Copernical Team
Asteroid 16 Psyche might not be what scientists expected
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The widely studied metallic asteroid known as 16 Psyche was long thought to be the exposed iron core of a small planet that failed to form during the earliest days of the solar system. But new University of Arizona-led research suggests that the asteroid might not be as metallic or dense as once thought, and hints at a much different origin story.
Scientists are interested in 16 Psyche bec Manned space mission preps for takeoff
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China's upcoming manned mission - Shenzhou XII - is expected to set off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert to the Tianhe core module of the nation's space station.
A Long March 2F carrier rocket with the Shenzhou XII spacecraft on top of it was moved to its launch pad at the space complex on Wednesday evening, according to the China Manned Space Agency New spacecraft will use lasers to transmit video, data in seconds
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New space missions being launched this summer will attempt to revolutionize space communications by using laser beams to quickly transmit large amounts of data, including high-definition video from the moon.
Two missions by the U.S. government will test such lasers, which use invisible, infrared light beams.
NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration will explore the best wa Wake Forest engineers win NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge
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A pair of engineering teams from Wake Forest University took home first and second place in NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge, the space agency announced Wednesday.
Both teams used slightly different techniques to 3D-print vascularized liver tissue in the lab. Now, the two engineering teams will get the opportunity to test their breakthrough tissue models on the International Space Stati NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity flies for 7th time
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NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity moved to a new landing site about 115 feet away from its original position on the Red Planet during its seventh flight.
The space agency announced Tuesday's successful new flight, along with a photo the aerial drone shot of its own shadow during flight.
"With each flight we gain additional real world info on the performance of the rotor and its th Perseverance Rover Begins Its First Science Campaign on Mars
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On June 1, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover kicked off the science phase of its mission by leaving the "Octavia E. Butler" landing site. Until recently, the rover has been undergoing systems tests, or commissioning, and supporting the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's month of flight tests.
During the first few weeks of this first science campaign, the mission team will drive to a low-lying scenic Arctic coastal sea ice thinning twice as fast than thought
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Research based on ice-thickness data from ESA’s CryoSat and Envisat missions along with a new model of snow has revealed that sea ice in the coastal regions of the Arctic may be thinning twice as fast as thought.
Solar eclipse chaser: What to expect from this week's partial eclipse
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In December 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, I made the somewhat questionable decision to fly 11,200km from where I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Santiago, Chile. Then, I boarded a connecting two-hour flight and drove for a further two hours, just to experience two minutes and 20 seconds of darkness.
I followed the guidelines of both the UK and Chilean governments. I got COVID-compliant travel insurance; I took a PCR test 72 hours before arriving in Chile; I wore a mask for the 15-hour flight and had my temperature taken in every building I entered. I also risked getting stranded on the other side of the world the week before Christmas, as the UK was considering banning domestic flights from England to Northern Ireland.
You might wonder why I'd go through all of this. The answer? To witness the most spectacular sight in nature: a total solar eclipse. Despite my endeavor, the Chilean weather thwarted my efforts and cloud coverage denied me a glimpse of the Sun's ethereal pearly atmosphere.
Spacecraft buzzes Jupiter's mega moon, 1st close-up in years
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![Spacecraft buzzes Jupiter's mega moon, 1st close-up in years](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/spacecraft-buzzes-jupi.jpg "This June 7, 2021 image made available by NASA shows the Jovian moon Ganymede as the Juno spacecraft flies by. "This is the closest any spacecraft has come to this mammoth moon in a generation," said Juno's lead scientist, Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS via AP")
NASA's Juno spacecraft has provided the first close-ups of Jupiter's largest moon in two decades.
Juno zoomed past icy Ganymede on Monday, passing within 645 miles (1,038 kilometers).
Engineers design battery to power flying cars
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Engineers at Penn State published plans Monday for a battery prototype they said is capable of powering flying cars.
"I think flying cars have the potential to eliminate a lot of time and increase productivity and open the sky corridors to transportation," lead author Chao-Yang Wang said in a press release on the study, published in the journal Joule.
"But electric vertical takeo