Copernical Team
Two astronauts are left behind in space as Boeing's troubled capsule returns to Earth empty
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Boeing's first astronaut mission ended Friday night with an empty capsule landing and two test pilots still in space, left behind until next year because NASA judged their return too risky.
Six hours after departing the International Space Station, Starliner parachuted into New Mexico's White Sands Missile Range, descending on autopilot through the desert darkness.
It was an uneventful close to a drama that began with the June launch of Boeing's long-delayed crew debut and quickly escalated into a dragged-out cliffhanger of a mission stricken by thruster failures and helium leaks.
Two NASA astronauts stuck in space have flown long missions before
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The two NASA astronauts left behind at the International Space Station following the return of Boeing's troubled capsule are Navy test pilots who have ridden out long missions before.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are now full-time station crew members along with the seven others on board.
Old satellite to burn up over Pacific in 'targeted' re-entry first
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After 24 years diligently studying Earth's magnetic field, a satellite will mostly burn up over the Pacific Ocean on Sunday during a "targeted" re-entry into the atmosphere, in a first for the European Space Agency as it seeks to reduce space debris.
Since launching in 2000, the Salsa satellite has helped shed light on the magnetosphere, the powerful magnetic shield that protects Earth from solar winds—and without which the planet would be uninhabitable.
According to the ESA, Salsa's return home will mark the first-ever "targeted" re-entry for a satellite, which means it will fall back to Earth at a specific time and place but will not be controlled as it re-enters the atmosphere.
Teams on the ground have already performed a series of maneuvers with the 550-kilogram (1,200-pound) satellite to ensure it burns up over a remote and uninhabited region of the South Pacific, off the coast of Chile.
Space travel comes with risk—SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission will push the envelope further than ever
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Space is an unnatural environment for humans. We can't survive unprotected in a pure vacuum for more than two minutes. Getting to space involves being strapped to a barely contained chemical explosion.
Since 1961, fewer than 700 people have been into space. Private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin hope to boost that number to many thousands, and SpaceX is already taking bookings for flights to Earth orbit.
I'm an astronomer who has written extensively about space travel, including a book about our future off-Earth. I think a lot about the risks and rewards of exploring space.
As the commercial space industry takes off, there will be accidents and people will die. Polaris Dawn, planned to launch early in September 2024, will be a high-risk mission using only civilian astronauts. So, now is a good time to assess the risks and rewards of leaving the Earth.
Space travel is dangerous
Most Americans vividly recall the disasters that led to the loss of 14 astronauts' lives. Two of the five space shuttles disintegrated, Challenger in 1986 soon after launch and Columbia in 2003 on reentry.
Boeing's beleaguered Starliner returns home without astronauts
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Boeing's beleaguered Starliner made its long-awaited return to Earth on Saturday without the astronauts who rode it up to the International Space Station, after NASA ruled the trip back too risky.
After years of delays, Starliner launched in June for what was meant to be a roughly weeklong test mission - a final shakedown before it could be certified to rotate crew to and from the orbital l Week in images: 02-06 September 2024
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Week in images: 02-06 September 2024
Discover our week through the lens
Researchers unveil unusual orbital behavior in exoplanet TOI-1408c
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A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has identified an exoplanet exhibiting peculiar orbital movement, challenging current understandings of planetary system dynamics. This newly discovered planet, TOI-1408c, located 455 light-years away, appears to be involved in complex interactions with its larger neighbor, TOI-1408b, a hot gas giant.
TOI-1408c, with a mass approximately eig Iron winds detected on ultra-hot exoplanet WASP-76 b
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An international group of astronomers, including researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) and the PlanetS National Centre of Competence in Research, has uncovered the presence of iron winds in the atmosphere of the ultra-hot Jupiter, WASP-76 b. This planet, with temperatures soaring beyond 2000 degrees Celsius, has been a focal point for scientists as they explore the extreme atmospheri How bright is the universe's glow? Study offers best measurement yet
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Scientists have traveled to the edges of the solar system, virtually, at least, to capture the most accurate measurements to date of the faint glow that permeates the universe-a phenomenon known as the cosmic optical background.
The new study, published Aug. 28 in The Astrophysical Journal, draws on observations from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which whizzed past Pluto in 2015 and is n BepiColombo completes fourth Mercury flyby
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The ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission successfully carried out its fourth of six gravity assist flybys at Mercury, capturing critical data and views of two distinct impact craters. These flybys utilize Mercury's gravity to steer the spacecraft for its final arrival in orbit around the planet in November 2026.
The closest approach occurred on 4 September 2024 at 23:48 CEST (21:48 UTC), with Bepi 
