Expert Q&A: NASA's cancellation of VIPER is a frustrating setback for lunar exploration
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:29
In July 2024, NASA announced it canceled its plans to send the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the moon's southern polar region. The rover was meant to search for water and other resources called volatiles, such as hydrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide, which easily evaporate in warm temperatures.
Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, reiterated the agency's commitment "to exploring the moon for the benefit of humanity" through other missions.
Fifty-five years have passed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made a giant leap for mankind.
Webb Spots Closest Super-Jupiter Paving Way for New Exoplanet Research
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
"We were excited when we realised we had imaged this new planet," said Elisabeth Matthews, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. She is the main author of the underlying research article published in the journal Nature. "To our surprise, the bright spot that appeared in our MIRI images did not match the position we were expecting for the planet," Matthews Leicester Team to Minimize AI Algorithms for Enhanced Spacecraft Intelligence
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
University of Leicester scientists are developing a method to miniaturize artificial intelligence algorithms, paving the way for smarter spacecraft. This initiative is part of over 20 national space projects unveiled by DSIT Secretary of State Peter Kyle at the Farnborough International Airshow. These projects, with a collective value of Pounds 33 million, are funded by the UK Space Agency's Na YPSat captures Ariane 6 inaugural launch
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
If there had been an astronaut aboard the historic first launch of Europe's Ariane 6, this is what they would have seen: images and videos from key phases of the flight, captured by the YPSat payload, a project led by ESA Young Professionals during their own time.
Attached to the launcher's upper stage, YPSat served as a crucial observer throughout the test flight. The payload transmitted PariSat returns first images of Earth
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
Earth's beauty has been captured by some of the youngest space operators. The PariSat experiment, part of Ariane 6's inaugural flight, was developed by young enthusiasts aged 15 to 25 from the GAREF AEROSPATIAL amateur space club.
The experiment aimed to test the Stefan-Boltzmann law of thermal radiation by identifying the most effective materials for dissipating heat in space.
Eight Rocket Lab Sets Date for 51st Electron Mission with Synspective Satellites
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for its 51st Electron mission, set to deploy the latest satellite for long-term customer Synspective.
The "Owl for One, One for Owl" mission will launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, during a 14-day window starting on July 31st NZST / July 30th UTC. This mission will place a single StriX satellite Hubble Observes Possible Galactic Collision
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 5238, situated 14.5 million light-years away in the Canes Venatici constellation. This galaxy, resembling an oversized star cluster rather than a typical galaxy, is a key focus of current research due to its complex structure.
Hubble's detailed image highlights numerous stars and associated globular ICON mission ends with critical breakthroughs on Earth, space weather
Thursday, 25 July 2024 16:11
Nearly five years after it launched, NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer - or ICON - mission has officially come to an end, the space agency announced Wednesday.
NASA's ICON mission gathered valuable data as it orbited the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, about 55 miles to 360 miles into space in the ionosphere, and provided critical breakthroughs on how space weather affects Shannon Pallone, United States Space Force – Leading Women in Space
Thursday, 25 July 2024 15:40
NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and troubled Boeing capsule at space station
Thursday, 25 July 2024 15:38
Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.
Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.
NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers are not ready to announce a return date.
How Europe’s biggest rocket came to be: Ariane 6 montage
Thursday, 25 July 2024 14:30
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The first half of 2024 saw hundreds of people across Europe building, cajoling, shipping, lowering, integrating, securing and protecting the precious pieces and parts that came together to create Ariane 6 – Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket.
Huge engines, boosters and outer shells met tiny screws, electrical boards and masses of supercooled fuel. All this came together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, for the spectacular first launch of Ariane 6 on 9 July 2024, restoring Europe’s access to space.
Get a glimpse at the teamwork, skill and care that went into this moment over many months, in this montage
Space-trekking muscle tests drugs for microgravity-induced muscle impairment
Thursday, 25 July 2024 14:00
A gentle rumble ran under Ngan Huang's feet as a rocket carrying her research—live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips—lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory. These chips would help Huang better understand muscle impairment, often seen in astronauts and older adults, and test drugs to counter the condition.
Now, the results are back. Reporting in a study published July 25 in Stem Cell Reports, Huang's team showed that space-traveling muscle had metabolic changes that indicate impaired muscle regeneration and gene activities associated with age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia. But drug treatment partially prevented microgravity's adverse effects.
"Space is a really unique environment that accelerates qualities associated with aging and also impairs many healthy processes," says Huang, an associate professor at Stanford University.
"Astronauts come back with muscle atrophy, or a reduction of muscle function, because the muscle isn't being actively used in the absence of gravity.
Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital seeks input on new loan program for critical technologies
Thursday, 25 July 2024 13:00
ESA's stand at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024
Thursday, 25 July 2024 12:53
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ESA's stand at the Farnborough International Airshow 2024