Copernical Team
Space object with orbit stretching into the Oort cloud discovered
Astronomers Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein discovered a space object recently that has an orbit around the sun and also stretches into the Oort cloud—they have named it 2014 UN271. The researchers made the discovery while studying archival images collected for the Dark Energy Survey over the years 2014 to 2018. Since its discovery, entities such as the MMPL forum, the Minor Planet Center and JPL Solar System Dynamics have been tracking the object and have found that it will make its closest approach to Earth in 2031.
Measurements of the object put it between the size of a very small planet and a comet—it is believed to have a diameter of 100 to 370 km. If it turns out to be on the larger end of that spectrum, it would mark the largest Oort cloud object discovered to date. But it is the path of the object that has drawn the attention of astronomers—its orbit is nearly perpendicular to the plane created by the nine inner planets and takes it deep into the solar system and into the Oort cloud.
Dirty laundry in space? NASA, Tide tackle cleaning challenge
Juice in Large Space Simulator
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Juice in Large Space Simulator ESA and EU celebrate a fresh start for space in Europe
Press Release N° 20–2021
After months of constructive negotiations, ESA and EU signed today a new Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) in a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the new EU space programme.
Meringue-like material could make aircraft as quiet as a hairdryer
An incredibly light new material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and improve passenger comfort has been developed at the University of Bath.
The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel weighs just 2.1kg per cubic metre, making it the lightest sound insulation ever manufactured. It could be used as insulation within aircraft engines to reduce noise by up to 16 decibels - reducing the The new wave of robotic automation
Ask Peter Howard SM '84, CEO of Realtime Robotics and MIT Sloan School of Management alumnus, what he thinks is the biggest bottleneck facing the robotics industry, and he'll tell you without hesitation it's return on investment. "Robotics automation is capable of handling almost any single task that a human can do, but the ROI is not compelling due to the high cost of deployment and the inabili Princeton-led team discovers unexpected quantum behavior in kagome lattice
An international team led by researchers at Princeton University has uncovered a new pattern of ordering of electric charge in a novel superconducting material.
The researchers discovered the new type of ordering in a material containing atoms arranged in a peculiar structure known as a kagome lattice. While researchers already understand how the electron's spin can produce magnetism, thes Russian, US scientists spar over causes of astronauts' headache
US astronauts on board the International Space Station have been complaining of headache, with Russian and US scientists divided on whether an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the station's atmosphere is the reason, according to a fresh report by Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre released on Monday.
"NASA put forward in 2008 requirements to reduce the level of car US, French astronauts make ISS spacewalk
A French and an American astronaut completed a six-hour spacewalk Sunday as they installed new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.
"It is a huge team effort each time and couldn't be happier to return with @astro_kimbrough," tweeted Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough.
Pesquet is with the Eur SwRI awarded Lunar lander investigation contract
To advance understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor, NASA has selected three new lunar investigations, including a payload suite led by Southwest Research Institute. The Lunar Interior Temperature and Materials Suite (LITMS) is one of two packages that will land on the far side of the Moon, a first for the agency, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative.
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