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ESA’s state-of-the-art Biomass  mission has been designed to shed new light on the health and dynamics of the world’s forests, revealing how they are changing over time and, critically, enhancing our understanding of their role in the global carbon cycle. It is the first satellite to carry a fully polarimetric P-band synthetic aperture radar for interferometric imaging. Thanks to the long wavelength of P-band, around 70 cm, the radar signal can slice through the forest canopy and whole forest layer to measure the ‘biomass’, meaning the woody trunks, branches and stems, which is where trees store most of their

Image: Europe's largest solid-propellant rocket motors

Image: ESA’s Biomass satellite, encapsulated within a Vega-C rocket fairing, has been rolled out to the launch pad at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana ahead of liftoff, planned for 29 April at 11:15 CEST.

Beijing (AFP) April 22, 2025
China is expected to launch a new crewed mission into space this week, as Beijing takes steady steps towards its goal of putting astronauts on the Moon. The Shenzhou-20 mission will blast off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, carrying three astronauts to the country's self-built Tiangong space station for a likely six-month stay. The team will undertake expe

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 22, 2025
China has successfully established the first three-satellite constellation operating in the distant retrograde orbit (DRO) of the Earth-Moon system, a major achievement in the nation's ongoing expansion of deep-space infrastructure, researchers announced during a recent symposium in Beijing. The trio now orbiting in DRO comprises two spacecraft, DRO-A and DRO-B, launched in March last year

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 22, 2025
Earth planning date: Monday, April 14, 2025: We all know the feeling-it's Monday morning after a packed weekend, and you wish for just a bit more time to rest. Curiosity is likely feeling the same today. Over the weekend, the rover completed a full slate of activities, including contact science, a MAHLI stereo imaging test, simultaneous ChemCam passive spectral data collection and orbiter

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025
A newly published study by SETI Institute researchers suggests that the irregularity of certain meteor showers arises not from chaotic planetary influences but from the subtle, yet consequential, motion of the Sun itself. The findings, presented in the journal Icarus, offer a fresh perspective on the long-term behavior of comets and their meteoroid trails. "Contrary to popular conception,

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 21, 2025
NASA launched its latest cargo run to the International Space Station early Monday morning. At 4:15 a.m. EDT, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft took off while aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The craft, known as Commercial Resupply Services 32, or CRS-32, carried approximately 6,700 pounds of cargo and scientific equipment in wh

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Apr 22, 2025
A collaborative effort between researchers from Mainz, Valencia, Madrid, and Zurich has revealed new insights into one of biology's greatest leaps in complexity: the emergence of the eukaryotic cell. Published in PNAS, the study reframes eukaryogenesis as a phase transition in the evolutionary algorithm of life-a transition so profound it divides the biological record into two distinct computati

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2025
A bold new theory from astrophysicists at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy suggests the universe itself may be rotating-albeit at a nearly imperceptible pace. The study, led by Istvan Szapudi and published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, could offer a fresh explanation for the longstanding "Hubble tension" that has puzzled scientists for years. Cur