Ithaca NY (SPX) Sep 28, 2022
The exploration era for the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is getting hot - volcanically hot. A multidisciplinary group of Cornell researchers has modeled and synthesized lava in the laboratory as the kinds of rock that may form on far-away exoplanets. They developed 16 types of surface compositions as a starter catalog for finding volcanic worlds that feature fiery landscapes and oceans

Perth, Australia (SPX) Sep 29, 2022
A Curtin-led research team has found asteroid impacts on the Moon millions of years ago coincided precisely with some of the largest meteorite impacts on Earth, such as the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. The study also found that major impact events on Earth were not stand-alone events, but were accompanied by a series of smaller impacts, shedding new light on asteroid dynamics in the i

Beijing (XNA) Sep 27, 2022
What does the subsurface of Mars' northern lowlands have in common with a French mille crepe cake? They both consist of a number of layers, according to the latest findings by China's Zhurong Mars rover published in the journal Nature on Monday. The discovery showed that the evolution of the Martian surface environment is more varied and complex than previously anticipated, experts said. L

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 27, 2022
Once upon a time - early 2013 - there was a small corner room in the Flight Projects building at JPL where the walls and windows were coated in pages and pages of paper. These pages contained the facts and arguments being assembled by the Mars 2020 Science Definition Team, who were asking: what must the next rover to Mars do? We rearranged those pages over and over during the next few mont

Rochester NY (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
About two billion years ago, an impactor hurtled toward Earth, crashing into the planet in an area near present-day Johannesburg, South Africa. The impactor-most likely an asteroid-formed what is today the biggest crater on our planet. Scientists have widely accepted, based on previous research, that the impact structure, known as the Vredefort crater, was formed by an object about 15 kilo

London, UK (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
British Earth Observation company, Satellite Vu has signed a second SpaceX launch contract for their second satellite, doubling their thermal data collection capacity, faster than planned, amidst rising climate concerns. The deal will see Satellite Vu's unique Mid-wave Infrared (MWIR) imaging satellite launched into Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) aboard a Falcon 9 rocket in early 2024. The sa

During spring and summer, as the air warms up and the sun beats down on the Greenland Ice Sheet, melt ponds pop up. Melt ponds are vast pools of open water that form on both sea ice and ice sheets and are visible as turquoise-blue pools of water in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image.

The first of Europe’s Meteosat Third Generation satellites is now safely aboard a ship and making its way across the Atlantic to French Guiana where it will be readied for liftoff in December. Once launched into geostationary orbit, 36 000 km above Earth, this new satellite, which carries two new extremely sensitive instruments, will take weather forecasting to the next level.

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What do you call three or more space fanatics? Interns.

Imagine landing your dream internship at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC), and then being unable to go into work. A group of excellent young professionals found themselves in this situation during the pandemic.

This week, however, 23 of these interns finally got their opportunity to visit the home of Europe’s Astronaut corps. The interns had been working on a range of projects developing tools to support astronaut training for missions to the Moon and beyond. Upon visiting, they were immediately immersed in the centre’s activities.

The group, imaged here logging data into