Image: Printed nerves for a satellite

London, UK (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
A new study led by a joint team at Nagoya University and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan has measured the cosmic age of a very distant galaxy. The team used the ALMA radio telescope array to detect a radio signal that has been travelling for approximately 97% of the age of the Universe. This discovery confirms the existence of galaxies in the very early Universe found by the James

We’re marking 20 years of the European Centre for Space Records in ESA ESRIN, Frascati, one of the physical homes of the ESA Archives, by giving access to our digital holdings in a new web portal.

Wallops Island VA (SPX) Jan 24, 2023
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has launched its 33rd Electron rocket and first mission from Virginia. The "Virginia is for Launch Lovers" mission lifted off at 18:00 EST on January 24th from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 2 (LC-2) at Virginia Space's Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport within NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. The mission deployed three satellites to a 550km orbit for leading radio frequency geospati

Ann Arbor MI (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
It was believed that Hall thrusters, an efficient kind of electric propulsion widely used in orbit, need to be large to produce a lot of thrust. Now, a new study from the University of Michigan suggests that smaller Hall thrusters can generate much more thrust-potentially making them candidates for interplanetary missions. "People had previously thought that you could only push a certain a

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
The Boeing CST-100 Starliner's crew and service modules were connected, or mated, on Jan. 19 in advance of the first launch with astronauts to the International Space Station on the company's next-generation spacecraft. During the operation inside the company's Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a crane lifted the reusable crew module a

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2023
NASA's Psyche spacecraft is shown in a clean room on Dec. 8, 2022, at Astrotech Space Operations Facility near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The spacecraft was powered on and connected to ground support equipment, enabling engineers and technicians to prepare it for launch in 2023. Teams working at Astrotech and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California con

Houston TX (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
NASA announced Thursday its new Mars Sample Receiving Project office, responsible for receiving and curating the first samples returned from the Red Planet, will be located at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. The safe and rapid release of Mars samples after they return to Earth to laboratories worldwide for science investigations will be a priority. The office will reside with

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2023
Despite giving it the "old college try," Curiosity's attempt to drill into the Marker Band at the "Encanto" site did not reach sampling depth. Because other rocks around the rover look similar to "Encanto" and are likely also too hard to drill, the Science Team decided to convert the plan to a "Touch and Go." Although the Science Team is disappointed to leave this Marker Band location with

Bern, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
Frozen molecules were central to the origin of life on Earth. In addition to impacts of icy comets and asteroids, according to current theory, our planet likely also received the elementary components of life from the ices of the immense interstellar molecular cloud from which the Earth and the rest of the solar system emerged. In a new study, an international research team, with the parti