Washington (AFP) Jan 8, 2025
US company Firefly Aerospace said Tuesday it is aiming to launch a lander to the Moon next week under an experimental NASA program that partners with the commercial sector to reduce costs. If successful, it would mark only the second time an American robot has touched down on the lunar surface since the end of the Apollo era. "Buckle up! Our road trip to the Moon is set to launch at 1:1

Washington (AFP) Jan 7, 2025
NASA announced Tuesday it may turn to Elon Musk's SpaceX or Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin to help reduce the soaring costs of returning Martian rocks collected by the Perseverance rover to Earth. Originally planned to deliver 30 sample tubes to Earth by the 2030s, the Mars Sample Return mission has faced rising expenses and delays, prompting the US space agency to explore more streamlined solutio

Cape Canaveral (AFP) Jan 6, 2025
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin is poised to launch its first orbital rocket next week, marking a pivotal moment in the commercial space race currently dominated by Elon Musk's SpaceX. Named New Glenn, the rocket is scheduled to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida as soon as Wednesday 1:00 am (0600 GMT), with a backup window on Friday, according to a F

London (AFP) Jan 2, 2025
A top-secret lab in the UK is developing the country's first quantum clock to help the British military boost intelligence and reconnaissance operations, the defence ministry said Thursday. The clock is so precise that it will lose less than one second over billions of years, "allowing scientists to measure time at an unprecedented scale," the ministry said in a statement. "The trialling

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 6, 2024
SpaceX on Monday launched a Falcon 9 rocket with its first Starlink mission of the new year, sending 24 satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida. The rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the afternoon. Officials with SpaceX said the flight was the 17th one for the first-stage booster supporting the mission. It previously launch

On 8 January 2025, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission will fly just 295 km above Mercury's surface, with a closest approach scheduled for 06:59 CET (05:59 UTC). It will use this opportunity to photograph Mercury, make unique measurements of the planet’s environment, and fine-tune science instrument operations before the main mission begins. This sixth and final flyby will reduce the spacecraft’s speed and change its direction, readying it for entering orbit around the tiny planet in late 2026.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 23, 2024
XTEND, a leading provider of AI-powered autonomy and tactical drone solutions, has secured an $8.8 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense's Irregular Warfare Technical Support Directorate (IWTSD). The agreement focuses on delivering Precision Strike Indoor and Outdoor (PSIO) small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS). The PSIO sUAS platform is a cutting-edge advancement in tactical

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 20, 2024
On June 18, 2023, the Titan submersible was about an hour-and-a-half into its two-hour descent to the Titanic wreckage at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean when it lost contact with its support ship. This cease in communication set off a frantic search for the tourist submersible and five passengers onboard, located about two miles below the ocean's surface. Deep-ocean search and recovery i

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 26, 2024
Researchers at Rice University have achieved a significant milestone in quantum simulation by modeling molecular electron transfer processes using a trapped-ion quantum simulator. This innovative study, published in Science Advances, demonstrates an advanced method for studying electron transfer dynamics, which are foundational to many physical, chemical, and biological systems. Electron t

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 23, 2024
The electronics industry is approaching a limit to the number of transistors that can be packed onto the surface of a computer chip. So, chip manufacturers are looking to build up rather than out. Instead of squeezing ever-smaller transistors onto a single surface, the industry is aiming to stack multiple surfaces of transistors and semiconducting elements - akin to turning a ranch house i