Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 18, 2023
Earth planning date: Friday, December 15, 2023: Planning can often be a very careful balancing act, and today was certainly no exception. Because we are heading into the weekend, we'd usually get three sols to do all of our science. However, because there is a "soliday" in this plan to help re-synchronize Earth time and Mars time, we're actually only getting two sols. On top of that, we ca

Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 18, 2023
For most of us, the countless bright spots in the nighttime sky all seem to be stars. But in fact, some of those spots are actually planets, or distant suns, or even entire galaxies located billions of light years away. Just what you're looking at depends on how far it is from Earth. That's why measuring the exact distance to celestial objects is such an important goal for astronomers - and one

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 18, 2023
D-Orbit has recently announced the signing of two significant launch service contracts with South Korean space startup TelePIX, signaling a notable collaboration in the realm of space technology. Under these contracts, TelePIX will utilize D-Orbit's renowned expertise to embark on a mission critical for the future of satellite operations: the launch and in-orbit testing of its On-Board Pro

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 18, 2023
More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek mathematician Euclid, known to many as the father of geometry, changed the way we think about shapes. Building off those ancient foundations and millennia of mathematical progress since, Justin Solomon is using modern geometric techniques to solve thorny problems that often seem to have nothing to do with shapes. For instance, perhaps a statistici

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 15, 2023
Rocket Lab returned its Electron rocket into space for the first time since September with a successful New Zealand flight on Friday that released a Japanese satellite into orbit. The payload, the QPS-SAR-5, or Tsukuyomi-1 satellite, reached orbit about 57 minutes after launching from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1. The Japanese company iQPS develops and operates small SAR satellites and

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 15, 2023
A huge solar flare, the biggest since 2017, disrupted radio communication for two hours on Earth Thursday. It was detected by a NASA telescope. "This is likely one of the largest solar radio events ever recorded," the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said in a statement. "Radio communication interference with aircraft were reported by multiple NWS Center Weather Service Units co-loc

Week in images: 11-15 December 2023

Discover our week through the lens

Space is becoming ever more important to life on Earth – from managing climate change to responding to emergencies to digitalising the economy. To help policymakers and businesses take informed decisions about investing in space, ESA has today published plans to create robust and reliable data on the space economy, in collaboration with international partners.