Copernical Team
NASA faces new criticism, possible congressional hearing over spacesuit delays
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NASA is facing new criticism over a recent agency watchdog report that disclosed spacesuit development is so far behind schedule that a return to the moon would be delayed beyond a 2024 target.
Coupled with the high cost, estimated to hit $1 billion eventually, the development issues are serious enough to prompt a congressional hearing, U.S. Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told UPI.
"I almost Planet Aqua: Solutions from Space for Clean Water
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Video:
00:51:12
Water is life, on Earth and in space. Dutch ESA astronaut André Kuipers recounts his experience living in space for 204 days, and his time looking back on the blue face of ‘Planet Aqua’, comparing notes with divers about what is going on beneath the waves. He goes on to explore how space technology is being used for water management, from orbital tracking of water quality and pollution to spacecraft-grade recycling systems deployed down on the ground, as well as ambitious efforts to identify marine plastic litter using satellites. Produced for SIWI World Water Week with the
Astronaut's undisclosed minor medical issue delays spacewalk
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NASA is delaying a spacewalk at the International Space Station this week because of an undisclosed medical issue involving one of its astronauts.
We're launching Australia's first scratch-built satellite, and it's a giant leap toward the moon
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On August 28, a SpaceX rocket will blast off from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carrying supplies bound for the International Space Station. But also on board will be a small satellite that represents a giant leap into space for our research program here in Western Australia.
Our satellite, called Binar-1 after the Noongar word for "fireball," was designed and built from scratch by our team at Curtin University's Space Science and Technology Center.
We chose this name for two reasons: to acknowledge the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, and to recognize the relationship between our satellite program and Curtin's Desert Fireball Network, which has successfully searched for meteorites in the Australian desert.
Binar-1 is a CubeSat—a type of small satellite made from 10-centimeter cube-shaped modules. Binar-1 consists of just one such module, meaning it's technically a 1U CubeSat.
Its main objective is to prove the technology works in space, thereby taking a first step towards future missions in which we hope ultimately to send CubeSats to the moon.
ESA astronaut joins glacier expedition in Alps
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From space, the synchronous retreat of the world’s glaciers can be clearly observed. To get a first-hand view of these changes, ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano, along with Susanne Mecklenburg, Head of ESA’s Climate Office, have joined a science expedition taking place at one of the biggest ice masses in the Alps: the Gorner Glacier.
Astronaut applicants asked for patience as numbers exceed forecasts
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Astronaut hopefuls are being asked for their patience as ESA processes over 23 000 applications to its Astronaut and Astronaut (with a disability) vacancies. This number far exceeds the Agency’s most optimistic forecasts.
Magnets could offer better control of prosthetic limbs
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For people with amputation who have prosthetic limbs, one of the greatest challenges is controlling the prosthesis so that it moves the same way a natural limb would. Most prosthetic limbs are controlled using electromyography, a way of recording electrical activity from the muscles, but this approach provides only limited control of the prosthesis.
Researchers at MIT's Media Lab have now Further evidence of 200 million-year cycle for Earth's magnetic field
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The findings of a new study by the University of Liverpool provides further evidence of an approximately 200-million-year long cycle in the strength of the Earth's magnetic field.
Researchers performed thermal and microwave (a technique which is unique to the University of Liverpool) paleomagnetic analysis on rock samples from ancient lava flows in Eastern Scotland to measure the strength Drought makes its home on the range
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As Tracy Schohr goes about her day, water is always on her mind. She's thinking of it as she rides an all-terrain vehicle around the pasture, looks up hay prices and weather forecasts, and collects data on grazing and invasive weeds for a scientific study.
Schohr is a rancher and farmer in Gridley, California, where her family has raised beef cattle and grown rice for six generations. She Leak and destroy: On the hunt for climate killing gas
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After finding a rusty gas canister near his midwest US home, Rick Karas checked online if it was worth anything. Incredibly, it turned out to be a coveted commodity in the battle against climate change.
His roughly basketball-sized container was filled with CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons), a potent greenhouse gas that is perfectly legal to possess but which has been globally banned from manufactu