Copernical Team
Russian lab module docks with space station after 8-day trip
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Russia's long-delayed lab module successfully docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, eight days after it was launched from the Russian space launch facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
The 20-metric-ton (22-ton) Nauka module, also called the Multipurpose Laboratory Module, docked with the orbiting outpost after a long journey and a series of maneuvers.
The launch of Nauka, which is intended to provide more room for scientific experiments and space for the crew, had been repeatedly delayed because of technical problems. It was initially scheduled to go up in 2007.
In 2013, experts found contamination in its fuel system, resulting in a long and costly replacement. Other Nauka systems also underwent modernization or repairs.
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NASA rocket carrying solar X-ray scanner set to launch
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The Marshall Grazing Incidence X-ray Spectrometer, or MaGIXS, mission is about to take flight. The launch window opens at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on July 30.
Led by Dr. Amy Winebarger at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, MaGIXS will fly aboard a sounding rocket, a launch vehicle that lifts scientific instruments above Earth's atmosphere for a few minutes in space before falling back to Earth for recovery.
NASA performs field test of 3D imaging system for descent and landing
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Producing rapid and accurate images on missions to the Moon, Mars and other terrestrial destinations is crucial for a safe descent and landing. A NASA project called Safe and Precise Landing—Integrated Capabilities Evolution, or SPLICE, includes a key element that will help ensure a clearer touchdown site.
The SPLICE team recently performed a dynamic test of the hazard detection lidar (HDL) engineering development unit, a prototype specifically built for testing, at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. HDL—an element of SPLICE—is a laser-based 3D imaging system that can quickly and accurately scan a planetary surface to create a map of the landing field. It's designed to help a mission avoid hazardous obstacles and land in a safe area.
Companies compete on payload to make air from moondust
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ESA is challenging companies in its Member States to design a compact plant to demonstrate the manufacture of oxygen on the Moon. Industrial teams are competing this summer to propose and prove designs through testing, with the winner set to be declared in September. This small piece of technology will evaluate the prospect of building larger plants to produce propellant for spacecraft, air for astronauts and metallic raw materials for equipment.
Companies compete for payload to make air from moondust
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ESA is challenging companies in its Member States to design a compact plant to demonstrate the manufacture of oxygen on the Moon. Industrial teams are competing this summer to propose and prove designs through testing, with the winner set to be declared in September. This small piece of technology will evaluate the prospect of building larger plants to produce propellant for spacecraft, air for astronauts and metallic raw materials for equipment.
Earth's 'vital signs' worsening as humanity's impact deepens
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The global economy's business-as-usual approach to climate change has seen Earth's "vital signs" deteriorate to record levels, an influential group of scientists said Wednesday, warning that several climate tipping points were now imminent.
The researchers, part of a group of more than 14,000 scientists who have signed on to an initiative declaring a worldwide climate emergency, said that go Wearable brain-machine interface turns intentions into actions
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A new wearable brain-machine interface (BMI) system could improve the quality of life for people with motor dysfunction or paralysis, even those struggling with locked-in syndrome - when a person is fully conscious but unable to move or communicate.
A multi-institutional, international team of researchers led by the lab of Woon-Hong Yeo at the Georgia Institute of Technology combined wirel What happens to marine life when oxygen is scarce
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In September of 2017, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution postdoctoral scholar Maggie Johnson was conducting an experiment with a colleague in Bocas del Toro off the Caribbean coast of Panama. After sitting on a quiet, warm open ocean, they snorkeled down to find a peculiar layer of murky, foul-smelling water about 10 feet below the surface, with brittle stars and sea urchins, which are usually Senate confirms Kendall to be Air Force Secretary
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Frank Kendall won confirmation from the Senate July 26 to be the 26th Secretary of the Air Force, placing an official with decades-long service in defense issues in the top civilian job at a time when the department is navigating new global challenges and wide-reaching modernization efforts.
The vote reflected both Kendall's well-known record in previous active duty and policy jobs and his Tesla quarterly profits top $1 bn for 1st time
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US electric carmaker Tesla reported its first-ever quarterly profit above $1 billion Monday as it reiterated its 2021 production targets despite supply chain upheaval.
Record deliveries of electric cars during the period allowed Elon Musk's company to garner earnings of $1.1 billion in the quarter, up from $104 million in the year-ago period as revenues nearly doubled to $12.0 billion. 
