Copernical Team
Light-controlled Higgs modes found in superconductors
Even if you weren't a physics major, you've probably heard something about the Higgs boson.
There was the title of a 1993 book by Nobel laureate Leon Lederman that dubbed the Higgs "The God Particle." There was the search for the Higgs particle that launched after 2009's first collisions inside the Large Hadron Collider in Europe. There was the 2013 announcement that Peter Higgs and Franco Holding the system of HR 8799 together
All four planets orbiting the star HR 8799 were identified via direct imaging - a feat made possible only because of the planets' large sizes and their wide orbits. Planetary systems with these characteristics often have difficulty holding themselves together under all of the gravitational influences involved. But could the HR 8799 system somehow stay intact?
The direct imaging technique i New Mars rover may collect first sounds recorded on another planet
When three new Mars missions reach the Red Planet in February, recording the first sounds from another planet is to be among the scientific milestones.
NASA expects its Perseverance rover to land Feb. 18, after the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter arrives Feb. 9 and China's Tianwen-1 mission arrives the next day.
Perseverance carries two microphones. One will record the noise m European team to collaborate in optical communication
Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) and Airbus Defence and Space Netherlands (Airbus DS NL) have signed a memorandum of understanding for collaborative activities regarding ground equipment for space-to-ground optical communication. The agreement will accelerate the development of commercially viable optical ground stations that will be offered by Airbus DS NL and used by SSC in delivering ground ne China collects 100PB of Earth observation data
China has collected around 100PB (about 100 million GB) of Earth observation data, according to the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
The collected data resources have been used for both free and commercial usage to serve more than 300,000 users, inducing significant social and economic benefits, according to a recent report on Chin NASA's Deep Space Network welcomes a new dish to the family
The addition brings new capabilities to the network, which acts as an interplanetary switchboard, connecting us to missions at the Moon and far beyond. A powerful new antenna has been added to the NASA Space Communications and Navigation's Deep Space Network (DSN), which connects us to the space robots exploring our solar system. Called Deep Space Station 56, or DSS-56, the dish is now online an SpaceX rocket deploys record-setting cargo
SpaceX on Sunday launched its Falcon 9 rocket carrying a record number of satellites on board, the private space company said.
The rocket successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 10:00 am (1500 GMT), 24 hours after its initial take-off had been scrubbed due to bad weather.
Andy Tran, a SpaceX production supervisor, said in a video of the launch that the Falcon 9 was carrying U of Louisiana-Lafayette mini-satellite zipping around Earth
A cubical satellite small enough to sit on the palm of your hand is zipping around the world and sending data about radiation to the Louisiana students who designed and built it.
The satellite, called CAPE-3, carries a chip designed and built by students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to detect radiation, with an eye to keeping astronauts safe.
"The detectors would provide liquid crystal display readings so astronauts could constantly monitor how much radiation they're being exposed to," Dr. Paul Darby, the university's project leader, said in a news release.
The satellite also carries a tiny Geiger counter so students can tell whether the chip is accurate.
Each side of the satellite is only 10 centimeters—less than 4 inches—across. It was among 10 launched Jan. 17 from a Virgin Orbit rocket that itself was launched high above the Pacific Ocean from a customized Boeing 747.
Eight of the other nine were built by students at other schools. The tenth was built by NASA, which runs the CubeSat Launch Initiative to give nonprofit organizations and schools at all levels a chance to do scientific investigations in space and help NASA with exploration and technology development.
Week in images: 18 - 22 January 2021
Week in images: 18 - 22 January 2021
Discover our week through the lens
SpaceX to send TU Dresden satellite into space
TU Dresden's SOMP2b satellite will be lifted into orbit by SpaceX on January 22, 2021. It will be used to investigate new nanomaterials under the extreme conditions of space, to test systems for converting the sun's heat into electricity and to precisely measure the residual atmosphere around the satellite. SOMP2b will begin its journey around the Earth at an altitude of 500 km—slightly higher than the ISS space station. It will orbit the Earth in a special polar, sun-synchronous orbit, always flying over the TU Dresden ground station at approximately the same time of day and sending measurement data.
SOMP2b is a follow-up satellite to SOMP2, a nanosatellite jointly developed by students, Ph.D. candidates and scientists from TU Dresden's Faculty of Mechanical Science and Engineering. SOMP2b stands for Student On-Orbit Measurement Project 2b. It is 20 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm in size and weighs a little less than 2 kilograms.
