Melbourne FL (SPX) Jan 18, 2021
The night sky is speckled with the light from hundreds of billions of stars within our galaxy. The brightest few thousand of these celestial bodies captivate the human eye and imagination. For astronomers seeking to detect undiscovered stars and, potentially, the planets around them, however, this brightness can be problematic as it may overwhelm the light coming from fainter, nearby objects.

Beijing (XNA) Jan 18, 2021
Three major components of China's space station program have passed technical and quality assessments and are ready for upcoming missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency. Experts from the agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp reviewed the design, construction and test reports on the space station's Tianhe core module, the Tianzh

Milan, Italy (SPX) Jan 18, 2021
Leaf Space, the Italian ground segment as-a-service company focused on microsatellites, announced it has completed its Series A financing round of 5 million euro, bringing its total funding to 10 million euro. A contribution of 2 million euro came from Primo Space, the investment fund of Primomiglio SGR focused on investments in highly innovative companies in the space industry. The other 3 mill

London, UK (SPX) Jan 18, 2021
OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company jointly owned by the UK Government and Bharti Global, has secured additional funding from SoftBank Group Corp. ("SoftBank") and Hughes Network Systems LLC ("Hughes"), bringing OneWeb's total funding to $1.4 billion. The capital raised to date positions the Company to be fully funded for its first-generation satellite fleet, total

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jan 18, 2021
NASA, in partnership with Space Center Houston - the official visitor center of NASA's Johnson Space Center- has selected 22 qualifying teams to compete in the competition round of Phase 2 of the Space Robotics Challenge. Eligible teams will advance to the final virtual competition round, which will begin in late January. Phase 2 of the Space Robotics Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenge

New York NY (SPX) Jan 15, 2021
A remarkable prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity - the theory that connects space, time, and gravity - is that rotating black holes have enormous amounts of energy available to be tapped. For the last 50 years, scientists have tried to come up with methods to unleash this power. Nobel physicist Roger Penrose theorized that a particle disintegration could draw energy from

Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Jan 18, 2021
Earth Observation [EO] data provides a billion-dollar opportunity for economies on the African continent, one that could create jobs and build new resilience after COVID-19. The newly released report Unlocking the Potential of Earth Observation to address Africa's critical challenges lays out the multiple economic benefits from EO data. The report was written in collaboration with Digital

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 15, 2021
Virgin Orbit plans to try again Sunday to send 10 small science satellites for NASA and several universities into orbit using a rocket launched over the Pacific Ocean. The mission is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PST when Virgin's Cosmic Girl aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port 90 miles north of Los Angeles. The plane carries the LauncherOne rocket

Orlando FL (UPI) Jan 18, 2021
NASA's plan to test its new moon rocket fell short of a scheduled eight-minute test-firing Saturday in Mississippi as the engines were shut down at just over a minute into the test. The 212-foot-high core stage of the rocket roared to life at 5:27 p.m. at the John C. Stennis Space Center. The test created huge clouds of steam as 300 gallons of water per minute cooled the test stand to prev

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Did you know that in microgravity we are preparing one of the most promising fuels for the future?

Microgravity is helping to find answers and models to refine the processes needed to efficiently burn solid fuel like iron dust. Are we witnessing the raise of a new "Iron Age"? Could we use metal powders instead of petrol to fuel our cars?

Solid fuels are used for burning a match, lighting a sparkler on New Year's Eve as well as the fuel inside the boosters of Ariane and of other rockets. But metals such as iron can also burn, in