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There’s a mystery out there in deep space – and solving it will make Earth safer. That’s why the European Space Agency’s Hera mission is taking shape – to go where one particular spacecraft has gone before.

On 26 September 2022, moving at 6.1 km/s, NASA’s DART spacecraft crashed into the Dimorphos asteroid. Part of our Solar System changed. The impact shrunk the orbit of the Great Pyramid-sized Dimorphos around its parent asteroid, the mountain-sized Didymos.

This grand experiment was performed to prove we could defend Earth against an incoming asteroid, by striking it with a spacecraft to deflect

The Sentinel-1B satellite, the second satellite of the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, completed its disposal process – which included lowering its orbit and passivating its systems to ensure re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere within 25 years.

This careful operation highlights the European Union’s and ESA’s commitment to space safety and sustainability and provides valuable experience for the disposal of current and future spacecraft.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 19, 2024
SpaceBilt Inc. has announced that its ARMAS (Automated Radiation Measurement for Aerospace Safety) sensor will be included in Lonestar Data Holding's Freedom Payload during Intuitive Machines' upcoming mission to the Lunar South Pole. This mission represents a significant step toward gathering essential radiation data to ensure the safety of future missions in Cislunar space and on the lunar sur

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2024
Rob Gutro has never been one to stay idle. From his start working at a paper factory as a teenager, Rob navigated his way to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center where he serves as the deputy news chief in the Office of Communications until he retires in October 2024. In this role, Rob manages all the media products, like news stories and videos, that come out of Goddard. He also edits conte

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 19, 2024
In a new study, MIT physicists propose that if most of the dark matter in the universe is made up of microscopic primordial black holes - an idea first proposed in the 1970s - then these gravitational dwarfs should zoom through our solar system at least once per decade. A flyby like this, the researchers predict, would introduce a wobble into Mars' orbit, to a degree that today's technology coul

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 20, 2024
China successfully launched two new satellites on Thursday morning as part of its Beidou Navigation Satellite System, according to the China Satellite Navigation Office. "The satellites were carried by a Long March 3B rocket that lifted off at 9:14 am from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province and were deployed into a medium-Earth orbit." This marks the

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 20, 2024
Top leaders from the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Navy, along with industry experts, gathered to discuss the increasing importance of space operations in modern military strategy at the Air and Space Force Association's Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Sept. 16. The panel covered the complexities of integrating space into broader military frameworks and explored futu

Seattle, WA (SPX) Sep 19, 2024
Some of the most dramatic climatic events in our planet's history are "Snowball Earth" events that happened hundreds of millions of years ago, when almost the entire planet was encased in ice up to 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) thick. These "Snowball Earth" events have happened only a handful of times and do not occur on regular cycles. Each lasts for millions of years or tens of millions of yea