National Harbor MD (AFNS) Sep 22, 2022
In a speech that was as much an unofficial farewell as a proud update of the U.S. Space Force's youthful evolution, Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John "Jay" Raymond told an influential audience Sept. 20 that the service is on a strong footing and that it has deftly avoided two major traps. The first, Raymond told Guardians and Airmen during his keynote address at the Air Force Associatio

Toronto, Canada (SPX) Sep 22, 2022
Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of algae called Protocodium sinense which predates the origin of land plants and modern animals and provides new insight into the early diversification of the plant kingdom. Discovered at a site in China, this 541-million-year-old fossil is the first and oldest green alga from this era to be preserved in three dimensions, enabling the

Maxwell AFB, AL (SPX) Sep 22, 2022
On Sept. 26, 2022, NASA plans to change an asteroid's orbit. The large binary asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos currently pose no threat to Earth. But by crashing a 1,340-pound (610-kilogram) probe into Didymos' moon at a speed of approximately 14,000 mph (22,500 kph), NASA is going to complete the world's first full-scale planetary defense mission as a proof of concept. This mission is

Paris (AFP) Sept 23, 2022
After NASA deliberately smashes a car-sized spacecraft into an asteroid next week, it will be up to the European Space Agency's Hera mission to investigate the "crime scene" and uncover the secrets of these potentially devastating space rocks. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) aims to collide with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Monday night, hoping to slightly alter its traje

Washington (AFP) Sept 23, 2022
Bet the dinosaurs wish they'd thought of this. NASA on Monday will attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship launched from California last November and is f

Week in images: 19-23 September 2022

Discover our week through the lens

Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest lake in Italy, is featured in this week’s Earth from Space image.

ESA has many ambitions for exploring our Moon, and we are setting the groundwork for a lander that can rely on cameras and lidar to analyse lunar terrain and choose the best landing spot – autonomously. The camera is ready, but nothing beats a real-world test: ESA has chosen Lunar Logistics Services and Astrobotic from a competitive tender to fly the innovative camera, called LandCam-X, to the Moon in 2024 on Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One.