Lunar samples solve mystery of the moon's supposed magnetic shield
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:05
In 2024, a new age of space exploration will begin when NASA sends astronauts to the moon as part of their Artemis mission, a follow-up to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
Some of the biggest questions that scientists hope to explore include determining what resources are found in the moon's soil and how those resources might be used to sustain life.
In a paper published in the journal Science Advances, researchers at the University of Rochester, leading a team of colleagues at seven other institutions, report their findings on a major factor that influences the types of resources that may be found on the moon: whether or not the moon has had a long-lived magnetic shield at any point in its 4.53 billion-year history.
Planet and SpaceX announce multiyear launch agreement
Thursday, 05 August 2021 12:00
Planet announced a multiyear agreement Aug. 5 that designates SpaceX as the Earth-observation company’s “go-to-launch provider through the end of 2025.”
China’s space station emerges as competitor to commercial ventures
Thursday, 05 August 2021 10:41
Companies involved with commercial activities on the International Space Station or planning their own space stations may face a new competitor in China’s new space station.
Satellites reveal how forests increase cloud and cool climate
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:45
Forests are not only key to moderating our climate by sequestering atmospheric carbon, but they also create a cooling effect by increasing low-level cloud. A first global assessment using satellite observations has shown that for two-thirds of the world, afforestation increases low-level cloud cover, with the effect being strongest over evergreen needleleaf forest.
Helicopter scouts ridge area for Perseverance
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 05, 2021
Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite photo or two from their mission. For Kevin Hand, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and co-lead of the Perseverance rover's first science campaign, his latest favorite is a 3D image of low-lying wrinkles in the surface of Jezero Crater. The science team calls this area "Raised Ridges." NASA's Ingenuity Mars H
Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite photo or two from their mission. For Kevin Hand, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and co-lead of the Perseverance rover's first science campaign, his latest favorite is a 3D image of low-lying wrinkles in the surface of Jezero Crater. The science team calls this area "Raised Ridges." NASA's Ingenuity Mars H North-By-Northwest for Ingenuity's 11th Flight
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 05, 2021
We're heading northwest for the 11th flight of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will happen no earlier than Wednesday night, Aug. 4. The mission profile is designed to stay ahead of the rover - supporting its future science goals in the "South Seitah" region, where it will be able to gather aerial imagery in support of future Perseverance Mars rover surface operations in the area.
H
We're heading northwest for the 11th flight of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, which will happen no earlier than Wednesday night, Aug. 4. The mission profile is designed to stay ahead of the rover - supporting its future science goals in the "South Seitah" region, where it will be able to gather aerial imagery in support of future Perseverance Mars rover surface operations in the area.
H Juno joins Japan's Hisaki satellite and Keck Observatory to solve "energy crisis" on Jupiter
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 05, 2021
Sitting more than five times the distance from the Sun as Earth, Jupiter is not expected to be particularly warm. Based on the amount of sunlight received, the average temperature in the planet's upper atmosphere should be about minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit or a chilly minus 73 Celsius. Instead, the measured value soars to around 800 degrees Fahrenheit or 426 Celsius. The source of this extra he
Sitting more than five times the distance from the Sun as Earth, Jupiter is not expected to be particularly warm. Based on the amount of sunlight received, the average temperature in the planet's upper atmosphere should be about minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit or a chilly minus 73 Celsius. Instead, the measured value soars to around 800 degrees Fahrenheit or 426 Celsius. The source of this extra he NASA launches x-ray spectrometer mission to probe mysteries of solar corona
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 05, 2021
NASA researchers successfully launched a sophisticated X-ray solar imager on a brief but potentially illuminating suborbital flight via sounding rocket to gather new insight regarding how and why the Sun's corona grows so much hotter than the actual surface of Earth's parent star.
Developers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, call the mission "MaGIXS" - short fo
NASA researchers successfully launched a sophisticated X-ray solar imager on a brief but potentially illuminating suborbital flight via sounding rocket to gather new insight regarding how and why the Sun's corona grows so much hotter than the actual surface of Earth's parent star.
Developers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, call the mission "MaGIXS" - short fo Experiment bound for Space Station turns down the heat
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Cleveland OH (SPX) Aug 05, 2021
A lot of power means a lot of heat. NASA's future missions to explore the Moon and Mars will require enormous amounts of electrical power and hardware to support astronauts and drive new technologies. This increase in power, however, also increases the amount of heat generated-and then that heat needs to be removed so all the spacecraft systems can function.
To remove heat efficiently and
A lot of power means a lot of heat. NASA's future missions to explore the Moon and Mars will require enormous amounts of electrical power and hardware to support astronauts and drive new technologies. This increase in power, however, also increases the amount of heat generated-and then that heat needs to be removed so all the spacecraft systems can function.
To remove heat efficiently and NASA satellites help plan future for Palau fish stocks
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 03, 2021
It's the weekend, and freshly caught fish sizzles on the grill. The view: an unforgettable beach and the cobalt blues of the Pacific Ocean in the backdrop.
This is not paradise. It's a typical Sunday for many people in Palau, an archipelago nation in Micronesia.
"We would go to the Rock Islands, spend a couple of nights there, and we would go fishing," recalled Fabio Siksei, a fisher
It's the weekend, and freshly caught fish sizzles on the grill. The view: an unforgettable beach and the cobalt blues of the Pacific Ocean in the backdrop.
This is not paradise. It's a typical Sunday for many people in Palau, an archipelago nation in Micronesia.
"We would go to the Rock Islands, spend a couple of nights there, and we would go fishing," recalled Fabio Siksei, a fisher Trapped saltwater caused mangrove death after Hurricane Irma
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 03, 2021
When Hurricane Irma hit southern Florida in September of 2017, the storm buffeted coastal mangrove forests with winds over 116 mph - strong enough to rip off leaves, break branches, and snap tree trunks in half. Of the mangrove forest damaged by Hurricane Irma, about 83% recovered after the first year. But the rest didn't, leaving scientists wondering why some trees didn't bounce back.
Usi
When Hurricane Irma hit southern Florida in September of 2017, the storm buffeted coastal mangrove forests with winds over 116 mph - strong enough to rip off leaves, break branches, and snap tree trunks in half. Of the mangrove forest damaged by Hurricane Irma, about 83% recovered after the first year. But the rest didn't, leaving scientists wondering why some trees didn't bounce back.
Usi A long day for microbes, and the rise of oxygen on Earth
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Bremen, Germany (SPX) Aug 03, 2021
Virtually all oxygen on Earth was and is produced by photosynthesis, which was invented by tiny organisms, the cyanobacteria, when our planet was still a rather uninhabitable place. Cyanobacteria evolved more than 2.4 billion years ago, but Earth only slowly transformed to the oxygen-rich planet we know today.
"We do not fully understand why it took so long and what factors controlled Eart
Virtually all oxygen on Earth was and is produced by photosynthesis, which was invented by tiny organisms, the cyanobacteria, when our planet was still a rather uninhabitable place. Cyanobacteria evolved more than 2.4 billion years ago, but Earth only slowly transformed to the oxygen-rich planet we know today.
"We do not fully understand why it took so long and what factors controlled Eart Bird brains left other dinosaurs behind
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Austin TX (SPX) Aug 03, 2021
Today, being "birdbrained" means forgetting where you left your keys or wallet. But 66 million years ago, it may have meant the difference between life and death - and may help explain why birds are the only dinosaurs left on Earth.
Research on a newly discovered bird fossil led by The University of Texas at Austin found that a unique brain shape may be why the ancestors of living birds su
Today, being "birdbrained" means forgetting where you left your keys or wallet. But 66 million years ago, it may have meant the difference between life and death - and may help explain why birds are the only dinosaurs left on Earth.
Research on a newly discovered bird fossil led by The University of Texas at Austin found that a unique brain shape may be why the ancestors of living birds su The chips are down: why there's a semiconductor shortage
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Paris (AFP) Aug 1, 2021
A shortage of semiconductors has sent shockwaves through the global economy, squeezing supplies of everything from cars to headphones.
The dearth of chips has exposed the modern world's reliance on these miniscule components, the basic building blocks of computers which allow electronic devices to process data. Why is the shortage happening, and what can be done about it?
- How is the
A shortage of semiconductors has sent shockwaves through the global economy, squeezing supplies of everything from cars to headphones.
The dearth of chips has exposed the modern world's reliance on these miniscule components, the basic building blocks of computers which allow electronic devices to process data. Why is the shortage happening, and what can be done about it?
- How is the NASA's Oceans Melting Greenland Mission Leaves for Its Last Field Trip
Thursday, 05 August 2021 07:34
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 05, 2021
This week, NASA's airborne Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission begins its final survey of glaciers that flow from Greenland into the ocean. OMG is completing a six-year mission that is helping to answer how fast sea level is going to rise in the next five, 10, or 50 years.
Greenland's melting glaciers currently contribute more fresh water to sea level rise than any other source does. Th
This week, NASA's airborne Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission begins its final survey of glaciers that flow from Greenland into the ocean. OMG is completing a six-year mission that is helping to answer how fast sea level is going to rise in the next five, 10, or 50 years.
Greenland's melting glaciers currently contribute more fresh water to sea level rise than any other source does. Th