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Copernical Team

Copernical Team

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NASA says no return date yet for astronauts and Boeing capsule at space station
This photo provided by NASA shows the Starliner spacecraft docked to the Harmony module of the International Space Station, orbiting 262 miles above Egypt's Mediterranean coast, on June 13, 2024. Credit: NASA via AP, File

Already more than a month late getting back, two NASA astronauts will remain at the International Space Station until engineers finish working on problems plaguing their Boeing capsule, officials said Thursday.

Test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were supposed to visit the orbiting lab for about a week and return in mid-June, but thruster failures and helium leaks on Boeing's new Starliner capsule prompted NASA and Boeing to keep them up longer.

NASA's commercial crew program manager Steve Stich said mission managers are not ready to announce a return date.

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ND Expert: NASA's cancellation of VIPER is a frustrating setback for lunar exploration
Clive Neal, professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences (CEEES) in his office. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame). Credit: Barbara Johnston / University of Notre Dame

In July 2024, NASA announced it canceled its plans to send the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the moon's southern polar region. The rover was meant to search for water and other resources called volatiles, such as hydrogen, ammonia and carbon dioxide, which easily evaporate in warm temperatures.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, reiterated the agency's commitment "to exploring the moon for the benefit of humanity" through other missions.

Fifty-five years have passed since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made a giant leap for mankind.

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Space-trekking muscle tests drugs for microgravity-induced muscle impairment
Astronauts conducting experiments on muscle chips. Credit: NASA

A gentle rumble ran under Ngan Huang's feet as a rocket carrying her research—live, human muscle cells grown on scaffolds fixed on tiny chips—lifted off, climbed, and disappeared into the sky to the International Space Station National Laboratory. These chips would help Huang better understand muscle impairment, often seen in astronauts and older adults, and test drugs to counter the condition.

Now, the results are back. Reporting in a study published July 25 in Stem Cell Reports, Huang's team showed that space-traveling muscle had metabolic changes that indicate impaired muscle regeneration and gene activities associated with age-related muscle loss called sarcopenia. But drug treatment partially prevented microgravity's adverse effects.

"Space is a really unique environment that accelerates qualities associated with aging and also impairs many healthy processes," says Huang, an associate professor at Stanford University.

"Astronauts come back with , or a reduction of muscle function, because the muscle isn't being actively used in the absence of gravity.

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Video: 00:08:21

The first half of 2024 saw hundreds of people across Europe building, cajoling, shipping, lowering, integrating, securing and protecting the precious pieces and parts that came together to create Ariane 6 – Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket.

Huge engines, boosters and outer shells met tiny screws, electrical boards and masses of supercooled fuel. All this came together at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, for the spectacular first launch of Ariane 6 on 9 July 2024, restoring Europe’s access to space.

Get a glimpse at the teamwork, skill and care that went into this moment over many months, in this montage

Thursday, 25 July 2024 12:00

From Concordia to the Moon

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Concordia is a research station in Antarctica that places you farther away from humankind than even the International Space Station. Every year, ESA sponsors a medical doctor to spend a year, or "winterover," at Concordia station. This year, our medical doctor is Jessica Kehala Studer, who is seen in this picture gazing at the Moon and the vast expanse of Antarctica. Around May, the Sun dips below the horizon for the last time, and the crew experiences four months of total darkness, with temperatures dropping to –80°C in winter. 

The station serves as an analogue for space, mirroring the

Thursday, 25 July 2024 12:42

FIA 2024 - Day 4

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ESA's Industry Space Days at ESTEC, ESA's technical heart in The Netherlands

Participants of ESA’s Industry Space Days (ISD 2024) share insights and tips on how to make the most of this space technology business event on 18–19 September at ESA-ESTEC in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

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Juice flies by Earth

Juice’s lunar-Earth flyby: all you need to know

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Washington DC (UPI) Jul 24, 2024
Nearly five years after it launched, NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer - or ICON - mission has officially come to an end, the space agency announced Wednesday. NASA's ICON mission gathered valuable data as it orbited the outermost layer of Earth's atmosphere, about 55 miles to 360 miles into space in the ionosphere, and provided critical breakthroughs on how space weather affects
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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 23, 2024
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has captured an image of the dwarf irregular galaxy NGC 5238, situated 14.5 million light-years away in the Canes Venatici constellation. This galaxy, resembling an oversized star cluster rather than a typical galaxy, is a key focus of current research due to its complex structure. Hubble's detailed image highlights numerous stars and associated globular
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