at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium taking place in Bonn, high-level ESA representatives, along with a mix of academia and policy experts, came together to discuss ESA’s ‘Space for a Green Future Accelerator’ – a major ESA initiative aiming to accelerate the use of space in Europe.
Mastcam-Ing All the Things: Sols 3480-3482
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
Coming into planning on Friday, we were greeted with a beautiful vista, with well preserved layering and amazing outcrops, and a reminder of just how stunning the planet Mars is. Mastcam takes a 360 degree image on a regular basis, and our last one was fairly recently, on sol 3474, but given the stunning views from here, it was suggested that we take another here if we could fit it in.
As Planets of binary stars as possible homes for alien life
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
Nearly half of Sun-size stars are binary. According to University of Copenhagen research, planetary systems around binary stars may be very different from those around single stars. This points to new targets in the search for extraterrestrial life forms.
Since the only known planet with life, the Earth, orbits the Sun, planetary systems around stars of similar size are obvious targets for Gogo Business Aviation to launch LEO Global Broadband service
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
Gogo Business Aviation (NASDAQ: GOGO) has announced it will launch the first global broadband service in business aviation to use an electronically steered antenna (ESA) on a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network.
Gogo's exclusive antenna assembly, designed in conjunction with Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes), will be small enough for installation on the fuselage of business aircraft Navarino teams with OneWeb to extend connectivity to commercial shipping
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company, and Navarino, one of the world's leading maritime technology companies, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to become a global Distribution Partner to deliver high speed, low latency connectivity to the global commercial shipping industry.
Combining Navarino's maritime technology solutions with OneWeb's high spe New spin on galaxy rotation saves controversial gravity theory
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
An international group of astronomers, led by a physicist at the University of St Andrews, has revived an alternative gravity theory.
Headed by Dr Indranil Banik of the School of Physics and Astronomy at St Andrews, the study revealed a high predicted rotation speed of gas in a dwarf galaxy consistent with the previously debunked theory known as Milgromian Dynamics (MOND).
An earlier Human's motion perception revealed by spaceflight: study
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 02:24
Spaceflight, apart from exploring the unknown universe, can also help us, the inhabitants of Earth, to understand how gravity is affecting our brain in its visual perception.
Humans have evolved under the constant influence of gravity, though normally we don't notice it.
Human brains are selectively tuned to movement patterns initiated by living organisms like our peers, while turnin NASA plans to make Starliner crew assignments this summer
Tuesday, 24 May 2022 01:12
As Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner prepares to return from its brief trip to the International Space Station, NASA officials say they’ll wait until this summer to determine the schedule for the vehicle’s first crewed flight and the astronauts who will fly it.
Experimental payload with robotic arm to attempt metal cutting on orbit
Monday, 23 May 2022 22:50
Nanoracks, will launch a NASA-funded experiment to demonstrate on-orbit metal cutting using a robotic arm.
The post Experimental payload with robotic arm to attempt metal cutting on orbit appeared first on SpaceNews.
Lockheed Martin, Filecoin Foundation plan demonstration of decentralized data storage in space
Monday, 23 May 2022 21:42
Lockheed Martin is working with the Filecoin Foundation to demonstrate an open-source blockchain network in space.
The post Lockheed Martin, Filecoin Foundation plan demonstration of decentralized data storage in space appeared first on SpaceNews.
Biden vows to expand space cooperation with South Korea, Japan
Monday, 23 May 2022 20:06
U.S. President Joe Biden promised to expand space cooperation with Japan and South Korea during back-to-back summits with the leaders of two East Asian allies.
The post Biden vows to expand space cooperation with South Korea, Japan appeared first on SpaceNews.
Full steam ahead for carbon dioxide monitoring mission
Monday, 23 May 2022 15:00
The Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring mission has taken another step forward as ESA authorises the mission’s prime contractor, OHB, to continue the development of the first satellite that will take it to being launch-ready and, in parallel, start production on the mission’s second satellite. Celebrated at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium in Bonn, this contract rider follows an initial contract that was signed in 2020.
Did NASA find a mysterious doorway on Mars? No, but that's no reason to stop looking
Monday, 23 May 2022 13:09
For the past 10 years, NASA's Curiosity rover has been trundling around the surface of Mars, taking photos in its quest to understand the history and geology of the red planet and perhaps even find signs of life.
Last week it took a photo which appeared to show a doorway carved into the rock. It's the sort of thing that on Earth might indicate an underground bunker, such as an air-raid shelter.
Seeing is not always believing
At first sight, the picture is totally convincing. At second sight, maybe not. The passage seems to go in only a short way before the steeply descending roof meets the floor.
And then those killjoys at NASA tell us its only about 45 cm high. Still, who said Martians had to be the same height as us? But thengeologists point out several straight-line fractures can be seen in this site, and the "doorway" is where they happen to intersect.
Such a pity. It would have been so exciting if it had been a real doorway.
Op-ed | Protecting Space Assets Above to Assert Geopolitical Dominance Below
Monday, 23 May 2022 12:53
The conflict in Ukraine has shown us that we must now protect and make both our government and commercial space assets more resilient.
The post Op-ed | Protecting Space Assets Above to Assert Geopolitical Dominance Below appeared first on SpaceNews.
Swarm unveils magnetic waves deep down
Monday, 23 May 2022 12:00
While volcanic eruptions and earthquakes serve as immediate reminders that Earth’s insides are anything but tranquil, there are also other, more elusive, dynamic processes happening deep down below our feet. Using information from ESA’s Swarm satellite mission, scientists have discovered a completely new type of magnetic wave that sweeps across the outermost part of Earth’s outer core every seven years. This fascinating finding, presented today at ESA’s Living Planet Symposium, opens a new window into a world we can never see.