Copernical Team
Hera mission to unlock the secrets of Dimorphos asteroid
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A new mystery in space is leading to a groundbreaking planetary defense mission aimed at making Earth safer. The European Space Agency's (ESA) Hera mission is now preparing to follow up on a critical experiment that began in 2022.
On September 26, 2022, NASA's DART spacecraft impacted the Dimorphos asteroid at 6.1 km/s. This event altered Dimorphos's orbit around its larger companion, Didy The EU vs X: How big could the fines be for Musk?
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Elon Musk's X is in hot water with the EU for allegedly breaking new content rules - and the world's richest man risks multibillion-dollar fines even he might find prohibitive.
The European Union could decide within months to take action against X, including possible fines, as part of a probe into whether the social platform is breaching a landmark content moderation law, the Digital Servic WASP-107b reveals new atmospheric features thanks to Webb Telescope
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New findings about the "popcorn planet" WASP-107b have emerged, thanks to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This gas giant, previously noted for its exceptionally low density and puffed-up atmosphere, has provided scientists with even more unexpected details through advanced atmospheric observations.
WASP-107b, a gas planet roughly the size of Jupiter but only one-tenth as massive, Magnetic Halo in the Milky Way Tied to Powerful Galactic Outflows
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A study led by the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), with contributions from Radboud University's Marijke Haverkorn, has provided critical new insights into the Milky Way. The research reveals a magnetic halo surrounding our galaxy, challenging existing models of its structure and evolution.
The discovery highlights magnetised structures extending over 16,000 light-years (150 qua Vodafone and Intelsat Expand Satellite Connectivity for Remote Areas and Emergency Response
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Vodafone and Intelsat have announced an extended partnership to enhance satellite connectivity services for organizations operating in remote or challenging environments, including disaster zones. This collaboration aims to supplement Vodafone's terrestrial networks with satellite-based broadband services, ensuring businesses, governments, and NGOs can maintain connectivity in underserved region NASA pilots use specialty suits to validate data
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Welcome to NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX). We've been talking about this validation campaign and now are finally here. "Here" being one of three main locations where PACE-PAX validation efforts are taking place: NASA's Armstrong Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
PACE-PAX uses the unique vantage point of the ER-2 aircraft to gather data on small particles in the atmosphere and ultimately help verify the data gathered by the satellite in orbit.
NASA's ER-2 aircraft flies high in the sky—approximately 70,000 feet in altitude, where the pilot can see the curvature of Earth. At that high an altitude, pilots must be equipped with a uniform closer to that of an astronaut rather than a flight suit. In fact, while flying the ER-2, the pilot sports a pressurized suit that is essentially a spacesuit.
"The spacesuit is the last line of defense against the elements at altitude," said Kirt Stallings, an ER-2 research pilot. "If the aircraft cabin lost pressurization the spacesuit would automatically inflate protecting the pilot from the elements and allowing them to safely recover the aircraft.
Nuking a huge asteroid could save Earth, lab experiment suggests
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Humanity could use a nuclear bomb to deflect a massive, life-threatening asteroid hurtling towards Earth in the future, according to scientists who tested the theory in the laboratory by blasting X-rays at a marble-sized "mock asteroid".
The biggest real-life test of our planetary defenses was carried out in 2022, when NASA's fridge-sized DART spacecraft smashed into a 160-metre (525-feet) wide asteroid, successfully knocking it well off course.
But for bigger asteroids, merely crashing spaceships into them will probably not do the trick.
When the roughly 10-kilometer wide Chicxulub asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula around 66 million years ago, it is believed to have plunged Earth into darkness, sent kilometers-high tsunamis rippling around the globe and killed three quarters of all life—including wiping out the dinosaurs.
Murine study suggests cosmic radiation in outer space may affect long-term cognition
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During missions into outer space, galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) will penetrate current spacecraft shielding and thus pose a significant risk to human health.
Previous studies have shown that GCR can cause short-term cognitive deficits in male rodents. Now a study published in the Journal of Neurochemistry reveals that GCR exposure can also cause long-lasting learning deficits in female rodents.
The impact of GCR on cognition was lessened when mice were fed an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound called CDDO-EA.
Beyond its immediate implications for space exploration, the findings contribute to a broader understanding of radiation's long-term impact on cognitive health.
"Our study lays the groundwork for future causal delineation of how the brain responds to complex GCR exposure and how these brain adaptations result in altered behaviors," said co-corresponding author Sanghee Yun, Ph.D., of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Research Institute and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
More information: S. Yun, F.C. Kiffer, et al. The longitudinal behavioral effects of acute exposure to galactic cosmic radiation in female C57BL/6J mice: implications for deep space missions, female crews, and potential antioxidant countermeasures, Journal of Neurochemistry (2024).
Record-breaking laser demonstration completes mission
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NASA's TBIRD (TeraByte InfraRed Delivery) demonstration and its host spacecraft—the PTD-3 (Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator-3)—have completed their technology demonstration. The TBIRD payload spent the past two years breaking world records for the fastest satellite downlink from space using laser communications.
NASA's PTD series leverages a common commercial spacecraft to provide a robust platform for effective testing of technologies with minimal redesign in between launches. After launch in May 2022 on the SpaceX Transporter 5 mission, the PTD-3 spacecraft entered low-Earth orbit, and shortly after, TBIRD began sending laser communications signals to an optical ground station in Table Mountain, California.
TBIRD's two-year demonstration showcased the viability of laser communications. Most NASA missions rely on radio frequency communication systems. However, laser communications use infrared light and can pack significantly more data in a single communications link.
Robotic moving 'crew' preps for work on moon
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As NASA moves forward with efforts to establish a long-term presence on the moon as part of the Artemis campaign, safely moving cargo from landers to the lunar surface is a crucial capability.
Whether the cargo, also known as payloads, are small scientific experiments or large technology to build infrastructure, there won't be a crew on the moon to do all the work, which is where robots and new software come in.
A team at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, spent the last couple of years infusing existing robotic hardware with a software system that makes the robot operate autonomously. Earlier this month, that team, led by researcher Dr. Julia Cline of NASA Langley's Research Directorate, ran demonstrations of their system called LANDO (Lightweight Surface Manipulation System AutoNomy capabilities Development for surface Operations and construction).