Scientists begin testing space thruster that could boldly go where no one has gone before
Friday, 27 September 2024 13:56
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Deep space exploration might no longer be confined to sci-fi after scientists began testing a rocket thruster which promises to boldly go further than ever before.
Astro engineers from the University of Southampton are trialing a new propulsion system which can power spaceships through the stars using any type of metal as fuel.
They say this means crafts fitted with the technology could fly indefinitely by refilling their tanks using minerals harvested from asteroids or far-off moons.
Lead scientist Dr. Minkwan Kim, from the University of Southampton, has been tasked with testing the propulsion system in his labs to measure its thrust.
He said the tech could help spaceships and probes travel to regions of the universe previously thought unreachable.
Dr. Kim added, "Spacecraft have limited amounts of fuel because of the enormous cost and energy it takes to launch them into space.
"But these new thrusters are capable of being powered by any metal that can burn, such as iron, aluminum or copper.
Week in images: 23-27 September 2024
Friday, 27 September 2024 12:11 Write a comment
Week in images: 23-27 September 2024
Discover our week through the lens
University researchers flag cislunar space debris concerns
Friday, 27 September 2024 11:00
Earth to capture a 'second moon' this weekend, NASA says
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:43 Write a comment
Earth will capture a miniature, "second moon" this week, according to NASA scientists.
The new moon is actually a tiny asteroid dubbed 2024 PT5. It will start orbiting the planet in a horseshoe path and stick around for a little less than two months before escaping Earth's gravitational pull and going back to its regular orbit around the sun.
"According to the latest data available from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory Horizons System, the temporary capture will start at 15:54 EDT (on Sunday) and will end at 11:43 EDT on November 25," mini-moon event expert and Universidad Complutense de Madrid professor Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com.
2024 PT5 is part of "the Arjuna asteroid belt, a secondary asteroid belt made of space rocks that follow orbits very similar to that of Earth at an average distance to the sun of about 93 million miles," Marcos said.
He added that the asteroid, which poses no threat to the planet, will travel about 2,200 miles per hour while maintaining a distance of around 2.8 million miles from Earth.
View from Hera’s Asteroid Deck
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:41 Write a comment
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View from Hera’s Asteroid Deck MaiaSpace to use former Soyuz launch pad in French Guiana
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:25
The journey of Juice – episode 1
Friday, 27 September 2024 10:00 Write a comment
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ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), is on an epic eight-year journey to Jupiter. This first episode of ‘The journey of Juice’ tells the story of Juice’s first months in space, from its launch on 14 April 2023 to its lunar-Earth gravity assist (LEGA for short) in August 2024. This flyby was not only the first double gravity assist manoeuvre of its kind, it was also a perfect opportunity to test out the spacecraft’s cameras and science instruments.
In this episode, Juice’s Mission Manager Nicolas Altobelli explains how the spacecraft will become the first ever human-made
NASA funds Starfish Space debris inspection mission
Friday, 27 September 2024 09:12
Earth from Space: Northern Territory, Australia
Friday, 27 September 2024 07:00 Write a comment
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This image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission reveals the impact of severe flooding following heavy rain that hit Australia’s Northern Territory in March 2024. D-Orbit raises 150 million euros in two-part Series C round
Friday, 27 September 2024 07:00
FCC releases more radio waves for NGSO broadband
Thursday, 26 September 2024 20:13
Mars' missing atmosphere could be hiding in plain sight
Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:39 Write a comment
Mars wasn't always the cold desert we see today. There's increasing evidence that water once flowed on the Red Planet's surface, billions of years ago. And if there was water, there must also have been a thick atmosphere to keep that water from freezing. But sometime around 3.5 billion years ago, the water dried up, and the air, once heavy with carbon dioxide, dramatically thinned, leaving only How special is the Milky Way Galaxy?
Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:39 Write a comment
Is our home galaxy, the Milky Way Galaxy, a special place? A team of scientists started a journey to answer this question more than a decade ago. Commenced in 2013, the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) Survey studies galaxy systems like the Milky Way. Now, the SAGA Survey just published three new research articles that provide us with new insights into the uniqueness of our own Milky Wa BlackSky prices $40M Public Offering of Common Stock
Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:39 Write a comment
BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) has announced the pricing of its upsized public offering, where it will sell 10,000,000 shares of its Class A common stock at $4.00 per share. This offering is expected to generate gross proceeds of approximately $40 million before deducting underwriting discounts, commissions, and other related expenses.
All shares in the offering are being sold by Bl SkAI Initiative aims to expand astrophysics research with AI
Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:39 Write a comment
With a $20 million, five-year grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) is partnering with academic institutions and federal labs in the Midwest to advance AI-driven astrophysics research.
The collaboration, led by Northwestern University, will establish the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky