Copernical Team
NASA selects Firefly Aerospace for NOAA QuickSounder mission launch
NASA has chosen Firefly Aerospace, Inc., based in Cedar Park, Texas, to provide launch services for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) QuickSounder mission.
This selection falls under NASA's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract. The VADR contract offers fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity awards over US and South Korea Strengthen Aerospace Partnership
NASA and the Republic of Korea's newly established Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) have signed a joint statement of intent aimed at expanding cooperation in space exploration, science, and aeronautics. The signing ceremony took place at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., marking KASA's first official visit since its creation in May 2024.
"Building on years of work together both o China expands food options for deep-space missions
China is preparing to offer a broader variety of food for astronauts in future deep-space exploration missions, as discussed at the Second Frontier Forum of Space Medicine in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, East China.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, a holiday celebrating family unity, the crew of Shenzhou XVIII aboard China's space station had a special treat of "space mooncakes" filled with Hera mission to unlock the secrets of Dimorphos asteroid
A new mystery in space is leading to a groundbreaking planetary defense mission aimed at making Earth safer. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Hera mission is now preparing to follow up on a critical experiment that began in 2022.
On September 26, 2022, NASA's DART spacecraft impacted the Dimorphos asteroid at 6.1 km/s. This event altered Dimorphos's orbit around its larger companion, Didy The EU vs X: How big could the fines be for Musk?
Elon Musk's X is in hot water with the EU for allegedly breaking new content rules - and the world's richest man risks multibillion-dollar fines even he might find prohibitive.
The European Union could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of a probe into whether the social platform is breaching a landmark content moderation law, the Digital Servic WASP-107b reveals new atmospheric features thanks to Webb Telescope
New findings about the "popcorn planet" WASP-107b have emerged, thanks to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This gas giant, previously noted for its exceptionally low density and puffed-up atmosphere, has provided scientists with even more unexpected details through advanced atmospheric observations.
WASP-107b, a gas planet roughly the size of Jupiter but only one-tenth as massive, Magnetic Halo in the Milky Way Tied to Powerful Galactic Outflows
A study led by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), with contributions from Radboud University's Marijke Haverkorn, has provided critical new insights into the Milky Way. The research reveals a magnetic halo surrounding our galaxy, challenging existing models of its structure and evolution.
The discovery highlights magnetised structures extending over 16,000 light-years (150 qua Vodafone and Intelsat Expand Satellite Connectivity for Remote Areas and Emergency Response
Vodafone and Intelsat have announced an extended partnership to enhance satellite connectivity services for organizations operating in remote or challenging environments, including disaster zones. This collaboration aims to supplement Vodafone's terrestrial networks with satellite-based broadband services, ensuring businesses, governments, and NGOs can maintain connectivity in underserved region NASA pilots use specialty suits to validate data
Welcome to NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX). We've been talking about this validation campaign and now are finally here. "Here" being one of three main locations where PACE-PAX validation efforts are taking place: NASA's Armstrong Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
PACE-PAX uses the unique vantage point of the ER-2 aircraft to gather data on small particles in the atmosphere and ultimately help verify the data gathered by the satellite in orbit.
NASA's ER-2 aircraft flies high in the sky—approximately 70,000 feet in altitude, where the pilot can see the curvature of Earth. At that high an altitude, pilots must be equipped with a uniform closer to that of an astronaut rather than a flight suit. In fact, while flying the ER-2, the pilot sports a pressurized suit that is essentially a spacesuit.
"The spacesuit is the last line of defense against the elements at altitude," said Kirt Stallings, an ER-2 research pilot. "If the aircraft cabin lost pressurization the spacesuit would automatically inflate protecting the pilot from the elements and allowing them to safely recover the aircraft.
Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid".
The biggest real-life test of our planetary defenses was carried out in 2022, when NASA's fridge-sized DART spacecraft smashed into a 160-metre (525-feet) wide asteroid, successfully knocking it well off course.
But for bigger asteroids, merely crashing spaceships into them will probably not do the trick.
When the roughly 10-kilometer wide Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula around 66 million years ago, it is believed to have plunged Earth into darkness, sent kilometers-high tsunamis rippling around the globe and killed three quarters of all life—including wiping out the dinosaurs.