Fairbanks AK (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
Years of preparation by the Alaska Satellite Facility will ensure that a flood of freely available data from a NASA-India satellite mission that launched Wednesday will be easy for the global public to use. "Most of what we've been working on for the past eight years is preparing for NISAR," Alaska Satellite Facility Director Wade Albright said prior to the launch. The Alaska Satelli

Paris, France (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
Webb has returned to the iconic Hubble Ultra Deep Field, providing astronomers with an unprecedented mid-infrared perspective of one of the most studied regions in the sky. Using nearly 100 hours of observation time with its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has delivered its deepest extragalactic view in a single filter to date. This area, known a

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
Black holes, the most gravitationally extreme objects in the universe, emit space-time ripples called quasinormal modes when disturbed - vibrations that can be detected as gravitational waves. These signals offer critical insight into a black hole's mass and structure, but precisely modeling the rapidly fading ones has remained elusive. In a breakthrough study, Kyoto University researchers

Austin TX (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
he first black hole images stunned the world in 2019, with headlines announcing evidence of a glowing doughnut-shaped object from the center of galaxy Messier 87 (M87 - 55 million light years from Earth. Supercomputer simulations are now helping scientists sharpen their understanding about the environment beyond a black hole's 'shadow,' material just outside its event horizon. "Ever since

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
China has approved the ninth round of lunar sample lending applications, distributing over 30 grams of moon material to 32 research teams across 25 institutions. These samples, retrieved by the Chang'e 5 and Chang'e 6 missions, will support a broad spectrum of scientific studies. According to the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center, 30,881.8 milligrams of lunar samples will be s

Tokyo Japan (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
ispace, inc. has signed an agreement with Bridgestone Corporation to jointly develop and evaluate tires for future small and medium-sized lunar rovers. The initiative aims to accelerate practical deployment of these tires for surface missions by the end of this decade. Under the agreement, Bridgestone's soft, elastic tires - engineered with thin metal spokes for both durability and flexibi

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
Argo Space Corp. and ThinkOrbital have announced a strategic partnership to launch the first-ever space mission featuring long-range, high-voltage X-ray imaging for space domain awareness (SDA). The mission, scheduled for 2026, will deploy ThinkOrbital's proprietary ThinkX imaging system aboard Argo's agile spacecraft platform. The initiative combines Argo's maneuverable, refuellable space

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 05, 2025
Intuitive Machines has secured a $9.8 million government contract to progress its Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) through Critical Design Review, the final engineering phase before manufacturing begins. This Phase Two award expands the company's government work beyond lunar surface delivery and strengthens its role in the growing market for orbital mobility solutions. The award is not affil

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 4, 2025
NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission to the moon ended in failure after the government agency lost contact with the spacecraft one day after the launch in February and never regained communication despite extensive efforts. The mission ended Friday, NASA said Monday in a news release. On Feb. 26, the satellite was part of the IM-2 mission by Intuitive Machines aboard a SpaceX Falcon

As preparations to launch Europe’s first MetOp Second Generation, MetOp-SG-A1, satellite continue on track, the team at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, has bid a heartfelt farewell to this precious satellite as it was sealed from view within the Ariane 6 rocket’s fairing.

This all-new weather satellite, which hosts the first Copernicus Sentinel-5 instrument, is set to take to the skies on 13 August at 02:37 CEST (12 August 21:37 Kourou time).