Copernical Team
NASA unveils new pod to enhance autonomous aircraft vision
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To prepare self-flying aircraft for safe operation, understanding and reacting to environmental challenges is crucial. NASA aeronautics researchers have created a new camera pod equipped with sensors designed to improve computer vision systems for autonomous aviation.
The device, named the Airborne Instrumentation for Real-world Video of Urban Environments (AIRVUE), was developed at NASA's Locked in a glacier, viruses adapted to survive extreme weather
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Ancient viruses preserved in glacial ice hold valuable information about changes in Earth's climate, a new study suggests. For decades, the Guliya Glacier, located above 6000 metres in the far northwestern Tibetan Plateau, has been one of the richest archives available to scientists to investigate large-scale paleoclimate shifts. Now, by analyzing recovered Florida Tech Astrobiologist explores likelihood of life originating on Earth
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Florida Tech astrobiologist Manasvi Lingam has asked life's biggest questions from a young age. Though he can't recall his exact queries, he says his interests were perfectly consistent with those of other children: dinosaurs and aliens.
On bus rides with his family, he would pepper his parents with questions about the mysteries of the universe. On long walks with his grandfather, he would Media invitation: Sentinel-2C pre-launch media briefings
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Media invitation: Sentinel-2C pre-launch media briefings
NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars begins steep climb to rim of a crater
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NASA's Perseverance rover is tackling a steep new challenge on Mars.
The six-wheeled rover has spent the last 3 1/2 years roaming around the bottom of a crater. On Tuesday, it began climbing to the top.
The rover will go up 1,000 feet (305 meters) to the rim of Jezero Crater to dig up rock samples. Since landing on the red planet in 2021, Perseverance has collected 22 rock core samples from the floor of the crater, which was once filled with water.
SpaceX postpones historic mission featuring first private spacewalk
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SpaceX on Tuesday postponed once more its attempt at launching a daring orbital expedition featuring an all-civilian crew that is aiming to carry out the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens.
The Polaris Dawn mission, organized by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, had been set to lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a four-hour window early Wednesday.
Bu SpaceX to launch historic mission featuring first private spacewalk
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SpaceX is poised for another attempt at launching a daring orbital expedition featuring an all-civilian crew that is aiming to carry out the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens.
The Polaris Dawn mission, organized by billionaire entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is now set to lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a four-hour window beginning on Wednesday at 3:38 am loca Sentinel-2C in the Vega launch tower
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Sentinel-2C in the Vega launch tower Juice’s lunar-Earth flyby: the movie
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On 19–20 August 2024, Juice successfully completed a world-first lunar-Earth flyby, with flight controllers guiding the spacecraft first past the Moon, then past Earth. The gravity of the two changed Juice’s speed and direction, sending it on a shortcut to Jupiter via Venus.
The closest approach to the Moon was at 23:15 CEST on 19 August, deflecting Juice towards a closest approach to Earth just over 24 hours later at 23:56 CEST on 20 August. In the hours before and after both close approaches, Juice’s two monitoring cameras captured photos, giving us a unique ‘Juice eye view’ of
How dangerous is Polaris Dawn space walk from SpaceX Crew Dragon?
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Billionaire Jared Isaacman could make history for all the right reasons during his Polaris Dawn mission when the hatch opens on a SpaceX Crew Dragon and he ventures out into the vacuum of space.
He's sold on its safety, especially the sheer amount of development time in the new extravehicular activity suits all four members of the crew will have to wear during what would be the first commercial space walk in history.
"I mean, an absolutely extensive amount of time has gone into it," he said during a press conference after arriving to KSC last week. "It is rightfully. Why would it be the riskiest part? Because you're throwing away all the safety of your vehicle, right? And it now comes down to your suit becomes your spaceship."
Isaacman and crewmates Scott Poteet, Sarah Gillis and Anna Menon are set to launch in the Crew Dragon Resilience atop a Falcon 9 rocket from KSC's Launch Pad 39-A early Tuesday, targeting liftoff at 3:38 a.m. Eastern time during a roughly four-hour window.
Poteet is a former Air Force pilot, while Gillis and Menon are SpaceX employees as the Polaris Program, which will feature up to three spaceflights including this one, is a partnership between Isaacman and Elon Musk's company to push the boundaries for commercial space.