Copernical Team
NASA and Boeing Prepare for Uncrewed Starliner Return Mission
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NASA and Boeing teams have completed a comprehensive Delta-Flight Test Readiness Review, giving the green light for the uncrewed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft to undock from the International Space Station. The undocking is scheduled for no earlier than 6:04 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 6, depending on weather and operational readiness.
Once Starliner undocks, it will take approximately six ho European drill and mini lab secure ride to the Moon
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ESA's Prospect package, including drill and a miniaturised laboratory, will fly to the Moon’s South Polar region in search of volatiles, including water ice, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
Discover where space begins: the guide to ESA’s establishments
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Discover where space begins: the guide to ESA’s establishments
Blue Origin completes latest space tourism flight
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Blue Origin flew its latest group of six thrill-seekers to the edge of space and back again Thursday, including the youngest-ever woman to complete the feat.
Mission NS-26 marked the eighth human spaceflight for the company, founded by Jeff Bezos, as it presses ahead in the emerging suborbital tourism market.
Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina at Cha Blue Origin completes latest space tourism flight successfully
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Blue Origin flew its latest group of six thrill-seekers to the edge of space and back again Thursday, including the youngest-ever woman to complete the feat.
Mission NS-26 marked the eighth human spaceflight for the company, founded by Jeff Bezos, as it presses ahead in the emerging suborbital tourism market.
Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, became the youngest woman ever to cross the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary marking the edge of space, 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Blue Origin's small New Shepard rocket blasted off at 8:00 am local time (1300 GMT) from the company's Launch Site One base in west Texas.
After liftoff, the sleek and spacious capsule separated from its booster, which boasts zero carbon emissions, before the rocket performed a precise vertical landing.
Solar Orbiter shows how solar wind gets a magnetic push
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ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has provided crucial data to answer the decades-long question of where the energy comes from to heat and accelerate the solar wind. Working in tandem with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter reveals that the energy needed to help power this outflow is coming from large fluctuations in the Sun’s magnetic field.
New Horizons spacecraft measurements shed light on the darkness of the universe
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Just how dark is deep space? Astronomers may have finally answered this long-standing question by tapping into the capabilities and distant position of NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, by making the most precise, direct measurements ever of the total amount of light the universe generates.
More than 18 years after launch and nine years after its historic exploration of Pluto, New Horizons is more than 5.4 billion miles (7.3 billion kilometers) from Earth, in a region of the solar system far enough from the sun to offer the darkest skies available to any existing telescope—and to provide a unique vantage point from which to measure the overall brightness of the distant universe.
Astronauts stranded in space: Unexpected eight-month stay highlights risks of space exploration
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Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took off for the International Space Station in June. The test flight aboard Boeing's Starliner was supposed to last a week, but they have yet to return.
Helium leaks and issues with the control thrusters were discovered with the spacecraft, making a safe return to Earth impossible, according to NASA.
Instead, the pair will return to Earth with the crew of an upcoming SpaceX mission, which means they will not be back until February.
But a weeklong trip turning into an eight-month journey is par for the course when it comes to space exploration, Northeastern University experts say.
What if you flew your warp drive spaceship into a black hole?
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Warp drives have a long history of not existing, despite their ubiquitous presence in science fiction. Writer John Campbell first introduced the idea in a science fiction novel called Islands of Space.
These days, thanks to Star Trek in particular, the term is very familiar. It's almost a generic reference for superliminal travel through hyperspace. Whether or not warp drive will ever exist is a physics problem that researchers are still trying to solve, but for now, it's theoretical.
Recently, two researchers looked at what would happen if a ship with warp drive tried to get into a black hole. The result is an interesting thought experiment. It might not lead to starship-sized warp drives but might allow scientists to create smaller versions someday.
International consortium with NASA reveals hidden impact of spaceflight on gut health
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Scientists have uncovered how spaceflight profoundly alters the gut microbiome, revealing previously unknown effects on host physiology that could shape the future of long-duration space missions.
Led by University College Dublin (UCD) and McGill University, Canada, in collaboration with NASA and an international consortium, the research offers the most detailed profile to date of how space travel impacts the gut microbes we carry into space.
Published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, the study used advanced genetic technologies to examine changes in the gut microbiome, colons, and livers of mice aboard the International Space Station (ISS) over three months.
The findings reveal significant shifts in specific bacteria and corresponding changes in host gene expression associated with immune and metabolic dysfunction commonly observed in space, offering new insights into how these changes may affect astronaut physiology during extended missions.
Dr. Emmanuel Gonzalez, McGill University, and first author of the study, said, "Spaceflight extensively alters astronaut physiology, yet many underlying factors remain a mystery.