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Genesis of blue lightning into the stratosphere detected from ISS
For years, their existence has been debated: elusive electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere that sport names such as red sprites, blue jets, pixies and elves. Reported by pilots, they are difficult to study as they occur above thunderstorms.
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Falcon 9 Starlink 17

WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched its latest set of Starlink satellites Jan. 20, bringing the total number of spacecraft launched so far for that broadband constellation to more than 1,000.

The Falcon 9 lifted off at 8:02 a.m.

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Thunderstorm seen from Space Station

Dark clouds, the smell of rain on a hot sidewalk, the flashes of intense light followed by a loud crackling and then a low, rolling thunder – who doesn’t love a good summer thunderstorm? We’ve all seen one, heard one, or been completely soaked by one. But how much do we really know about this weather phenomenon?

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Ceres
Ceres. Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Physicist Pekka Janhunen with the Finnish Meteorological Institute has developed a novel idea to colonize a place other than the Earth—and it is not the moon or Mars. Instead, Janhunen is suggesting in a paper posted on the arXiv preprint server that humans populate a giant satellite that orbits Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

Many scientists have noted the difficulties and dangers of attempting to colonize either the moon or Mars—both have extremely hostile environments. So many in the field have been promoting the idea of building a structure large enough to host tens of thousands of people somewhere in space. But doing so would present its own set of problems. Paying for the construction of such a mammoth project, for example, and protecting the inhabitants from —and what about providing gravity, and where would the structure reside? In his paper, Janhunen suggests that Ceres would be an ideal place to put such a structure, which would make it a satellite. He notes that such an orbit would be close enough to the that a 636-mile-long space elevator could carry material from the surface to the satellite for construction and resupply—Ceres has more than enough nitrogen, water and to support such a venture.

Saturn's tilt caused by its moons

Tuesday, 19 January 2021 12:37
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Saturn’s tilt caused by its moons
Artist’s impression of the migration of Titan and the tilt of Saturn. Credit: Coline SAILLENFEST / IMCCE

Two scientists from CNRS and Sorbonne University working at the Institute of Celestial Mechanics and Ephemeris Calculation (Paris Observatory—PSL/CNRS) have just shown that the influence of Saturn's satellites can explain the tilt of the rotation axis of the gas giant. Their work, published on 18 January 2021 in the journal Nature Astronomy, also predicts that the tilt will increase even further over the next few billion years.

Rather like David versus Goliath, it appears that Saturn's tilt may in fact be caused by its moons. This is the conclusion of recent work carried out by scientists from the CNRS, Sorbonne University and the University of Pisa, which shows that the current tilt of Saturn's is caused by the migration of its satellites, and especially by that of its largest , Titan.

Recent observations have shown that Titan and the other moons are gradually moving away from Saturn much faster than astronomers had previously estimated.

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Bridenstine Green Run

WASHINGTON — Jim Bridenstine used part of his final full day as NASA administrator to call on the incoming administration to continue the Artemis program and return humans to the moon.

A Jan. 19 briefing on the Green Run static-fire test of the Space Launch System three days earlier became an opportunity for Bridenstine, who leaves the agency Jan.

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Electron launch of GMS-T

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab successfully launched a communications satellite for German company OHB Group Jan. 20 in the first Electron mission of the year.

The Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 at Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, at 2:26 a.m.

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Alabama museum to restore full-sized mockup of space shuttle
In this Saturday Feb. 27, 2016, file photo, then-presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio holds rally in front of the Space Shuttle Pathfinder exhibit at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala. In an announcement Tuesday, Jan.
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Phoebus

Recent tests show that lightweight carbon-fibre reinforced plastic is strong enough to replace metal used in upper-stage rocket structures. This is an important milestone in Europe for the development of a prototype of a highly-optimised ‘black’ upper stage, Phoebus, a joint initiative by MT Aerospace and ArianeGroup, funded by ESA.

Seeing in a flash

Tuesday, 19 January 2021 08:15
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Seeing in a flash Image: Seeing in a flash
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Gold Coast, Australia (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
Australia's leading rocket company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has ushered in the New Year with a successful hotfire of the world's largest single-port hybrid rocket engine. [See video] "We achieved a record 91 kilonewtons (or 9 tonnes-force) of thrust in this initial verification test of our main engine," said Adam Gilmour, CEO and co-founder of Gilmour Space, a Queensland-based company
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Columbia SC (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
NanoAvionics, a leading nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, has announced that the first of two nanosatellites, built and integrated for US radio frequency spectrum and wireless data provider Aurora Insight, will be part of SpaceX's "Transporter 1" rideshare launch onboard a Falcon 9. The nanosatellite, nicknamed "Charlie", forms one half of the two-satellite mission con
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Cocoa Beach FL (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
Historical launches like the return to crewed space flight and Mars2020 helped propel Florida's Space Coast to their busiest launch year in decades, putting the region on the top of the list for launch activity in the world. In 2020, 31 successful attempts flew from Florida's Space Coast surpassing the record in 1966 of 29 successful launches out of 31 orbital attempts and two suborbital a
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Okayama, Japan (SPX) Jan 20, 2021
Just like on Earth, water on other planets, satellites, and even comets comes in a variety of forms depending on multiple factors such as pressure and temperature. Aside from the gaseous, liquid, and solid states we are accustomed to, water can form a different type of crystalline solid called clathrate hydrate. Although they look similar to ice, clathrate hydrates have actually small wate
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Beijing (XNA) Jan 18, 2021
The core module of China's planned space station has passed a factory review, along with the project's Tianzhou-2 cargo craft and the core module mission products of the space application systems, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said Thursday. The completion of the factory review, conducted by experts at China's manned space program, means the construction project of the
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