Arianespace orbits the CSO-2 military observation satellite for France
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09For its 10th and final launch of the year, Arianespace used a Soyuz rocket to orbit the CSO-2 defense and security observation satellite for the French CNES space agency (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) and DGA defense procurement agency (Direction generale de l'armement), on behalf of the French armed forces. With this launch, Arianespace has once again demonstrated its ability to ens
Subsea permafrost is still waking up after 12,000 years
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09In the far north, the swelling Arctic Ocean inundated vast swaths of coastal tundra and steppe ecosystems. Though the ocean water was only a few degrees above freezing, it started to thaw the permafrost beneath it, exposing billions of tons of organic matter to microbial breakdown. The decomposing organic matter began producing CO2 and CH4, two of the most important greenhouse gases. Thoug
A new TanSat XCO2 global product for climate studies
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09Since CO2 has been recognized as the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas owing to its significant impact on global warming and climate change, there have been a substantial number of studies that have focused on investigating the status of CO2 in the atmosphere in the past and present, and how it will change in the future. The United Nations Climate Change Conference (24th Conferen
Faster, greener way of producing carbon spheres
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09A fast, green and one-step method for producing porous carbon spheres, which are a vital component for carbon capture technology and for new ways of storing renewable energy, has been developed by Swansea University researchers. The method produces spheres that have good capacity for carbon capture, and it works effectively at a large scale. Carbon spheres range in size from nanomete
High-brightness source of coherent light spanning from the UV to THz
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09Analytical optical methods are vital to our modern society as they permit the fast and secure identification of substances within solids, liquids or gases. These methods rely on light interacting with each of these substances differently at different parts of the optical spectrum. For instance, the ultraviolet range of the spectrum can directly access electronic transitions inside a substance wh
Scientists and philosopher team up, propose a new way to categorize minerals
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 06:09A diamond lasts forever, but that doesn't mean all diamonds have a common history. Some diamonds were formed billions of years ago in space as the carbon-rich atmospheres of dying stars expanded and cooled. In our own planet's lifetime, high-temperatures and pressures in the mantle produced the diamonds that are familiar to us as gems. 5,000 years ago, a large meteorite that struck a carbon-rich
NSTXL’s contract to manage Space Force technology projects on hold pending review
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 22:33WASHINGTON — The recent selection of NSTXL to manage space technology projects for the U.S. Space Force is being reexamined following revelations that a Texas court ruled the company acted fraudulently in a dispute with a business partner.
White House releases planetary protection strategy
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 21:04WASHINGTON — The White House released a national strategy for planetary protection Dec. 30, outlining new assessments to prevent terrestrial contamination of other worlds and vice versa.
The National Strategy for Planetary Protection, developed by an interagency working group led by the National Space Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), outlines work to be done over the next year to update planetary protection policies, considering both scientific advances as well as growing private capabilities in space exploration.
Presidential transition, weak funding put 2024 moon landing goal in doubt
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03The handoff from Donald Trump's administration to that of Joe Biden, and a lack of congressional funding, have cast doubt on NASA's goal for a lunar landing by 2024 - a date that already had been seen as unlikely. "We can say, really, it's impossible at this point to meet that 2024 goal," said Casey Dreier, chief advocate for The Planetary Society, which says it is the largest nonprofi
mu Space to push Thai space industry, planning to build its first spaceship in 2021
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:032020 was the time when the space scene was lively again, with the Thai government pushing for space-activity-related legislation and creating mechanisms to promote and support both the government and the private sector to develop the space industry together, which is one of the target industries in the new S-curve that will increase Thailand's investment capacity and its role in developing the s
The Opticon-RadioNet Pilot Project
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03The European Commission will provide 15 million euro in funding to a consortium of 37 astronomical institutions from the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). The goal of the Opticon-RadioNet Pilot Project (ORP) is to enable and facilitate scientists to share between the partners observing time at optical and radio telescopes. Similar programs have existed before: the RadioNet p
A blazar in the early universe
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03The supersharp radio "vision" of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) has revealed previously unseen details in a jet of material ejected at three-quarters the speed of light from the core of a galaxy some 12.8 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy, dubbed PSO J0309+27, is a blazar, with its jet pointed toward Earth, and is the brightest radio-emitting blazar ye
NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03NASA has approved two heliophysics missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. Together, NASA's contribution to the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission, or EUVST, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE, will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an interconnected system. Understanding the physics th
How The Pentagon's True Space Maverick Became The Soldier's Best Friend
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03This past week, the United States Space Force turned one year old. In the months leading up to the anniversary, the infant military branch started to form an image all its own. In July, the newly instituted Space Force unveiled its logo and new motto, Semper Supra, "Always Above." The motto was reminiscent of other military branches, like that of the Marine Corps "Semper Fidelis," meaning "Alway
Space Force Guardians recognized for superior performance
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03Guardians from around the world gathered virtually Dec. 11 to reflect on their contributions and to recognize high achieving individuals for their performance during the U.S. Space Force's first year of operation. The formal recognition was led by Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett, Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Space For