Image: Dragon rider

Discovery helps answer the question: How small can you go when forming stars?
Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars, since they form like stars through gravitational collapse, but never gain enough mass to ignite nuclear fusion. The smallest brown dwarfs can overlap in mass with giant planets. In a quest to find the smallest brown dwarf, astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found the new record-holder: an object weighing just three to four times the mass of Jupiter.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2023
SpaceX has announced further revisions to the schedule for the Falcon Heavy's launch of the USSF-52 mission. The launch, initially set for December 10 and then the 11th and 12th, is now targeted for no earlier than Wednesday, December 13 at 8:14 p.m. ET. This latest delay stems from a 'ground side issue', marking a deviation from the earlier weather-related postponement. SpaceX has also prepared a backup launch opportunity for Wednesday, December 14, should it be necessary.

London, UK (SPX) Dec 12, 2023
AAC Clyde Space, a leader in small satellite technology, has recently been awarded a significant contract by Iota Technology to spearhead a pioneering satellite mission. This project, a key component of the MagQuest competition, aims to enhance our understanding of the Earth's magnetic field. The total value of the order is approximately GBP 1.94 million, translating to around SEK 25.5 million.

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 12, 2023
NASA's EMIT mission has created the first comprehensive maps of the world's mineral dust-source regions, providing precise locations of 10 key minerals based on how they reflect and absorb light. When winds loft these substances into the air, they either cool or warm the atmosphere and Earth's surface, depending on their composition. Understanding their abundance around the globe will help resea

Berkeley CA (SPX) Dec 12, 2023
A panel of the nation's top particle physicists, chaired by University of California, Berkeley, theoretician Hitoshi Murayama, has issued its final report recommending how the U.S. government should commit its high-energy physics research funds for the next decade and beyond, focusing on neutrinos, dark matter and the cosmic microwave background. The report by the Particle Physics Project

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Trailer of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission.

In 2028, ESA will launch its most ambitious exploration mission to search for past and present signs of life on Mars.

Enjoy the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission in minute detail – everything down to the colour and size of the wires, sticky tape and scratches. The spacecraft, the rover and martian landscapes are as true to reality as possible for a simulation. The visuals show the spacecraft structural engineering with a faithful robotic appearance. The martian landscape has been simulated with meticulous realism.

The story begins with the rover exploring the surface of

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Testing the 75kN hybrid rocket motor made by HyImpulse at German Aerospace Center, DLR’s Lampoldshausen facility in Germany, based on a low-cost hybrid propulsion technology. The rocket motor uses "space-grade candle wax" and liquid oxygen as propellants.

HyImpulse Technologies, based in Neuenstadt am Kocher in Southern Germany is developing a three-stage small launcher. Their three-stage launch vehicle, called SL1, will also be powered by green hybrid propulsion technology, using liquid oxygen and paraffin as propellants. The lightweight rocket is designed to launch small satellites up to 500 kg out to low-Earth orbit.

HyImpulse technologies was one of the first