Copernical Team
Martian rocks shed light on planet's ancient climate
Mars' ancient landscape was shaped by wind and water, with these forces sculpting the planet's sand and sediment into patterns such as dunes and ripples, known as bedforms. Over billions of years, many of these formations hardened into rock, becoming what scientists call paleo-bedforms. These features, largely frozen in time, have only been altered by slow erosion from wind, ancient lava flows,
OSIRIS-REx, 1 year later
It's been a year since NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully delivered the largest-ever asteroid sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. Since then, intriguing clues about the early solar system and potential origins of life on Earth have emerged from study of the sample, under the leadership of OSIRIS-REx principal investigator Dante Lauretta, a Regents Professor of planetary sciences at t
New EO platform on ISS to boost climate and environmental research
The International Space Station (ISS) is poised to enhance its environmental monitoring capabilities with a new payload supported by the ISS National Laboratory and developed by Airbus U.S. Space and Defense, Inc. Installed on the Bartolomeo platform, the system aims to broaden access to the station's unique perspective for research and technology demonstrations. "Airbus is improving our a
CAS Space completes fourth successful Kinetica 1 rocket flight
CAS Space, a rocket manufacturing company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has completed the fourth flight of its Kinetica 1 rocket model on Wednesday morning. The rocket, designated Kinetica 1-Y4, launched at 7:33 am from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, successfully placing five satellites into orbit. The flight marked the latest in the series, with "Y4" i
Chinese startup anticipates improved performance in upcoming rocket recovery tests
Chinese rocket startup Deep Blue Aerospace (Deep Blue) has announced plans for another high-altitude vertical recovery test in November, following a recent setback with its reusable rocket, Nebula-1. The vehicle encountered an issue during the final landing phase of a test flight, resulting in damage to its structure. Nebula-1, powered by a liquid oxygen and kerosene engine, completed 10 o
Leaf Space signs with Maritime Launch Services for Nova Scotia ground station
Leaf Space, a leader in ground segment as-a-service (GSaaS) solutions, has announced a new contract to install and manage a cutting-edge ground station at Spaceport Nova Scotia in Canada. This launch facility is owned and operated by Maritime Launch Services (Cboe CA: MAXQ, OTCQB: MAXQF). The agreement is a significant step in Leaf Space's expansion of its global ground station network, su
Voyager Space executes key Bishop Airlock operations in Starlab mission prep
Voyager Space (Voyager) has announced the successful completion of commercial payload operations using the Bishop Airlock on the International Space Station (ISS). This operation, done in partnership with Airbus, represents a critical step in preparing for joint operations on the upcoming Starlab commercial space station. During this mission, Voyager transferred two ArgUS multi-payload car
Radian Aerospace Successfully Completes First Taxi Tests for Prototype Flight Vehicle
Radian Aerospace (Radian), known for developing the world's first fully reusable, horizontal takeoff and landing, single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) spaceplane, has successfully completed the initial round of ground taxi tests for its prototype flight vehicle, PFV01. These tests represent a significant step in the company's progress toward realizing the Radian One spaceplane. The ground tests, c
Cosmic-ray ionization rate in Milky Way significantly lower than estimated
A team of astrophysicists led by Marta Obolentseva, Alexei Ivlev, Kedron Silsbee, and Paola Caselli from the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has re-evaluated the cosmic-ray ionization rate (CRIR) in the interstellar medium of the Milky Way. Their findings show that previous estimates were ten times higher than the new values derived. By using observational data from diffu
Asteroid Ceres is a former ocean world that slowly formed into a giant, murky icy orb
Since the first sighting of the first-discovered and largest asteroid in our solar system was made in 1801 by Giuseppe Piazzi, astronomers and planetary scientists have pondered the make-up of this asteroid/dwarf planet. Its heavily battered and dimpled surface is covered in impact craters. Scientists have long argued that visible craters on the surface meant that Ceres could not be very icy.