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Astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to study a rocky exoplanet known as GJ 486 b. It is too close to its star to be within the habitable zone, with a surface temperature of about 430 degrees Celsius. And yet, their observations using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) show hints of water vapor. If the water vapor is associated with the planet, that would indicate that it has an atmosphere despite its scorching temperature and close proximity to its star. Water vapor has been seen on gaseous exoplanets before, but to date no atmosphere has been

A radar antenna on a European mission to Jupiter has yet to fully deploy after launch, although project officials say they still have plenty of options to fix the problem.

SpaceX launched the Americas-focused ViaSat-3 broadband satellite on a Falcon Heavy rocket April 30 following delays partly caused by severe weather that included lightning and tornado warnings.

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 28, 2023
This past week, the Perseverance rover has driven to a rock outcrop called Echo Creek, situating itself just west of the Belva crater rim peppered with large flagstone rocks suitable for its next task: abrasion. Although successfully executed countless times over the past two years, abrading and sampling are still non-deterministic activities. Rocks may fracture or reorient during preload

Washington DC (SPX) May 01, 2023
With the success of NASA's Artemis I mission and the agency recently naming the Artemis II crew, progress towards humanity's first-ever journey to the lunar South Pole region during Artemis III is well underway. To prepare, NASA scientists and engineers are learning as much as possible about this shadowy region that promises to yield scientific discoveries that can help us learn about our

Beijing, China (SPX) May 01, 2023
China National Space Administration (CNSA) and Asia-Pacific Space Cooperation Organization (APSCO) Sign Joint Statement on International Lunar Research Station Cooperation On April 25, the first International Conference on Deep Space Exploration (Tiandu), themed "Flying to Deep Space through Win-win Cooperation," commenced in Hefei, Anhui. During the opening ceremony, the China National Sp

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) May 28, 2023
Two additional O3b mPOWER satellites were successfully launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, United States, at 6:12 pm local time, SES announced Friday. The second pair of O3b mPOWER satellites will join the first two satellites launched in December 2022, which have arrived at their target medium earth orbit (MEO) and are currently undergo

Alameda CA (SPX) May 01, 2023
Astra Space (Nasdaq: ASTR) and Apex Technology, Inc. have announced a contract for Astra to initially provide 5 Spacecraft Propulsion Kits for Apex's satellite bus platform. Astra is expected to begin delivering the Spacecraft Propulsion Kits in 2023. The Spacecraft Propulsion Kit disaggregates the four subsystems of the Astra Spacecraft Engine module: (1) thruster, (2) power processing un