Copernical Team
SPIRou Stares at a Young Rebel: the AU Mic Planetary System
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A team of astronomers using SPIRou, the spectropolarimeter / high-precision velocimeter at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), measured the mass and density of a close-in Neptune-like planet orbiting the hugely-active newborn star AU Microscopii (AU Mic), showing that this warm planet, named AU Mic b, orbits in the equatorial plane of its host.
These observations mark the very first Head of US Space Force says not many understand its purpose
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Ever since former President Trump started talking about it early on during his time in office, the Space Force has gained the attention of many Americans, while lawmakers in both parties see it as integral to ensuring that the military gives space the priority it requires in order to fight China and Russia.
The Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond said that there might be a public SpaceX launches fourth Starlink mission of 2021
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Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida early Thursday with the mission to send a cluster of 60 Starlink communication satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The 21-story, two-stage rocket launched at 1:19 a.m. EST Thursday from Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
While weather at the launch site was favorable, officials said they White House: Biden supports NASA program to send astronauts to moon
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President Joe Biden supports NASA's plan to return Americans to the surface of the moon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, relieving some doubt as to the fate of the Trump-era Artemis program under the new administration.
The Trump administration called for NASA to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 as part of an overall mission to ultimately send humans to Mars. But NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023
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NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023. The delivery, planned for Mare Crisium, a low-lying basin on the Moon's near side, will investigate a variety of lunar surface conditions and resources. Such investigations will help prepare for human missions to t A Steady DRIP with NASA Satellites
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When drought hits the Horn of Africa, it's a threat to lives and livelihoods. Communities need access to water for sanitation, hydration, livestock and agriculture -?and in many cases, tapping groundwater supplies is the difference between a "drought" and a "drought emergency." But maintaining the thousands of groundwater pumps that supply fresh water to drought-prone areas in east Africa is a s Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth
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Jim Bell is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and has worked on a number of Mars missions. On Feb. 18, NASA's Mars 2020 mission will be arriving at the red planet, and hopefully will place the Perseverance Rover on the surface. Bell is the primary investigator leading a team in charge of one of the camera systems on Perseverance.
b>What's How Mars became the prize for the new space race
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Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land on its far side, it has also planted a flag on lunar soil and brought samples back to Earth.
The race between several nations and private companies, however, is far from over. How Mars 2020 will help bring part of the red planet back to Earth
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Out in the cold, empty void beyond Earth, NASA's latest Mars mission is hurtling at 43,000 miles per hour toward the Red Planet. The mission, Mars 2020, passed the halfway point of its journey in October 2020 and is expected to touch down on solid ground on February 18.
The mission is the first part of an audacious plan to do something humanity has never done before: bring a piece of another planet back to Earth. (NASA has retrieved rocks from the Moon, but it is not considered a planet.) This plan, known as Mars Sample Return, will involve three missions spanning a decade.
For Ken Farley, Caltech's W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry and the mission's project scientist, Mars 2020 is the culmination of years of dreaming and careful planning.
"The idea of bringing a sample back from Mars goes back decades," he says.
How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it
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Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land on its far side, it has also planted a flag on lunar soil and brought samples back to Earth.
The race between several nations and private companies, however, is far from over. China is now approaching Mars with its Tianwen-1 mission, due to arrive on February 10. A successful insertion into orbit—the rover won't land until May—will mark another crucial milestone for more than one reason.
Mars may be close to Earth, but it is a challenging target. Nothing demonstrates this better than the figures. Out of 49 missions up to December 2020, only about 20 have been successful. Not all these failures were attempts by newbies or early endeavors.