Copernical Team
Heart failure in space: scientists calculate potential health threats facing future space tourists in microgravity
Space exploration has always captivated our imagination, offering the promise of discovering new worlds and pushing the boundaries of human capability. As commercial space travel becomes more accessible, individuals with various underlying health conditions-including heart failure-may soon be among those venturing beyond Earth's atmosphere. This raises critical questions about the impact of spac
Space radiation can damage satellites - my team discovered that a next-generation material could self-heal when exposed to cosmic rays
The space environment is harsh and full of extreme radiation. Scientists designing spacecraft and satellites need materials that can withstand these conditions. In a paper published in January 2024, my team of materials researchers demonstrated that a next-generation semiconductor material called metal-halide perovskite can actually recover and heal itself from radiation damage. Meta
Pegatron 5G Elevates Cargo Ship Networks with Satellite Integration
Pegatron 5G, a leader in system integration in Taiwan, addressed the challenges and development opportunities of 5G O-RAN at the Open RAN Summit. The company also highlighted 5G O-RAN applications in smart factories, energy management, and education. For the maritime industry, Pegatron 5G introduced an application integrating low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite signals into a 5G network for ca
Firefly Aerospace to Launch Alpha FLTA005 for NASA on June 26
Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a space transportation company, has announced its Alpha Flight 5 (FLTA005) mission, named Noise of Summer, scheduled to launch no earlier than June 26. The launch window will open at 9 p.m. PST. "The Firefly team has rapidly matured our Alpha rocket and our responsive launch operations to deliver the dependable one-metric-ton rocket the market is demanding," said B
A Black Hole of Inexplicable Mass
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has observed a galaxy in an early stage of the universe. The light from the galaxy, J1120+0641, has taken nearly as long to reach Earth as the universe's age. Independent measurements have revealed a black hole at its center with a mass exceeding a billion solar masses. Recent observations aimed to identify an efficient feeding mechanism for this black hole,
Why do some planets have moons
On Earth, you can look up at night and see the Moon shining bright from hundreds of thousands of miles away. But if you went to Venus, that wouldn't be the case. Not every planet has a moon - so why do some planets have several moons, while others have none? I'm a physics instructor who has followed the current theories that describe why some planets have moons and some don't. First,
Two large asteroids to pass Earth in close succession
Two large asteroids will safely pass Earth this week, coinciding with this year's Asteroid Day. Neither poses any risk to our planet, but one of them was only discovered a week ago, underscoring the need to enhance our detection capabilities for potentially hazardous objects. Asteroid 2024 MK, measuring between 120 and 260 meters, was discovered on 16 June 2024. It will fly past Earth on 2
Chang'e-6 to Return with Farside Moon Samples
On June 25, China's Chang'e-6 (CE-6) lunar probe is set to return to Earth, carrying the first surface samples collected from the farside of the Moon. In anticipation of this event, scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences are publishing their predictions for the materials that may be found in the CE-6 samples in the journal The Innovation.
NASA calls off spacewalk for second time this month
NASA canceled a spacewalk for the second time this month on Monday after reporting a coolant leak on the umbilical unit on one of the astronaut's spacesuits. Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson reported the leak on the suit's servicing and cooling umbilical unit, or SCU, just before she and Mike Barratt were set to walk outside the International Space Station at about 8:52 a.m., EDT. Both as
Could we put data centers in space?
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm lately. It also requires loads of band-end computing capability to do the near-miraculous things that it does. So far, that "compute," as it's known in the tech industry, has been based entirely on the ground. But is there an economic reason to do it in space? Some people seem to think so, as there has been a growing interest in space-based data centers. Let's take a look at why.
Space-based data centers have several advantages over ground-based ones. The first and most obvious is the near-unlimited amount of space in space. Second, there are plenty of potential options for novel power and cooling technologies that can't exist back on Earth. Third, using a space-based data center as a relay point for information could cut down on lag in data transfer between continents. Let's look at each in turn.
One of the significant constraints for data centers is space—they require large amounts of it, and it is expensive in the areas where they are most needed (i.e.