Understanding boiling to help the nuclear industry and space missions
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 09:02
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To launch extended missions in space, the NASA is borrowing a page from the nuclear engineering industry: It is trying to understand how boiling works. Planning for long-term missions has NASA researching ways of packing the least amount of cryogenic fuel possible for efficient liftoff. One potential solution is to refuel the rocket in space using fuel depots placed in low Earth orbits. This way What do we know about the mechanics of two-dimensional materials
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 09:02 Write a comment
Publishing in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, scientists from McGill University, University of Illinois, and University of Science and Technology of China comprehensively reviewed the most recent discoveries in the field of the mechanics of 2D materials by discussing various key mechanical properties, including the elastic properties, in-plane failure, fatigue, interfacial sh A milestone for parabolic flight
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On 23 May 2023, at 09:00, a very special Airbus A310 taxied to the runway at Bordeaux-Merignac Airport. The aircraft set off on a special flight - the first of a total of three flights that make up the 40th parabolic flight campaign of the German Space Agency at DLR, which will take place in Bordeaux from 15 to 25 May 2023. On board are 11 experiments - three from the fields of biology and human Iron-rich rocks unlock new insights into Earth's planetary history
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Visually striking layers of burnt orange, yellow, silver, brown and blue-tinged black are characteristic of banded iron formations, sedimentary rocks that may have prompted some of the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth's history, according to new research from Rice University.
The rocks contain iron oxides that sank to the bottom of oceans long ago, forming dense layers that eventually t NASA launches final pair of storm tracker satellite quartet
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 09:02 Write a comment
NASA has launched the final pair of a satellite quartet designed to track tropical cyclones hour by hour, in a project that could improve weather predictions on devastating storms.
The storm trackers, sent into orbit on a rocket built by US company Rocket Lab and launched from New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula early Friday, completed the TROPICS constellation of shoebox-sized satellites.
Th Shenzhou-16 astronauts arrive at China’s space station
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 08:27
China's 'space dream': A Long March to the Moon and beyond
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 07:09 Write a comment
China successfully launched the latest mission to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, with a crew that includes its first civilian astronaut.
It marked the latest space milestone for China, as it looks to catch up with the United States and Russia.
Here is a look at the Chinese space program, and where it is headed:
Mao's vow
Soon after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, Chinese leader Mao Zedong pronounced: "We too will make satellites."
It took more than a decade, but in 1970, China launched its first satellite on a Long March rocket.
Human spaceflight took decades longer, with Yang Liwei becoming the first Chinese "taikonaut" in 2003.
China launches new crew for space station, with eye to putting astronauts on moon before 2030
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 07:03 Write a comment
China launched a new three-person crew for its orbiting space station on Tuesday, with an eye to putting astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.
The Shenzhou 16 spacecraft lifted off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert in northwestern China atop a Long March 2-F rocket just after 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) Tuesday.
The crew, including China's first civilian astronaut, will overlap briefly with three now aboard the Tiangong station, who will then return to Earth after completing their six-month mission.
Aeolus enhances volcanic ash forecasts for aviation safety
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 05:55 Write a comment
Aeolus enhances volcanic ash forecasts for aviation safety
China launches Shenzhou-16 with first civilian to space station
Tuesday, 30 May 2023 02:19 Write a comment
China sent three astronauts to its Tiangong space station on Tuesday, putting a civilian into orbit for the first time as it pursues plans to send a crewed mission to the Moon by the end of the decade.
The world's second-largest economy has invested billions of dollars in its military-run space programme in a push to catch up with the United States and Russia.
The Shenzhou-16 crew took o 
Juice's final deployments complete: Ready for study of Jupiter
Monday, 29 May 2023 15:36 Write a comment
Flight controllers at ESA's mission control center in Germany have been busy this week, working with instrument teams on the final deployments to prepare ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) for exploring Jupiter.
It has been six weeks since Juice began its journey, and in that time the Flight Control Team have deployed all the solar panels, antennas, probes and booms that were tucked away safely during launch. The last step has been the swinging out and locking into place of the probes and antennas that make up Juice's Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI).
"It's been an exhausting but very exciting six weeks," says Angela Dietz, deputy spacecraft operations manager for the mission. "We have faced and overcome various challenges to get Juice into the right shape for getting the best science out of its trip to Jupiter."
We've had regular snapshots of the entire deployment process thanks to Juice's two onboard monitoring cameras, each with a different field of view.
Weather clears as SpaceX knocks out overnight satellite launch
Monday, 29 May 2023 14:53 Write a comment
After a week of stormy weather delays, SpaceX waited just a bit longer but managed an early Saturday liftoff of a satellite to knock out the Space Coast's 26th launch of the year.
A Falcon 9 carrying the Arabsat BADR-8 telecommunications satellite headed for geosynchronous orbit let the winds die down from the opening of the launch window late Friday, but managed to blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40 at 12:30 a.m. a little over an hour later.
It was the fourth night launch for SpaceX this month with three previous successful Starlink missions from Cape Canaveral lighting up the sky in the wee hours.
The first-stage booster made its 14th flight with a recovery on SpaceX's droneship Just Read the Instructions down range in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the 195th time the company has recovered a booster from its rockets.
This was the second launch SpaceX has done for Arabsat following what was the first Falcon Heavy launch with a customer in 2019. SpaceX has a third launch contracted for what will be the first of Arabsat's seventh-generation satellites.
China sets sights on crewed lunar landing before 2030
Monday, 29 May 2023 10:33 Write a comment
China’s human spaceflight agency has stated its goal to land astronauts on the moon before the end of the decade.