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Space weather can affect satellites in orbit, trigger geomagnetic storms on Earth and interfere with ground infrastructure. We need to understand it better, and the best way to do that is look at where it comes from. 

The Sun’s corona, its upper atmospheric layer, gives rise to the solar wind and is where coronal mass ejections are spawned: massive outward explosions of charged plasma. ESA’s Proba-3 double-satellite mission will use formation flying to open up sustained coronal views. Mimicking a total solar eclipse, one satellite will block out the fiery face of the Sun by casting a shadow onto the other.

A fascinating feature takes centre stage in this new image from ESA’s Mars Express: a dark, uneven scar slicing through marbled ground at the foot of a giant volcano.

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 2, 2024
Firefly Aerospace will try to get its Alpha rocket carrying eight CubeSat satellites into space on Tuesday night from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base after the mission was scrubbed on Monday. The satellites are being put into space under NASA's Launch Services Program Venture. Officials blamed a "last minute" ground systems issues led to the mission's pause on Monday. "O

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 2, 2024
The first volunteer crew, to live for more than a year inside NASA's Mars habitat at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, will exit the simulated Red Planet ground mission on Saturday. Crew members Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell and Nathan Jones will be greeted with a short welcome ceremony at about 5 p.m. EDT, which can be viewed on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app and

Thousands of visitors flocked to ESA’s establishment in the UK last Saturday to experience first-hand how the agency is pushing the boundaries of exploration and using space to improve life on Earth.

Video: Proba-3's new view on space weather

The double-satellite mission will reveal the Sun's stormy corona