Hubble sees cosmic clues in a galactic duo
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49This spectacular image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope captures the spiral galaxy NGC 105, which lies roughly 215 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces. While it looks like NGC 105 is plunging edge-on into a neighboring galaxy, this is just a circumstance of perspective. NGC 105's elongated neighbor is actually far more distant. Such visual associations are the result of
Physicist seeks to understand dark matter with Webb Telescope
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49The much-anticipated launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will usher in a new era of research on our universe. Among the many researchers planning to take advantage of the data from the Hubble Space Telescope's successor is Carnegie Mellon University Associate Professor of Physics Matthew Walker, who is principal investigator of a program making use of data collected in telescope's first yea
Amazon helps develop Alexa-like Callisto system for Artemis moon mission
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49Lockheed Martin has teamed up with Amazon and Webex to demonstrate technology on NASA's lunar Orion space capsule that will use software similar to Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa. The demonstration, called Callisto, will fly on the uncrewed Artemis 1 lunar mission that NASA hopes to launch in the next few months. It won't be able to control the spacecraft, but it will be able to turn
Arianespace to launch eight new Galileo satellites
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49Arianespace will launch the first two satellites in 2022, leading to the Full Operational Capability of Galileo open service. Then, three successive launches on Ariane 62 in 2023, 2024 and 2025, will finalize the launch of the first generation of Galileo satellites and will increase the constellation resilience. These will be the 13th to 16th Galileo missions by Arianespace, which has orbi
Earth's first giant
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49The two-meter skull of a newly discovered species of giant ichthyosaur, the earliest known, is shedding new light on the marine reptiles' rapid growth into behemoths of the Dinosaurian oceans, and helping us better understand the journey of modern cetaceans (whales and dolphins) to becoming the largest animals to ever inhabit the Earth. While dinosaurs ruled the land, ichthyosaurs and othe
Gilmour Space fires up for 2022 with Australia's largest rocket engine test
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49Rocket engineers at Gilmour Space Technologies have greeted the new year with a successful 110-kilonewton test fire of the most powerful rocket engine ever developed in Australia. The 75-second test was a major milestone for Gilmour Space, which is developing Australian Made rockets that will, over the next five years, be capable of launching 300- to 4,000-kilogram satellites and payloads
ASU instrument captures breathtaking 'first light' images
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49ASU scientists and engineers building the Europa Thermal Emission Imaging System (E-THEMIS) for NASA's Europa Clipper passed a major hurdle recently by capturing the first successful test images from this complex infrared camera, known as "first light" images. Europa Clipper, a NASA mission to investigate Jupiter's moon Europa, is planned to launch in October 2024 and arrive at Jupiter in
Elusive atmospheric molecule produced in a lab for the 1st time by UH
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49The previously elusive methanediol molecule of importance to the organic, atmospheric science and astrochemistry communities has been synthetically produced for the first time by University of Hawai?i at Manoa researchers. Their discovery and methods were published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on December 30. Methanediol is also known as formaldehyde monohydrate or me
Advertising plays key role in satellite TV success, study shows
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49The pay television market in the United States was dominated by a handful of cable operators until the early 1990s with the entry of satellite TV, which has grown consistently ever since. A new study from the University of Notre Dame documents the role of advertising to help explain satellite operators' continued success. "Commercial Success through Commercials? Advertising and Pay T
Russian company develops method for effective transfer of solar energy to Earth
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49Despite being one of the easiest and most accessible methods of gathering renewable energy, solar panels are unable to perform well in many spots of the world and in non-ideal weather conditions. In space, however, the effectiveness of solar panels increases significantly, prompting their wide use to power satellites and other spacecraft. Russian Space Systems, a subsidiary of the Russian
AFRL detects moonlet around asteroid with smallest telescope yet
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 07:49On November 29, 2021, an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Starfire Optical Range (SOR)* telescope on Kirtland Air Force Base near Albuquerque, New Mexico, recorded an image of asteroid (22) Kalliope, and its natural satellite Linus. A confirming image was taken four nights later. What is unique about these observations is the small size of the telescope used, only 1.5 meters in diameter.
SOFIA makes case for continued operations
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 03:47Officials with a NASA airborne observatory responded to a stinging rebuke in the latest astrophysics decadal survey by arguing that the facility, targeted for termination, is essential to the agency’s broader science program.
SpaceX goes all-in on Starship configuration for second-gen Starlink
Monday, 10 January 2022 21:44SpaceX has dropped a plan to use Falcon 9 to launch the 30,000 satellites in its proposed second-generation Starlink broadband constellation, and is instead focusing on a configuration leveraging its upcoming Starship vehicle.
Biden nominates Navy admiral to run National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Monday, 10 January 2022 17:39President Biden has nominated U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth to be the next director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the. Defense Department announced Jan. 10.
Defense Innovation Unit taps Lyten to develop high-performance batteries for small satellites
Monday, 10 January 2022 17:17Lyten, a battery manufacturer based in California, has prototyped an advanced battery design for small satellites under a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit.