UFOs: What we will learn from the NASA panel investigating sightings
Monday, 18 September 2023 15:35
A committee set up by NASA has examined about 800 reports of unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), or what most of us would call UFOs (unidentified flying objects). NASA defines these events as sightings "that cannot be identified as aircraft or known natural phenomena from a scientific perspective".
The creation of this committee shows that NASA is taking potential extraterrestrial events very seriously. On Wednesday, May 31 2023, the committee held its first public meeting to discuss what it is doing and what it has found so far, ahead of a full report later this year.
It revealed some reports are easy to explain as boats, planes or weather, some had comical, lunch-based origins, and only a few remain a mystery.
The committee is led by astrophysicist David Spergel and is made up of a team of experts ranging from university professors to a former astronaut. The study has been using declassified reports and images to try to explain some of the mysterious reports, which come from all sorts of sources including military personnel and commercial airline pilots.
China launches new batch of Yaogan reconnaissance satellites
Monday, 18 September 2023 15:09
L3Harris exploring supplier partnerships for its satellite business
Monday, 18 September 2023 14:59
Engineered compound shows promise in preventing bone loss in space
Monday, 18 September 2023 13:32
A study published in npj Microgravity, finds an engineered compound given to mice aboard the International Space Station (ISS) largely prevented the bone loss associated with time spent in space.
The study, led by a transdisciplinary team of professors at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Forsyth Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, highlight a promising therapy to mitigate extreme bone loss from long-duration space travel as well as musculoskeletal degeneration on Earth.
Microgravity-induced bone loss has long been a critical concern for long-term space missions. Decreased mechanical loading due to microgravity induces bone loss at a rate 12-times greater than on Earth. Astronauts in low Earth orbit may experience bone loss up to 1% per month, endangering astronaut skeletal health and increasing risk for fractures during long-duration spaceflight and later in life.
The current mitigation strategy for bone loss relies on exercise-induced mechanical loading to promote bone formation but is far from perfect for crew members spending up to six months in microgravity.
Exercise does not always prevent bone loss, takes up valuable crew time, and may be contraindicated for certain types of injuries.
Parker probe observes powerful coronal mass ejection 'vacuum up' interplanetary dust
Monday, 18 September 2023 12:49
On Sept. 5, 2022, NASA's Parker Solar Probe soared gracefully through one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) ever recorded—not only an impressive feat of engineering, but a huge boon for the scientific community.
Electrons from Earth may be forming water on the Moon
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
A team of researchers, led by a University of Hawai'i (UH) at Manoa planetary scientist, discovered that high energy electrons in Earth's plasma sheet are contributing to weathering processes on the Moon's surface and, importantly, the electrons may have aided the formation of water on the lunar surface. The study was published in Nature Astronomy.
Understanding the concentrations and dist Saturn images show a change of seasons as polar vortex fades
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
While the UK has been experiencing warm autumnal weather, a team of planetary scientists has found that Saturn's late northern summer is experiencing a cooling trend, as huge planetary-scale flows of air have reversed direction as autumn approaches.
The new observations have also provided a last glimpse of Saturn's north pole, with its enormous warm vortex filled with hydrocarbon gases, be NASA contract Firefly to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
Firefly Aerospace, Inc., an end-to-end space transportation company, was awarded an $18 million NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract to provide radio frequency calibration services from lunar orbit as part of Blue Ghost Mission 2, Firefly's second mission to the Moon in 2026. This contract marks Firefly's third NASA CLPS task order award, totaling nearly $230 million to date fo CPI Vertex to provide KA-band antennas for SES'S O3B mPOWER
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
CPI Vertex Antennentechnik, a subsidiary of Communications and Power Industries (CPI), has been selected to provide high-performance Ka-band antenna systems to SES for its O3b mPOWER communications system. These ground-based 5.5 meter Ka-band "plug and play" series tracking antennas will be used for O3b mPOWER Gateway systems.
The O3b mPOWER system is SES's second-generation medium Earth o The young age of permanently shadowed areas on the Moon
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
Most of the Moon's permanently shadowed areas arose less than 2.2 billion years ago and some trapped ice during the recent past, research led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Norbert Schorghofer shows.
"These findings change the prediction for where we would expect to find water ice on the Moon, and it dramatically changes estimates for how much water ice there is on the Moo Mapping the Sun's Interaction with Mercury's Surface
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
A new study maps the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind to geographical location on the surface of Mercury, giving scientists new insight into how interactions with the Sun alters the surface and produces Mercury's very thin atmosphere.
"Studies that have examined the infall of protons and electrons from the solar wind typically map the infall to the surface in terms of ti Successful entry into service of Eutelsat Hotbird 13F and 13G satellites
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) announces that its two high-power HOTBIRD 13F and HOTBIRD 13G satellites have entered into full commercial service. Located at Eutelsat's 13 degrees East flagship video neighbourhood, the satellites are reinforcing and enhancing the broadcast quality of around nine hundred television channels into more than 160 million homes across Europe, Northern A Sidus Space announces 180-Day extension on NASDAQ minimum pricing
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:07
Sidus Space has been granted an additional 180 calendar days, or until March 11, 2024, (the "Second Compliance Period") to regain compliance with The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC ("NASDAQ").
On September 12, 2023, Sidus received a notification letter (the "Notification Letter") from the Listings Qualifications Department of NASDAQ. The Notification Letter states that, while Sidus has not regain European space loses chief of Spaceport
Monday, 18 September 2023 10:04
With great sadness, we announce the passing of Daniel de Chambure on 16 September 2023 at the age of 61, after a short period of severe illness. His loss will be deeply felt by his many colleagues and friends at ESA and by the wider space community.