Copernical Team
Camera captures the Southern Pinwheel galaxy in glorious detail
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Mars missions from China and UAE are set to go into orbit – here's what they could discover
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How times have changed since the Apollo era. Within the space of a few days, two space missions from China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), respectively, are set to reach Mars. The UAE's Hope mission will go into orbit around Mars on February 9. The next day, the Chinese Tianwen-1 mission – an orbiter and lander—will swing into orbit, with a predicted landing date sometime in May.
It is a very big moment for both countries. Hope is the first interplanetary mission by an Arab nation ever. And if China succeeds, it will be the first country ever to visit and land on Mars on its first try. The odds are stacked against them with nearly 50% of all Mars missions failing. China already lost a Mars orbiter mission (Yinghuo-1) back in 2011.
But before the missions can start doing science, tense moments await. As they arrive at the planet, they need to trigger a burn of their engines just at the right time to slow the probes down so they can be captured by Mars' gravitational field. Given the large distance from Earth, this needs to be carried out automatically by the probe.
Tianwen-1
If all goes well, the orbiter Tianwen, which means "Questions to Heaven" and the yet unnamed rover will attempt to measure Mars's climate and "ionosphere", a layer of electrically charged particles surrounding the planet.
Call for media: ESA seeks new astronauts - applications open 31 March 2021
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Press Release N° 3–2021
For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for new astronauts. These recruits will work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration.
Sentinel-6 passes in-orbit tests with flying colours
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In November 2020, the Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite was launched into orbit from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US. Now, months later, the satellite has successfully passed what is known as the ‘in-orbit verification phase’, where its equipment is switched on and the instruments’ performance is checked.
Happy new Mars year
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Happy new Mars year Next stop Mars: 3 spacecraft arriving in quick succession
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![Next stop Mars: 3 spacecraft arriving in quick succession](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/nextstopmars.jpg "In this Monday, July 20, 2020 file photo, men watch the launch of the "Amal" or "Hope" space probe at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The orbiter is scheduled to reach Mars on Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021, followed less than 24 hours later by China's orbiter-rover combo. NASA's rover will arrive on the scene a week later, on Feb. 18, to collect rocks for return to Earth—a key step in determining whether life ever existed at Mars. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)")
NANOGrav finds possible 'first hints' of low-frequency gravitational wave background
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In data gathered and analyzed over 13 years, the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) Physics Frontiers Center (PFC) has found an intriguing low-frequency signal that may be attributable to gravitational waves.
NANOGrav researchers - including a number from West Virginia University's (WVU's) Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Center for Gravitati NASA-DLR cooperation - from Cologne to the stars
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On 4 February 2021 at 15:40 CET, the airborne observatory of the German Space Agency at DLR and the US space agency, NASA, is due to land at Cologne Bonn Airport. From there, it will explore the night sky over Europe until 16 March.
"The SOFIA infrared observatory is one of the largest German-American projects for space exploration and underlines how important the cooperation with NASA is Armstrong Assists with Orion for First Astronaut Mission
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As NASA's human spaceflight centers are busy preparing the Orion spacecraft and its components for the early Artemis missions around the Moon, a NASA aeronautics-focused center is lending a hand.
NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, is providing system engineering and integration expertise to assist with an Orion heat shield spectrometer system (OHSS). The system Calnetix Technologies Supplies Key Components for NASA's Next-Generation CO2 Removal System
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Calnetix Technologies reports it has successfully designed and developed a high-speed in-line blower and a dual controller for NASA's next-generation CO2 removal system.
The design and development of the Four Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber (4BCO2) is being led by NASA and is planned for installation on the International Space Station (ISS) after rigorous ground testing at its facilities.