Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 07, 2024
Dark matter, hypothesized to explain gravitational effects that general relativity cannot, remains enigmatic since its proposal in 1932 by Dutch astronomer Jan Oort. Dr. Richard Lieu from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) has published a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society proposing an alternative theory. Lieu's work suggests gravity can exist without mass,

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 09, 2024
Many are familiar with movies like "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Star Trek," where astronauts live and work on space stations with artificial gravity. This science fiction is becoming reality. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher and Vast CEO Max Haot signed a Memorandum of Understanding for future Vast space stations during Space Day at the Berlin International Airshow (ILA) on June 6, 20

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 07, 2024
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute"s Heidi Jo Newberg, Ph.D., professor of astronomy; Tom Donlon, Ph.D., a visiting researcher at Rensselaer and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alabama; and their team have published research revealing that the Milky Way Galaxy"s last major collision occurred billions of years later than previously believed. The discovery was made possible by t

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 07, 2024
This summer, astronomers around the world, both professional and amateur, will focus on a small constellation in the night sky. The focus is on a dark spot in the Corona Borealis, where a bright nova event, visible to the naked eye, is expected. "It"s a once-in-a-lifetime event that will create a lot of new astronomers out there, giving young people a cosmic event they can observe for them

Washington (AFP) June 8, 2024
William Anders, the former US astronaut who took the historic "Earthrise" photo from space over 55 years ago, died in a plane crash on Friday at the age of 90, his family said. Anders had been piloting a small plane which crashed off the coast of Washington state on Friday morning, his son told US media. Anders was alone in the plane. His body was later recovered by a dive team, The Seat

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 07, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) ("Rocket Lab or "the Company) has announced the launch window for its 50th Electron mission, which will deploy five Internet-of-Things (IoT) satellites for French company Kineis. The 'No Time Toulouse' mission is scheduled to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand during a 14-day launch window that opens on June 19th, 2024, NZST.

Paris, France (SPX) Jun 09, 2024
ESO has signed an agreement with an international consortium of institutions for the design and construction of ANDES, the ArmazoNes high Dispersion Echelle Spectrograph. The ANDES instrument will be installed on ESO's Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). It will be used to search for signs of life in exoplanets and look for the very first stars, as well as to test variations of the fundamental cons

London, UK (SPX) Jun 09, 2024
Astronomers have detected carbon in a galaxy just 350 million years after the Big Bang, marking the earliest detection of any element in the universe other than hydrogen. Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), an international team of astronomers led by the University of Cambridge observed a very young galaxy in the early universe and found that it contained surprising amounts of car

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 09, 2024
Cornell University researchers have offered a straightforward explanation for bright radar reflections that were initially thought to indicate liquid water beneath Mars' south pole ice cap. Simulations conducted by the team demonstrate that minor variations in layers of water ice can cause constructive interference between radar waves. This interference can produce reflections that match c

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jun 09, 2024
NASA is advancing with ten studies to explore more affordable and faster ways to return samples from Mars' surface to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return Program. NASA will award a firm-fixed-price contract of up to $1.5 million for 90-day studies to seven industry proposers. Additionally, NASA centers, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and Johns Hopkins' Applied