Astronomer recruiting volunteers in effort to quadruple number of known active asteroids
Thursday, 02 September 2021 09:51
The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails.
Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them. Rou Chemical clues to the death of massive stars
Thursday, 02 September 2021 09:51
The Universe has countless stars, which come in different masses. The most common ones are the low-mass stars, including our Sun. Massive stars refer to those whose mass is more than eight times the mass of the Sun. The life of low-mass stars is quite long. For instance, our Sun can live for 10 billion years. However, massive stars can only live up to tens of millions of years.
Some of the Astronomers find new clue that heavy stars don't go supernova
Thursday, 02 September 2021 09:51
Conventional theory states that light stars like our Sun gently blow off their layers when they die, while heavy stars explode as a supernova. But for some reason, we are so far failing to find supernovae from stars heavier than eighteen solar masses. Now a team led by SRON astronomers finds a new clue that fuels this apparent mystery. Publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The rese What can a young star teach us about the birth of our solar system
Thursday, 02 September 2021 09:51
The familiar star at the center of our solar system has had billions of years to mature and ultimately provide life-giving energy to us here on Earth. But a very long time ago, our sun was just a growing baby star. What did the sun look like when it was so young? That's long been a mystery that, if solved, could teach us about the formation of our solar system-so-named because sol is the Latin w Anchoring single atoms
Thursday, 02 September 2021 09:51
There is a dictum to "never change a running system". New methods can however be far superior to older ones. While to date chemical reactions are mainly accelerated by catalytic materials that comprise several hundreds of atoms, the use of single atoms could provide a new approach for catalysis.
An international research team, led by the TU Wien, Austria, has now developed a new method for Meteosat Third Generation takes major step towards its first launch
Thursday, 02 September 2021 06:30
After many technical and programmatic challenges, the first satellite of the next generation of the Meteosat family has taken a major step towards its first flight, currently scheduled for launch in autumn 2022.
House Armed Services Committee approves Space National Guard, challenges DoD on space programs
Thursday, 02 September 2021 00:22
The House Armed Services Committee in its version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed several provisions on national security space policy and DoD procurement of space technologies.
DLR opens applications for free launch services aboard Isar Aerospace demo missions
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 21:01
German space agency DLR began accepting applications this week for institutional payloads to fly aboard a pair of Isar Aerospace Spectrum launches free of charge.
SpaceX says Amazon’s call to dismiss Starlink amendment is a delay tactic
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 20:56
SpaceX has hit back at Amazon over its attempt to block amended plans for a second-generation Starlink constellation, calling it a delay tactic to slow down competition.
China is developing its own Mars helicopter
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 20:10
China is looking at ways of expanding its space exploration capabilities including through a vehicle similar in appearance to NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter.
NASA's Deep Space Network looks to the future
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 17:49
When NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover touched down on the Red Planet, the agency's Deep Space Network (DSN) was there, enabling the mission to send and receive the data that helped make the event possible. When OSIRIS-REx took samples of asteroid Bennu this past year, the DSN played a crucial role, not just in sending the command sequence to the probe, but also in transmitting its stunning photos back to Earth.
The network has been the backbone of NASA's deep space communications since 1963, supporting 39 missions regularly, with more than 30 NASA missions in development. The team behind it is now working hard to increase capacity, making a number of improvements to the network that will help advance future space exploration.
Bipartisan group of lawmakers presses DoD to back Lockheed-Aerojet merger
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 17:31
A group of 13 members of Congress in a letter argue that DoD should support Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne.
ESA and UN offer worldwide access to hypergravity testing
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 12:45
ESA and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs are opening the second round of their HyperGES fellowship, part of the Access to Space For All Initiative, offering student teams around the globe the chance to perform hypergravity experiments using the Large Diameter Centrifuge at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in the Netherlands, with a particular focus on developing nations.
Student-designed experiment to measure Earth's magnetic field arrives at Space Station
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 12:27
Oscar-Qube, short for Optical Sensors based on CARbon materials: QUantum Belgium, is an experiment developed by a group of students from the University of Hasselt, Belgium. Part of ESA Education Office's Orbit Your Thesis! program, the experiment arrived at the International Space Station on Space X Dragon CR23 resupply mission yesterday.
This week, ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet will install the experiment in the Ice Cubes Facility that offers commercial and educational access to the microgravity environment of the Space Station.
Oscar-Qube's mission is to create a detailed map of Earth's magnetic field. It makes use of a new type of magnetometer that exploits diamond-based quantum sensing, meaning that it is highly sensitive, offers measurements to the nano scale, and has a better than 100-nanosecond response time.
These features combine to create a powerful experiment that, once in position, will allow it to map the Earth's magnetic field to an unrivaled level of precision.
Oscar-Qube is designed and built exclusively by the first student team to test a diamond-based quantum technology sensing device in space. They will go on to manage operations during its 10-month stay onboard the International Space Station.
Powering sustainability: Satellite propulsion underpins orbital stewardship
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 10:33
Small satellite propulsion has a critical role to play in keeping space sustainable. While in-orbit debris cleaners and other emerging capabilities capture imaginations, thrusters underpin a healthy operating environment in space.