Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully completed the integration and testing of its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, Inc. ("Varda"). Varda is pioneering in-space pharmaceutical processing and hypersonic re-entry logistics. This follows the first successful mission of Rocket Lab's Pioneer spacecraft for Varda in June 2023. During that mission, Varda crysta

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
NASA recently hosted two international workshops in London and Washington, D.C. on September 6 and 13, gathering input from global stakeholders. The sessions focused on refining NASA's low Earth orbit (LEO) microgravity strategy, seeking feedback from international partners, U.S. industry, and academia. In late August, NASA introduced a draft with 42 objectives, covering six key areas: sci

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
A new study led by Prof. Jiansen He's team at Peking University, in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduces a novel approach for predicting solar activities. The team combines spatiotemporal decomposition methods with machine learning to forecast sunspot numbers and solar magnetic synoptic maps for Solar Cycle 25. The global distribution of the solar

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
Astronomers have unveiled a massive infrared map of the Milky Way, the most detailed ever created, featuring over 1.5 billion celestial objects. The map was produced using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) VISTA telescope, which has been observing the central regions of the galaxy for more than 13 years. The project, which generated 500 terabytes of data, is now the largest observational

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
In May 2024, Earth experienced a spectacular geomagnetic storm that produced brilliant auroras visible across the planet. These light displays result from coronal mass ejections, which are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, interacting with Earth's magnetic field. This natural shield protects the planet from solar radiation during such storms. As NASA prepares for crewe

Berkeley CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
The discovery of an Earth-like planet 4,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy provides a preview of one possible fate for our planet billions of years in the future, when the sun has turned into a white dwarf, and a blasted and frozen Earth has migrated beyond the orbit of Mars. This distant planetary system, identified by University of California, Berkeley, astronomers after observ

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
In a surprise finding, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called novae, are not caught inside the jet, but apparently in a dangerous neighborhood nearby. The finding is confounding researchers searching for an ex

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
A team of Chinese scientists has conducted a detailed study of the first lunar samples retrieved from the Moon's farside by the Chang'e-6 mission. These groundbreaking samples mark a key achievement in lunar exploration, offering new insights into the Moon's geological history. The research was published in the 'National Science Review' on September 17, 2024.

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 26, 2024
NASA on Thursday invited the public to be virtual guests to view the Crew 9 launch from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Saturday morning. The launch, which will take place at Space Complex 40 in Florida, will lift NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov into space in a SpaceX Dragon capsule. Hague will be the flight's commander. Live coverage

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 27, 2024
NASA's Crew-9 mission, part of its Commercial Crew Program, is preparing to launch to the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, September 28, 2024. During their five-month stay, the crew will conduct a range of scientific investigations, many of which are supported by the ISS National Laboratory. Crew-9 is set to launch aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft "Freedom" from Cape Canaveral S