During close pass, Solar Orbiter captures Venus' glare
On Aug. 9, 2021, ESA/NASA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft passed within 4,967 miles (7,995 kilometers) of the surface of planet Venus. In the days leading up to the approach, the Solar Orbiter Heliospheric Imager, or SoloHI, telescope captured this gleaming view of the planet.
The images show Venus approaching from the left while the Sun is off camera to the upper right. The planet's nightside, the part hidden from the Sun, appears as a dark semicircle surrounded by a bright crescent of light – glare from Venus' incredibly bright sunlit side.
"Ideally, we would have been able to resolve some features on the nightside of the planet, but there was just too much signal from the dayside." said Phillip Hess, astrophysicist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C. "Only a sliver of the dayside appears in the images, but it reflects enough sunlight to cause the bright crescent and the diffracted rays that seem to come from the surface."
Two bright stars are also visible in the background early in the sequence, before being eclipsed by the planet.
Exponential growth of cubesats may be tapering off
The use of cubesats has grown dramatically in recent years, but some are wondering if the form factor has reached the limits of its usefulness.
Electrodynamic tethers speed up satellite reentry timelines
Tethers Unlimited’s Terminator Tape lowered a cubesat into Earth’s atmosphere in eight months, while a nearly identical satellite without a 70-meter conductive tail is expected to remain in orbit for more than a decade.
Boeing Starliner launch faces further delays
Boeing's troubled Starliner spaceship could be set for further delays after the company said Thursday it was working to solve problems with the propulsion system.
The spaceship's latest launch date on August 4 was cancelled over propulsion issues, and it remains unclear when the next test flight will be scheduled.
"Over the past couple of days, our team has taken the necessary time to sa NASA mulls how to dispose of International Space Station
A plan to use a Russian spacecraft to deorbit the International Space Station as early as 2028 remains in question because the United States does not know Russia's intentions for using the orbiting laboratory, NASA and other parties involved in the decision say.
A NASA safety panel approved a plan in 2019 that relies on Russia to modify and launch a Progress spacecraft to guide the stru Size of supermassive black hole divulged by eating pattern
Astronomers have finally linked the size of a supermassive black hole to the spectral patterns generated by its eating habits.
Most nearby supermassive black holes are dormant. These long-sated, sleeping giants ate up their supply of gas and dust many millions of years ago, leaving them dark and quiet.
To identify dormant black holes, scientists must measure their gravitational i Army successfully tests high-energy laser weapon
The U.S. Army says it's developed a combat-capable prototype of a high-energy laser weapon.
The laser, which has been 24 months in the making, can be mounted on a Stryker military vehicle and used to defend troops against drones as well as rockets, artillery and mortars, according to an Army press release this week.
Over the summer, the new weapon was successfully tested in Fort Startup wants to develop cargo services for Chinese space station
A Chinese startup is aiming to developing spacecraft capable of sending cargo to China’s space station, with a first small demonstration launch set for 2022.
Heat transfer experiment arrives at International Space Station
People who design spacecraft must prioritize two factors: reducing weight and managing extreme temperatures.
A new experiment designed by Purdue University engineers addresses both problems. The Flow Boiling and Condensation Experiment (FBCE), which arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday (Aug.
Week in images: 09 - 13 August 2021
Week in images: 09 - 13 August 2021
Discover our week through the lens
