Week in images: 17-21 February 2025
Friday, 21 February 2025 13:14
Week in images: 17-21 February 2025
Discover our week through the lens
Moon or Mars? NASA's future at a crossroads under Trump
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Washington (AFP) Feb 20, 2025
Is NASA still Moonbound, or will the next giant leap mean skipping straight to Mars?
Speculation is mounting that the Trump administration may scale back or cancel NASA's Artemis missions following the departure of a key official and Boeing's decision to lay off hundreds of employees working on its lunar rocket.
Late Wednesday, NASA abruptly announced the retirement of longtime associate
Is NASA still Moonbound, or will the next giant leap mean skipping straight to Mars?
Speculation is mounting that the Trump administration may scale back or cancel NASA's Artemis missions following the departure of a key official and Boeing's decision to lay off hundreds of employees working on its lunar rocket.
Late Wednesday, NASA abruptly announced the retirement of longtime associate Musk in X spat with Danish astronaut over 'abandoned' ISS crew
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Washington (AFP) Feb 20, 2025
The world's richest man Elon Musk got into a heated row Thursday with a Danish astronaut who criticized the tech billionaire's claim that former president Joe Biden intentionally abandoned two American astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Andreas "Andy" Mogensen had shared on X a Fox News clip featuring Musk and his boss, US President Donald Trump, where Musk claimed NASA's But
The world's richest man Elon Musk got into a heated row Thursday with a Danish astronaut who criticized the tech billionaire's claim that former president Joe Biden intentionally abandoned two American astronauts aboard the International Space Station.
Andreas "Andy" Mogensen had shared on X a Fox News clip featuring Musk and his boss, US President Donald Trump, where Musk claimed NASA's But Heriot-Watt University to Advance Affordable Satellite Connectivity with MAMUT Project
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
London, UK (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
Heriot-Watt University has joined forces with a multi-agency consortium to pioneer a next-generation satellite user terminal aimed at expanding global connectivity. The initiative, backed by a Pounds 6 million grant from the UK Space Agency's Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, seeks to develop an innovative, flexible, and cost-effective solution.
Spearheaded by Cardiff-bas
Heriot-Watt University has joined forces with a multi-agency consortium to pioneer a next-generation satellite user terminal aimed at expanding global connectivity. The initiative, backed by a Pounds 6 million grant from the UK Space Agency's Connectivity in Low Earth Orbit (C-LEO) programme, seeks to develop an innovative, flexible, and cost-effective solution.
Spearheaded by Cardiff-bas Chinese Scientists Identify "Rocket Effect" as Key Driver of Boulder Motion on Comet
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
A team of Chinese scientists has linked the unexpected movement of a boulder on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to a process known as the "rocket effect." This phenomenon, triggered by the uneven sublimation of volatile ice within the boulder, was observed by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft during its mission between 2014 and 2016.
The study, recently published in *The
A team of Chinese scientists has linked the unexpected movement of a boulder on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko to a process known as the "rocket effect." This phenomenon, triggered by the uneven sublimation of volatile ice within the boulder, was observed by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft during its mission between 2014 and 2016.
The study, recently published in *The What Hundreds of Millions of Galaxies Can Teach Us About the Big Bang
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Pasadena CA (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
Soon, a new cone-shaped spacecraft will launch into space on a mission to chart the skies like never before. Called SPHEREx (for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), the NASA mission will provide a unique all-sky 3D map of hundreds of millions of galaxies in our universe. Among several big questions the mission is poised to answer is how o
Soon, a new cone-shaped spacecraft will launch into space on a mission to chart the skies like never before. Called SPHEREx (for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer), the NASA mission will provide a unique all-sky 3D map of hundreds of millions of galaxies in our universe. Among several big questions the mission is poised to answer is how o PLD Space expands global launch network with new Oman spaceport
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
PLD Space, a global provider of space services specializing in vertically integrated engineering and manufacturing, has announced its selection of the Etlaq spaceport in Oman as its second operational launch site for the MIURA rocket family. This addition strengthens the company's existing capabilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, which is managed by CNES and ES
PLD Space, a global provider of space services specializing in vertically integrated engineering and manufacturing, has announced its selection of the Etlaq spaceport in Oman as its second operational launch site for the MIURA rocket family. This addition strengthens the company's existing capabilities at the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in Kourou, French Guiana, which is managed by CNES and ES China Prepares for Launch of Tianwen 2 Asteroid Mission
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
China is gearing up for its first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen 2, which is set to launch in the coming months from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The space agency announced on Thursday that the robotic probe has already arrived at the launch facility. It stated that "facilities at the launch c
China is gearing up for its first asteroid sample-return mission, Tianwen 2, which is set to launch in the coming months from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province, according to the China National Space Administration (CNSA).
The space agency announced on Thursday that the robotic probe has already arrived at the launch facility. It stated that "facilities at the launch c Politecnico di Milano and Georgia Tech introduce new insights into asteroid deflection
Friday, 21 February 2025 11:42
Paris, France (SPX) Feb 21, 2025
How prepared is humanity to deflect an incoming asteroid? This question is addressed in two recent studies published in *Nature Communications*, stemming from a collaboration between Politecnico di Milano, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and other global research institutions. The studies analyze the outcomes of NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which successfully impa
How prepared is humanity to deflect an incoming asteroid? This question is addressed in two recent studies published in *Nature Communications*, stemming from a collaboration between Politecnico di Milano, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and other global research institutions. The studies analyze the outcomes of NASA's DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, which successfully impa ESA and Red Cross partnership brings space technology to disaster management
Friday, 21 February 2025 08:20
The European Space Agency (ESA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have signed a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) to harness space technology for humanitarian assistance worldwide. The partnership will combine ESA's space expertise with ICRC's humanitarian reach to develop space-enabled solutions that can help protect and assist communities affected by disasters and conflicts across Europe and beyond.
Earth from Space: Tokyo, Japan
Friday, 21 February 2025 08:00
Image:
This Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar image shows Tokyo and its metropolitan area, the largest urban agglomeration in the world. Two atmospheric missions on one satellite
Thursday, 20 February 2025 12:44
The second of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellites and the first instrument for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission are fully integrated and, having completed their functional and environmental tests, they are now ready to embark on their journey to the US for launch this summer.
Flickering Light Show: Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole Emits Continuous Flares
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
The Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, is proving to be a relentless source of cosmic activity, continuously producing bursts of light with no apparent pattern, according to new findings by astrophysicists using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
A team led by Northwestern University conducted the longest and most detailed observational study of Sagittarius
The Milky Way's central supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, is proving to be a relentless source of cosmic activity, continuously producing bursts of light with no apparent pattern, according to new findings by astrophysicists using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).
A team led by Northwestern University conducted the longest and most detailed observational study of Sagittarius Einstein Probe captures elusive X-ray pair
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
Paris, France (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
The Einstein Probe satellite, utilizing its innovative lobster-eye X-ray optics, has detected a rare cosmic phenomenon-an intense X-ray burst from an unusual binary star system. This discovery highlights the mission's capacity to identify and track transient X-ray sources, shedding new light on the complex interactions and life cycles of massive stars.
The newly identified stellar system c
The Einstein Probe satellite, utilizing its innovative lobster-eye X-ray optics, has detected a rare cosmic phenomenon-an intense X-ray burst from an unusual binary star system. This discovery highlights the mission's capacity to identify and track transient X-ray sources, shedding new light on the complex interactions and life cycles of massive stars.
The newly identified stellar system c Mystery Surrounds Newly Discovered Cosmic Explosion Hidden for Years
Thursday, 20 February 2025 10:54
London, UK (SPX) Feb 20, 2025
A powerful cosmic explosion from an unidentified object beyond our galaxy has intrigued astronomers after being unearthed in decades-old data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This extraordinary discovery, published in *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*, remained unnoticed for years until a novel machine learning technique exposed its existence.
Researchers from Stanf
A powerful cosmic explosion from an unidentified object beyond our galaxy has intrigued astronomers after being unearthed in decades-old data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This extraordinary discovery, published in *Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society*, remained unnoticed for years until a novel machine learning technique exposed its existence.
Researchers from Stanf