For the first time in decades, the space industry is proving to be very popular again. With the recent successes of SpaceX’s crewed missions, the upcoming landing NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, Japan’s returned sample from the asteroid Ryugu, China’s lunar landing, and the test flights of Elon Musk’s Starship, public sentiment is becoming extremely positive again and enthusiasm seems to be nearing Apollo-era heights.

Most liquids are in suspension. Particles too small to see by naked eye swirl everywhere as gravity and temperature changes move them around. Keeping liquids from separating can be a hassle for the foods we buy in the supermarket, but also for the pharmaceutical industry seeking to extend the shelf life of medicine as long as possible.

WASHINGTON — Electric propulsion company Phase Four flew its first plasma thrusters on two spacecraft that were part of a SpaceX dedicated rideshare launch Jan. 24.

Phase Four said its Maxwell plasma propulsion systems were on two of the 143 spacecraft launched on the Transporter-1 mission.

A research team – the first to carry out a survey of global ice loss using satellite data – has discovered that the rate at which ice is disappearing across the planet is speeding up. The findings also reveal that 28 trillion tonnes of ice was lost between 1994 and 2017 – equivalent to a sheet of ice 100 metres thick covering the whole of the UK.