New EO platform on ISS to boost climate and environmental research
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22The International Space Station (ISS) is poised to enhance its environmental monitoring capabilities with a new payload supported by the ISS National Laboratory and developed by Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc. Installed on the Bartolomeo platform, the system aims to broaden access to the station's unique perspective for research and technology demonstrations. "Airbus is improving our a
OSIRIS-REx, 1 year later
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22It's been a year since NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully delivered the largest-ever asteroid sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. Since then, intriguing clues about the early solar system and potential origins of life on Earth have emerged from study of the sample, under the leadership of OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta, a Regents Professor of planetary sciences at t
Martian rocks shed light on planet's ancient climate
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22Mars' ancient landscape was shaped by wind and water, with these forces sculpting the planet's sand and sediment into patterns such as dunes and ripples, known as bedforms. Over billions of years, many of these formations hardened into rock, becoming what scientists call paleo-bedforms. These features, largely frozen in time, have only been altered by slow erosion from wind, ancient lava flows,
Robots prepare to handle cargo on Moon as part of Artemis program
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22As NASA advances toward establishing a long-term presence on the Moon through the Artemis campaign, the ability to move cargo from landers to the lunar surface autonomously has become a critical need. This cargo, referred to as payloads, could include anything from small scientific instruments to large components for building lunar infrastructure. However, with no crew on the surface to manage t
Webb Telescope Discovers Possible Link to Early Star Formation
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22In a remarkable discovery, astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have identified a galaxy with an unusual light pattern, which may offer critical insights into the evolution of the first stars in the Universe. The galaxy, named GS-NDG-9422 (9422), is situated about one billion years after the Big Bang and could represent a key stage in galactic development, bridging the g
Exoplanet map reveals Neptunian Ridge separating planetary regions
Sunday, 29 September 2024 16:22Scientists from the University of Warwick have revealed a detailed "map" of distant planets, highlighting a newly identified area in deep space called the Neptunian Ridge. This ridge separates two distinct regions, known as the Neptunian desert and the Neptunian savannah. The team, including researchers from Warwick and other institutions, focused on Neptunian exoplanets, which share simil
SpaceX pauses Falcon 9 launches after upper stage deorbit anomaly
Sunday, 29 September 2024 14:04Crew-9 Successfully Launched, Now En Route to ISS
Sunday, 29 September 2024 02:39SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched on time Saturday at 1:17 pm (1717 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. The mission, Crew-9, is now in a nominal orbit and on course to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday at around 2130 GMT. This mission marks the first crewed launch from SpaceX's
Xona scales up LEO navigation constellation plans in Canada
Saturday, 28 September 2024 18:57SpaceX launches rescue mission to return stranded astronauts
Saturday, 28 September 2024 18:48A SpaceX rocket soared into the sky Saturday with two passengers on board, leaving two seats empty to return American astronauts who have been stranded for months on the International Space Station, NASA said.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off at 1:17 pm (1717 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It used a new launch pad, the pad's first use for a crewed mission.
"Congrats to @NASA and @SpaceX on a successful launch," NASA chief Bill Nelson said in a post on X. "We live in an exciting period of exploration and innovation in the stars."
On board were NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
When they return from the space station in February, they will bring back two space veterans—Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams—whose stay on the ISS was prolonged for months by problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft.
Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
Saturday, 28 September 2024 18:38Europe has embarked on the mission to put humans back on the Moon with a new lunar simulator launched in Germany, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet told AFP. Pesquet was at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne on Wednesday to test out LUNA, a facility built to resemble the surface of the Moon. The 46-year-old astronaut, a national icon in France for his missions to the Internationa
Falcon 9 sends new crew to ISS on first crewed launch from SLC-40
Saturday, 28 September 2024 16:31Anduril lands $25 million contract to upgrade aging space surveillance network
Saturday, 28 September 2024 10:26BlackSky to equip its future satellites with military-compatible laser terminals
Saturday, 28 September 2024 08:43Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky sun flypast
Saturday, 28 September 2024 08:28A comet is expected to risk having its tail clipped on Friday by flying perilously close to the sun, promising fireworks next month should it survive the fraught flypast.
Astronomers believe the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet has been hurtling headfirst through the void of space towards the center of the solar system for millions of years.
Named for the Chinese observatory and South African program which detected and confirmed its existence in 2023, the ball of rock and ice may have formed at a distance up to 400,000 times that between Earth and the sun, models suggest.
Up till now, you had to be in the southern hemisphere to hope to see it with the naked eye.
But on Friday evening it is projected to cross as close to the sun as it will get, before returning towards Earth.