A structural model of the upcoming Copernicus Radar Observing System for Europe at L-band satellite, or ROSE-L for short, has recently been put through a series of demanding tests – including intense vibration – to demonstrate that the satellite will be able to withstand the stresses of launch and operations in orbit.

Once in orbit, ROSE-L’s data will support a wide range of applications, from soil moisture and crop monitoring to forest mapping, maritime surveillance, and the detection of natural and human-induced hazards.

London, UK (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
Spire Global has been selected by GIST Research to supply satellite-derived Soil Moisture Insights for a project that links climate conditions to pastoralist movements and conflict risks in Ethiopias Somali Region. The work feeds into the International Organization for Migrations Transhumance Tracking Tool, which monitors herder routes and is used to anticipate tensions around scarce resources.

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 08, 2025
A team at TU Wien has developed a new way to connect quantum theory with general relativity by quantizing the spacetime metric and analyzing how this affects the paths that particles follow under gravity. Their work focuses on geodesics, the curves that represent the shortest connection between two points in curved spacetime and that underlie most applications of Einstein's theory, such as the o

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2025
Astrobiologist Ligia Coelho and collaborators have shown that a standard silicone menstrual cup can tolerate spaceflight conditions, opening another option for managing menstruation on long-duration missions. Coelho, a 51 Pegasi b Postdoctoral Fellow in astronomy in Cornell Universitys College of Arts and Sciences and a fellow at the Carl Sagan Institute, leads AstroCup, a volunteer group

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2025
For golf enthusiasts, a memorable round isn't just about the score - it's about the setting, the experience, and the atmosphere. The world's best golf resorts combine championship courses with luxury accommodations, breathtaking landscapes, and first-class amenities. From the windswept coastlines of Scotland to the tropical beauty of Hawaii, these top-tier destinations offer more than just a game they deliver an unforgettable escape and some even let players enjoy

Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
TRAPPIST-1, a small star about 40 light-years from Earth in the constellation Aquarius, produces flares roughly six times per day, and this activity complicates efforts to evaluate whether its planets could be habitable. A team led by the University of Colorado Boulder used NASAs James Webb Space Telescope together with detailed computer simulations to study how these flares arise and how

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
Kyoto University and Meiji University researchers have used the XRISM X-ray satellite to quantify chlorine and potassium in the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, addressing a longstanding gap in how the universe produced these life-related elements. The work examines why current stellar models yield only about one-tenth of the chlorine and potassium inferred from observations across the cosmos.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
Two recent papers based on James Webb Space Telescope observations describe initial attempts to probe the atmosphere of TRAPPIST-1e, an Earth-sized planet orbiting in the habitable zone of the nearby red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. In a follow-up analysis, University of Arizona planetary scientist Sukrit Ranjan argues that the current evidence is not yet sufficient to confirm that TRAPPIST-1e has an

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 04, 2025
Astrobotic has secured a NASA Small Business Innovation Research Phase I award to develop Clavius-S, a visible-band imaging sensor designed to detect and track spacecraft in low lunar orbit from the Moon's surface in real time. The modular payload can fly on a range of lunar lander missions and will be integrated into future LunaGrid surface power nodes, creating a networked space domain awarene

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2025
Acoustic signals have been important markers during NASA's Mars missions. Measurements of sound can provide information both about Mars itself - such as turbulence in its atmosphere, changes in its temperature, and its surface conditions - and about the movement of the Mars rovers. Using these sound measurements to the best extent possible requires an accurate understanding of how sound pr