Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Nov 15, 2021
Forming planets are one possible explanation for the rings and gaps observed in disks of gas and dust around young stars. But this theory has trouble explaining why it is rare to find planets associated with rings. New supercomputer simulations show that after creating a ring, a planet can move away and leave the ring behind. Not only does this bolster the planet theory for ring formation, the s

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 15, 2021
It sounds like a plot for a movie but protecting Earth from a potential impact by a hazardous asteroid is the objective of an upcoming NASA mission. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is a planetary defense-driven test of technologies for mitigating such a threat. DART's target asteroid is not a threat to Earth. The DART spacecraft launch window opens Nov. 24. It will laun

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 15, 2021
Who hates deep sand traps more than golfers? Mars rover drivers (and probably Fremen too). When your vehicle is well over 50 million kilometers away from the nearest tow company, getting your wheels stuck in sand can be a mission-critical problem. Such a predicament ended the Spirit rover's mission in 2009. Yet Perseverance is currently winding her way through the maze of towering sand dun

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 12, 2021
When the operations team logged on today, we were prepared to pick up where Monday's team had left off in Curiosity's ongoing drill campaign at Zechstein. But then we received some news: even though the original plan already included two hefty science blocks, the rover still had extra energy to spare! In order to take advantage of this excess energy, the team added yet another science bloc

Urbana IL (SPX) Nov 15, 2021
Recent weeks have witnessed a series of medium-to-large-sized asteroids cross paths with Earth's orbit. The largest of the pack - asteroid 2004 UE - is on track to make its closest approach to the planet Nov. 13. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign astronomy professor and chair Leslie Looney spoke with News Bureau physical sciences editor Lois Yoksoulian about what researchers refer to as ne

Daytona Beach FL (SPX) Nov 15, 2021
In preparation for an upcoming moon mission, a team of engineers at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has completed construction of a miniature satellite camera system. The CubeSat, known as EagleCam, is en route to Intuitive Machines' headquarters, in Houston, Texas, this week where it will be integrated onto the Nova-C Lunar Lander spacecraft ahead of its scheduled mission to the moon in ea

Mojave CA (SPX) Nov 15, 2021
A fully assembled rocket that will carry both Department of Defense and Polish SatRevolution satellites to space has arrived at the Mojave Air and Space Port after departing Virgin Orbit's Long Beach rocket factory Monday. The rocket is now being mated to the customized 747 that serves as Virgin Orbit's flying and fully re-usable launch pad and mobile mission control, with expected launch

Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 15, 2021
In a development reminiscent of classic science fiction, a California-based startup has performed its first test of a device for launching satellites into space by accelerating them to fantastic speeds instead of loading them atop a rocket engine. The company announced its successful October 22 test on CNBC on Tuesday, with CEO Jonathan Yaney saying the projectile reached an altitude of "t

Washington DC (UPI) Nov 13, 2021
SpaceX deployed 53 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit from a Falcon 9 rocket launched Saturday in a foggy flight from Cape Canaveral Space Station, Florida. "You can see we did have successful deployment of our Starlink satellites here," SpaceX Dragon propulsion engineer Youmei Zhou said during live commentary. "Starlink is a satellite Internet constellation designed and manufactur