Copernical Team
Astronomers spot a 'blinking giant' near the centre of the Galaxy
Astronomers have spotted a giant 'blinking' star towards the centre of the Milky Way, more than 25,000 light years away. An international team of astronomers observed the star, VVV-WIT-08, decreasing in brightness by a factor of 30, so that it nearly disappeared from the sky. While many stars change in brightness because they pulsate or are eclipsed by another star in a binary system, it's excep Star's death will play a mean pinball with rhythmic planets
Four planets locked in a perfect rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be pinballed around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, according to a study led by the University of Warwick that peers into its future.
Astronomers have modelled how the change in gravitational forces in the system as a result of the star becoming a white dwarf will cause its planets to fly loose Have your name forever on the Moon with Spacebit's Wevolver Engineering Challenge
The Spacebit Engineering Challenge enables engineers around the world to contribute to the development of "Asagumo 2.0", a four-legged walking rover that is set to fly to the Moon with the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program in 2021 and 2022.
The challenge was catalyzed by the recent partnership agreement signed between UK-based Spacebit and the engineering community plat NASA approves further development of asteroid hunter
NASA has approved the Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope (NEO Surveyor) to move to the next phase of mission development after a successful mission review, authorizing the mission to move forward into Preliminary Design (known as Key Decision Point-B).
The infrared space telescope is designed to help advance NASA's planetary defense efforts by expediting our ability to discover and China launches four satellites with Long March-2D rocket
China sent four satellites into planned orbits from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province on Friday.
The satellites Beijing-3 (BJ-3), HISEA-2 (HS-2), Yangwang-1 (YW-1) and Tianjian (TJ) were launched by a Long March-2D rocket at 11:03 a.m. (Beijing Time).
Developed by China Spacesat Co., Ltd., the commercial remote-sensing satellite BJ-3 can provide services NASA seeks proposals for next 2 private astronaut missions to ISS
NASA is seeking proposals for two new private astronaut missions to the International Space Station as part of the agency's efforts to open space to more people than ever before. With these opportunities, U.S. commercial companies will continue to play an essential role in establishing a sustained presence in low-Earth orbit (LEO) through the agency's Commercial LEO Development Program.
Th Trip to space with Jeff Bezos sells for $28 mn
A mystery bidder paid $28 million at auction Saturday for a seat alongside Jeff Bezos on board the first crewed spaceflight of the billionaire's company Blue Origin next month.
The Amazon founder revealed this week that both he and his brother Mark would take seats on board the company's New Shepard launch vehicle on July 20, to fly to the edge of space and back.
The Bezos brothers will be joined by the winner of Saturday's charity auction, whose identity remains unknown, and by a fourth, as yet unnamed space tourist.
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Heat vision NASA launches baby squid and water bears to the International Space Station
From worms to quail, the ISS has housed all kinds of creatures great and small over the years. Animal research in space is about to welcome some new members to the club.
Aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, 128 baby glow-in-the-dark bobtail squid and about 5,000 microscopic animals are headed to the ISS. The animals are tardigrades, better known as water bears, and they can be found everywhere on Earth.
Something fishy going on
The squid will be used to explore the effects of spaceflight on the interactions between microbes and animals. "Animals, including humans, rely on our microbes to maintain a healthy digestive and immune system. We do not fully understand how spaceflight alters these beneficial interactions," principal investigator Jamie Foster, a professor in the department of microbiology and cell science at the University of Florida, told the "BBC."
Prof. Foster added that the squid will "address these important issues in animal health." What makes the squid interesting is that they glow in the dark thanks to an organ in their sac.
NASA selects new science investigations for future moon deliveries
As NASA continues plans for multiple commercial deliveries to the moon's surface per year, the agency has selected three new scientific investigation payload suites to advance understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor. Two of the payload suites will land on the far side of the moon, a first for NASA. All three investigations will receive rides to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative, part of the agency's Artemis approach.
The payloads mark the agency's first selections from its Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM) call for proposals.
"These selections add to our robust pipeline of science payloads and investigations to be delivered to the moon through CLPS," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration in NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "With each new PRISM selection, we will build on our capabilities to enable bigger and better science and prove technology which will help pave the way for returning astronauts to the moon through Artemis."
Lunar Vertex, one of the three selections, is a joint lander and rover payload suite slated for delivery to Reiner Gamma—one of the most distinctive and enigmatic natural features on the moon, known as a lunar swirl.
