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Hubble views dwarf galaxy LEDA 4216

Monday, 18 March 2024 16:00
Hubble views dwarf galaxy LEDA 4216
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows LEDA 42160, a galaxy about 52 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. The bright patches on LEDA 42160’s lower-right flank may be star-forming regions spurred on by ram pressure stripping. Credits: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. Sun

This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows LEDA 42160, a galaxy about 52 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Virgo. The dwarf galaxy is one of many forcing its way through the comparatively dense gas in the massive Virgo cluster of galaxies. The pressure exerted by this intergalactic gas, known as ram pressure, has dramatic effects on star formation in LEDA 42160.

SpaceX
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Elon Musk's SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, Reuters reported, citing five people familiar with the program.

SpaceX's Starshield business unit is building the network as part of a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance Office, Reuters said. The new spy system comprises of hundreds of satellites bearing Earth-imaging capabilities that can operate as a swarm in low orbits, according to the .

The contract signals a strengthening relationship between the billionaire's space company and the US government's national security agencies, Reuters said.

SpaceX and the NRO did not immediately respond to requests for comment sent after regular business hours. The NRO said last year that it planned to quadruple its orbiting spacecraft by 2033.

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Citation: SpaceX is building a spy satellite network for US, news agency says (2024, March 18) retrieved 18 March 2024 from https://phys.org/news/2024-03-spacex-spy-satellite-network-news.html
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FutureNAV contract signature

ESA has signed contracts with several European companies for an overall amount of € 233 million to develop Genesis and a LEO-PNT demonstrator, two new missions within the FutureNAV programme that will keep Europe at the forefront of satellite navigation worldwide.

Image:

Astronomers have created the largest yet cosmic 3D map of quasars: bright and active centres of galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. This map shows the location of about 1.3 million quasars in space and time, with the furthest shining bright when the Universe was only 1.5 billion years old.

The new map has been made with data from ESA’s Gaia space telescope. While Gaia’s main objective is to map the stars in our own galaxy, in the process of scanning the sky it also spots objects outside the Milky Way, such as quasars and other galaxies.

The graphic

Starlink
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

After two days of scrubs, SpaceX pulled out some Friday night lights sending up another batch of Starlink satellites from Florida's Space Coast using a first-stage booster for a record-tying 19th time.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A at 8:21 p.m. carrying 23 of SpaceX's internet satellites. Two previous launch attempts were called off with about two minutes left on the countdown clock, the most recent because of an "issue with the transporter erector's cradle arms."

But despite venturing two hours deep into a four-hour window, the launch took off without a hitch.

The first-stage booster equaled the total number of flights by two of SpaceX's other boosters, one of which, though, was destroyed when it toppled over at sea.

This booster's resume includes two human spaceflights, the Inspiration4 orbital mission flown by billionaire Jared Issacman and the first private spaceflight for Axiom Space on its Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station. It has also flown the GPS III Space Vehicle 04, GPS III Space Vehicle 05, Nilesat 301, OneWeb Launch 17, ARABSAT BADR-8 and 11 Starlink missions.

Artist's view of the Ariane 6 flight model-1 Image: Artist's view of the Ariane 6 flight model-1
New York NY (SPX) Mar 18, 2024
As automation and robots reshape the way many industries operate, there is an apprehension that human skill sets and collaboration will become obsolete in certain areas. The space sector is an industry that has utilized robots for decades. However, a question often looms even among some experts in the sector: Are humans needed to explore space? And are robots a better alternative to reach deep s
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