How would rain be different on an alien world?
Sunday, 07 March 2021 13:40
On Titan, Saturn's largest moon, it rains on a regular basis. As with Earth, these rains are the result of liquid evaporating on the surface, condensing in the skies, and falling back to the surface as precipitation. On Earth, this is known as the hydrological (or water) cycle, which is an indispensable part of our climate. In Titan's case, the same steps are all there, but it is methane that is being exchanged and not water.
In recent years, scientists have found evidence of similar patterns involving exoplanets, with everything from molten metal to lava rain! This raises the question of just how exotic the rains may be on alien worlds.
An astronaut’s guide to out-of-Earth manufacturing
Sunday, 07 March 2021 12:50
Improvising new stuff from the stuff you have is part of an astronaut’s job description – think Apollo 13’s crew refitting CO2 filters to save their own lives, or stranded Mark Watney in The Martian, feeding himself on the Red Planet. Now plans are underway to manufacture items in orbit, and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst argues this could make a big difference to living and working in space.
NSF report estimates Arecibo cleanup cost at up to $50 million
Sunday, 07 March 2021 12:07
WASHINGTON — A report by the National Science Foundation estimates it will cost up to $50 million to clean up the damage from the collapsed Arecibo radio telescope, but that it is still too soon to determine whether or how to rebuild the famous observatory.
Studying Near-Earth Asteroids with Radar
Sunday, 07 March 2021 11:53
Some observatories - like the recently collapsed Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico - examine nearby objects by bouncing radio light off of them. A new study has now improved how we analyze these observations to learn about near-Earth asteroids.
There's plenty we can learn about the universe from passive radio astronomy, in which we observe the radio signals emitted by distant sources. But w New 'Eyewear' to Deepen the View of NASA's Roman Space Telescope
Sunday, 07 March 2021 11:53
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to explore even more cosmic questions, thanks to a new near-infrared filter. The upgrade will allow the observatory to see longer wavelengths of light, opening up exciting new opportunities for discoveries from the edge of our solar system to the farthest reaches of space.
"It's incredible that we can make such an impactful change to th Will this solve the mystery of the expansion of the universe
Sunday, 07 March 2021 11:53
The universe was created by a giant bang; the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago, and then it started to expand. The expansion is ongoing: it is still being stretched out in all directions like a balloon being inflated.
Physicists agree on this much, but something is wrong. Measuring the expansion rate of the universe in different ways leads to different results.
So, is something wrong USTC detects a sharp rise in detection rate of broad absorption line variations
Sunday, 07 March 2021 11:53
Gas around black holes and interstellar medium distribution are key factors in understanding the growth of supermassive black holes and the evolution of their host galaxies. However, as a crucial parameter, gas density is hard to be determined reliably, because the general method is not applicable to all quasars.
Researchers from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) of Women making the Webb Space Telescope a reality
Sunday, 07 March 2021 09:00
On the occasion of International Women’s Day 2021, and as excitement builds for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) in October, ESA is highlighting women that play an important role in Europe’s contribution to Webb.
Perseverance makes its first drive on Mars
Saturday, 06 March 2021 00:38
WASHINGTON — NASA’s Perseverance rover has started moving on the Martian surface as project scientists prepare to send the rover toward the remnants of a river delta in search of signs of past life.
At a March 5 press briefing at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, project officials said that the rover made its first movements since landing in Jezero Crater Feb.
Lawmakers ask Biden administration to keep oversight committees in the loop on space activities
Friday, 05 March 2021 23:47
WASHINGTON — The top House Republicans on the committee that oversees civil and commercial space are asking the Biden administration to update lawmakers on its plans regarding space security and space traffic management.
Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology; and Rep.
NASA's new Mars rover hits dusty red road, 1st trip 21 feet
Friday, 05 March 2021 08:28
NASA's newest Mars rover hit the dusty red road this week, putting 21 feet on the odometer in its first test drive.
The Perseverance rover ventured from its landing position Thursday, two weeks after setting down on the red planet to seek signs of past life.
The roundabout, back and forth drive lasted just 33 minutes and went so well that more driving was on tap Friday and Saturday for the the six-wheeled rover.
"This is really the start of our journey here," said Rich Rieber, the NASA engineer who plotted the route.
NASA's Perseverance Drives on Mars' Terrain for First Time
Friday, 05 March 2021 01:59
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover performed its first drive on Mars March 4, covering 21.3 feet (6.5 meters) across the Martian landscape. The drive served as a mobility test that marks just one of many milestones as team members check out and calibrate every system, subsystem, and instrument on Perseverance. Once the rover begins pursuing its science goals, regular commutes extending 656 feet Space launch from British soil one step closer
Friday, 05 March 2021 01:59
In a giant leap in British spaceflight history, government publishes response to commercial spaceflight consultation.
A giant leap in British spaceflight history is being made 5 March 2021 as the government publishes its commercial spaceflight consultation response, paving the way for space launches from UK soil.
Over the past few months, the government has been inviting industry, st Astronauts conclude spacewalk maintenance on International Space Station
Friday, 05 March 2021 01:59
Astronauts Kate Rubins and Soichi Noguchi completed a spacewalk Friday of 6 hours, 56 minutes to perform maintenance on the exterior of the International Space Station.
Rubins, of NASA, and Noguchi, of the Japanese Space Agency, installed a device on an airlock cover to prevent it from blowing out when a hatch is opened. The two also attached new apparatus that will hold upgraded solar Comet Catalina Suggests Comets Delivered Carbon to Rocky Planets
Friday, 05 March 2021 01:59
In early 2016, an icy visitor from the edge of our solar system hurtled past Earth. It briefly became visible to stargazers as Comet Catalina before it slingshot past the Sun to disappear forevermore out of the solar system.
Among the many observatories that captured a view of this comet, which appeared near the Big Dipper, was the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, NASA's t