Krakow, Poland (SPX) May 20, 2021
Unbound nickel atoms and other heavy elements have been observed in very hot cosmic environments, including the atmospheres of ultra-hot exoplanets and evaporating comets that ventured too close to our Sun or other stars. A new study conducted by JU researchers reveals the presence of nickel atoms in the cold gasses surrounding the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. The team's finding is being publi

Melbourne, Australia (The Conversation) May 20, 2021
China's Zhurong rover landed safely on Mars on May 15, making China only the third country to successfully land a rover on the red planet. More impressively still, China is the first Mars-going nation to carry out an orbiting, landing and rovering operation as its first mission. Planetary scientist Roberto Orosei told Nature China is "doing in a single go what NASA took decades to

Munich, Germany (SPX) May 20, 2021
A new study by a Belgian team using data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) has shown that iron and nickel exist in the atmospheres of comets throughout our Solar System, even those far from the Sun. A separate study by a Polish team, who also used ESO data, reported that nickel vapour is also present in the icy interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. This is the fi

Beijing (AFP) May 19, 2021
Solar panels against an alien landscape, ramps and rods pointing at the Martian horizon - China's first probe on the Red Planet has beamed back its first "selfies" after its history-making landing last week. The Zhurong rover was carried into the Martian atmosphere in a lander on Saturday, in the first ever successful probe landing by any country on its first Mars mission. Zhurong, name

Liege, Belgium (SPX) May 20, 2021
A team of researchers at the Centre Spatial de Liege (CSL) of the University of Liege has just developed a method to identify the contributors and origins of stray light on space telescopes. This is a major advance in the field of space engineering that will help in the acquisition of even finer space images and the development of increasingly efficient space instruments. This study has just bee

Paris (ESA) May 20, 2021
The International Space Station's largest scientific instrument celebrates a decade in orbit. Wednesday 19 May 2021 marks 10 years since the cosmic-ray-hunting Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) was installed on the exterior of the Space Station. AMS-02 is a sub-atomic particle detector that looks for dark matter, antimatter and measures cosmic rays. It took 16 countries and nearly 20 ye

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Bill Nelson congratulated China for successfully landing a rover on Mars, but also used the milestone to warn Congress of China’s competitive threat to American leadership in human spaceflight.

In a statement May 19, hours after the China National Space Administration (CNSA) released the first images taken by the Zhurong rover since its May 14 landing on Mars, Nelson congratulated China for being only the second country, after the United States, to land a spacecraft on Mars and operate it there for more than a brief period.

WASHINGTON — The International Astronautical Federation (IAF) is moving ahead with plans to hold an in-person conference, one of the largest in the space industry, this October in Dubai.

At a May 18 press conference, officials with the IAF and the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center confirmed they will hold the 72nd International Astronautical Congress (IAC) Oct.

WASHINGTON — NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told House appropriators May 19 that the agency is requesting more than $11 billion in an upcoming infrastructure bill that would go for the agency’s Human Landing System program and upgrading center facilities.

TAMPA, Fla. — A British company that equips spy planes and drones to track satellite telephones has raised capital to launch a handful of tiny surveillance spacecraft to listen for signals from ships operating clandestinely.