Space Systems Command and SpaceX Gear Up for USSF-52 Falcon Heavy Mission
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
Space Systems Command (SSC) and SpaceX are making final preparations to launch the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-52 mission into orbit. The Falcon Heavy mission is set to launch during a ten-minute window that opens Dec. 10 at 8:14 p.m. Eastern (5:14 p.m. Pacific) from the historic Launch Complex (LC)-39A at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida
USSF-52 is tasked with carrying out the s
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Hearing 'The Whole Sky' with Quasar Sense a Game Changer for Milspace
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 07, 2023
Quasar Satellite Technologies has introduced Quasar Sense, a novel tool in space domain awareness (SDA) for American defense, intelligence, and national security sectors. This innovative technology allows for the simultaneous tracking and characterization of over 30 satellites, marking a significant advancement in the field.
Quasar Sense utilizes more than 30 steerable beams from a digital
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Pacific Defense Secures Phase II Contract for Advanced Cislunar Space Sensor
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 07, 2023
Pacific Defense, a leader in Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) technology, has announced a significant development in cislunar space situational awareness (SSA). The company has been awarded a $9.4 million Phase II contract by the Space Control Technology Branch of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to complete the development of a low size, weight, and power (SWaP) sensor. This sensor,
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China's Quest for Space-Based Solar Power: A Clean Energy Revolution
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 07, 2023
Amid global efforts to transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, Chinese scientists and engineers are pursuing an innovative solution-harnessing the abundant energy of the sun in space and beaming it back to Earth. Multiple teams in China are currently dedicated to developing the necessary technologies for constructing and operating a space-based solar power facility. This ambitiou
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Iran hails capsule launch as step towards human spaceflight
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Tehran (AFP) Dec 6, 2023
Iran has launched a capsule designed to carry living beings in a step towards sending astronauts into space, state media reported Wednesday - the latest test of aerospace technology criticised by the West.
The capsule was successfully sent up to a height of 130 kilometres (80 miles), the IRNA news agency quoted Telecommunications Minister Issa Zarepour as saying.
He said the launch of t
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To the moo-n: cow dung fuels Japan's space ambitions
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Taiki, Japan (AFP) Dec 7, 2023
Japan's space industry opened potentially an udder-ly new chapter on Thursday with a start-up testing a prototype rocket engine that runs on fuel derived purely from a plentiful local source: cow dung.
The experiment saw the engine blast out a blue-and-orange flame 10-15 metres (30-50 feet) horizontally out of an open hangar door for around 10 seconds in the rural northern town of Taiki.
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Ice's crucial role in planet and comet formation mapped by Webb
Friday, 08 December 2023 10:13
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 07, 2023
In a significant breakthrough, a Dutch-led international team of astronomers has harnessed the power of the James Webb Space Telescope to create the first comprehensive two-dimensional inventory of ice within a planet-forming disk surrounding a young star. The findings, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on December 6, open a new window into the crucial role of ice in the format
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Scholars say it's time to declare a new epoch on the moon, the 'Lunar Anthropocene'
Friday, 08 December 2023 09:00
Earth from Space: Hurricane Otis
Friday, 08 December 2023 08:00
KAIST Partners with Rocket Lab for NeonSat-1 Launch
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has secured a launch services agreement that will see the deployment of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology's (KAIST) Earth observation satellite, NeonSat-1. This exciting development is set to take place during the first half of 2024, adding to Rocket Lab's increasingly busy manifest of Electron missions.
KAIST's NeonSat-1 will serve
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On The Road Again: Sols 4030-4031
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 08, 2023
Earth planning date: Wednesday, December 6, 2023: We arrived at our previous drill site 'Sequoia' in mid-October. Since then we've celebrated 4000 Sols on Mars, and stayed here for a few extra weeks during conjunction. But finally, Curiosity is on the move once again!
Previously, we drove ~5 m and today's planning involved picking the most interesting rocks in the new workspace to target w
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A Great Year for the Geminids
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
It's December and that means one of the best celestial events will grace the skies. The Geminid meteor shower should peak in a moonless sky between Wednesday and Thursday, December 13-14.
On Wednesday night, December 13th, and continuing into the early hours of Thursday, December 14th, be sure to head outside and look up - you may very well see brief streaks of light crossing the sky from
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Researchers Develop Advanced Algorithm Pandora for Exomoon Hunt
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Gottingen, Germany (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
In the vast cosmos, where planets orbit distant stars, the existence of moons around exoplanets has been a topic of intrigue. Only two of the more than 5300 known exoplanets have so far provided evidence of moons in orbit around them, and these findings were associated with exoplanets Kepler-1625b and Kepler-1708b. However, a recent study conducted by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for
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Ancient stars made extraordinarily heavy elements
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Raleigh NC (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
How heavy can an element be? An international team of researchers has found that ancient stars were capable of producing elements with atomic masses greater than 260, heavier than any element on the periodic table found naturally on Earth. The finding deepens our understanding of element formation in stars.
We are, literally, made of star stuff. Stars are element factories, where elements
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First hints of nuclear fission in cosmos revealed by models, observations
Friday, 08 December 2023 04:45
Los Alamos NM (SPX) Dec 08, 2023
The elements above iron on the periodic table are thought to be created in cataclysmic explosions like the merger of two neutron stars or in rare classes of supernovae. New research suggests fission may operate in the cosmos during the creation of the heavy elements. Combing through data on a variety of elements that reside in very old stars, researchers have found a potential signature of fissi
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