Berlin, Germany (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
ESA's EarthCARE satellite has recently been unpacked at its launch site in Vandenberg, California, after a lengthy journey from Germany and a month-long storage period. The satellite is now undergoing preparations for its anticipated launch in May. The Earth Cloud Aerosol and Radiation Explorer (EarthCARE) is equipped with four advanced instruments designed to analyze the interactions betw

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
Did you know the Sun has moss? Due to its resemblance to the earthly plants, scientists have named a small-scale, bright, patchy structure made of plasma in the solar atmosphere "moss." This moss, which was first identified in 1999 by NASA's TRACE mission, blossoms around the center of a sunspot group, where magnetic conditions are strong. It straddles two atmospheric layers known as the chromos

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 16, 2024
In an effort to further humanity's journey to Mars, NASA has carefully selected a diverse group of four volunteers to undergo an intensive 45-day simulated mission to the Red Planet. This simulation will take place at the Johnson Space Center's Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA), a facility meticulously designed to mimic the conditions of space travel and planetary exploration. Parti

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 16, 2024
The European Space Agency's Lunar I-Hab initiative has achieved a significant milestone at the Thales Alenia Space facility in Turin with the completion of the Acceptance Review of the mockup, delivered by Liquifer Space Systems. This event underscores the advancement toward a sustained human presence in lunar orbit. The mockup, a full-scale version of the intended flight module, includes

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 16, 2024
During the 39th Space Symposium, Max Space, a pioneering space company, showcased its innovative expandable habitat technology. This technology is distinguished by its ability to scale indefinitely while ensuring structural stability, positioning Max Space as a unique player in the space habitation sector. This capability is anticipated to facilitate mass production and significantly lower the c

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
Using various telescopes, scientists, including volunteer citizen scientists worldwide, have mapped over 3,500 cosmic entities within 65 light-years of the Sun through the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 project. A recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal details these findings, highlighting that stars outnumber brown dwarfs by four to one in this sector, yet low-mass objects prevail

Φsat-2, ESA’s groundbreaking cubesat scheduled for launch in June, will now include two new AI-driven apps destined to demonstrate a crucial role in future environmental monitoring from space. The apps, which focus on marine pollution and wildfires, were the winning entries in ESA’s OrbitalAI Challenge.

Washington DC (UPI) Apr 17, 2024
SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket, carrying 23 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit early Wednesday evening, under clear, sunny skies in Florida. "Merlin engine ignition and liftoff of Falcon 9!" SpaceX wrote in a post on X. "Five, four, three, two, one, zero, mission liftoff," as video of the launch shows the 230-foot rocket lifting off at 5:26 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 18, 2024
The China Manned Space Agency has announced that the Shenzhou XVIII mission is poised for launch in the upcoming days, aiming to deliver three astronauts to the Tiangong space station. On Wednesday, the Shenzhou XVIII crew spacecraft, along with its Long March 2F rocket, was transferred to the service tower at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the Gobi Desert of northwestern C