Plasma Bubble Confirmed as Source of Persistent Emission in Fast Radio Burst FRB20201124A
Thursday, 08 August 2024 20:42Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) have emerged as one of the most intriguing puzzles in modern astrophysics. These brief but intense bursts of radio waves release an enormous amount of energy in just a few milliseconds, placing them among the most energetic phenomena in the cosmos. Discovered just over a decade ago, FRBs primarily originate from extragalactic sources, yet their precise origins remain unc
NASA uses digital models to enhance aeronautical innovation
Thursday, 08 August 2024 20:42As NASA advances its aeronautics research, the agency is leveraging Model-Based Systems Analysis and Engineering (MBSAE) to ensure the collective benefits of various technologies. MBSAE digitally simulates the integration of multiple technologies into a cohesive system using advanced digital tools and computing programs. The objective is to optimize the next generation of aviation technolo
Astronomers use AI to Detect Stars Consuming Planets
Thursday, 08 August 2024 20:42Astronomers have recently discovered hundreds of "polluted" white dwarf stars within the Milky Way. These stars are actively consuming planets in their orbit, providing a valuable opportunity to study the interiors of these distant, disintegrated planets. However, finding these stars has traditionally been a challenge. Previously, astronomers had to manually sift through vast amounts of su
Commerce Department preparing to turn on initial version of space traffic coordination service
Thursday, 08 August 2024 17:11Drop it like it's hot: Space Rider model falls gracefully
Thursday, 08 August 2024 14:50Over the last four months, the Space Rider team has been running a drop-test campaign whereby a full-scale model of the future orbital laboratory is dropped from a helicopter to test and qualify the deployment of its parachutes, at Salto di Quirra in Sardinia, Italy.
The Space Rider project is an uncrewed laboratory about the size of two minivans that will be able to stay in orbit for up to two months. The spacecraft comes in two parts, an orbital module that supplies everything it needs to fly around our planet and a reentry module that brings Space Rider and its experiments back to Earth.
Over the course of this test campaign that started in April and is expected to finish in autumn, the teams are using a model of Space Rider that has a similar weight distribution as the real 3,000 kg reentry module. This allows the team to test the parachutes, parafoil and control winches that automatically guide the spacecraft to a soft touchdown on Earth.
Dropped from a maximum height of 3.5 km, drogue chutes deploy to help slow down the test model to a safe speed to extract the parafoil that will allow the spacecraft to be steered to a landing strip.
Gabrielle Carlisle, Millennium Space Systems – Leading Women in Space
Thursday, 08 August 2024 13:07The Perseids are here. Here's how to see the 'fireballs' of summer's brightest meteor shower
Thursday, 08 August 2024 12:11The Perseids are back to dazzle the sky with bursts of light and color.
The annual meteor shower, active since July, peaks before dawn Monday. It's one of the brightest and most easily viewed showers of the year, producing "bright blue meteors—and lots of them," said University of Warwick astronomer Don Pollacco.
More than 50 meteors per hour are expected, according to the American Meteor Society. The shower lasts through Sept.
Here's how Curiosity's sky crane changed the way NASA explores Mars
Thursday, 08 August 2024 12:03Twelve years ago, NASA landed its six-wheeled science lab using a daring new technology that lowers the rover using a robotic jetpack.
NASA's Curiosity rover mission is celebrating a dozen years on the red planet, where the six-wheeled scientist continues to make big discoveries as it inches up the foothills of a Martian mountain. Just landing successfully on Mars is a feat, but the Curiosity mission went several steps further on Aug. 5, 2012, touching down with a bold new technique: the sky crane maneuver.
A swooping robotic jetpack delivered Curiosity to its landing area and lowered it to the surface with nylon ropes, then cut the ropes and flew off to conduct a controlled crash landing safely out of range of the rover.
Promising early tests for variable-thrust landing engine
Thursday, 08 August 2024 10:18Chinese megaconstellation launch creates field of space debris
Thursday, 08 August 2024 09:32Mermaid on salty Mars
Thursday, 08 August 2024 07:04Gaia spots possible moons around hundreds of asteroids
Thursday, 08 August 2024 06:00ESA’s star-surveying Gaia mission has again proven to be a formidable asteroid explorer, spotting potential moons around more than 350 asteroids not known to have a companion.
NASA says chances are growing that astronauts may switch from Boeing to a SpaceX ride back to Earth
Thursday, 08 August 2024 05:40What should have been a quick trip to the International Space Station may turn into an eight-month stay for two NASA astronauts if they have to switch from Boeing to SpaceX for a ride home.
SpaceX delays Crew-9 astronaut launch amid uncertainty over Boeing Starliner
Wednesday, 07 August 2024 21:38SpaceX has delayed this month's Crew-9 astronaut launch to Sept. 24, to accommodate a traffic jam at the International Space Station as Boeing's Starliner remains stalled at the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX was scheduled to launch its ninth operational flight for NASA with four astronauts to the ISS on Aug. 18, before the space agency announced the delay Monday. "This adjustment a
Cygnus resupply spacecraft reaches ISS with four tons of supplies, experiments
Wednesday, 07 August 2024 21:38Northrup Grumman's Cygnus resupply spacecraft reached the International Space Station early Tuesday morning, delivering some four tons of supplies to the orbiting laboratory, NASA said. Cygnus completed installation on the ISS at 5:33 a.m. EDT, NASA said. It brought 8,200 pounds of scientific investigation and cargo to the ISS's orbiting laboratory on the 21st resupply mission ca