Copernical Team
SpaceFund Venture Capital Announces First Close of Second Fund
SpaceFund announced it has reached and surpassed the planned first close of $5 million for its $20 million BlastOff Fund today. The Houston and Austin-based company says commitments to the fund have reached $9 million as of Monday morning. "We are thrilled to see how many investors are placing their trust in our team," said SpaceFund founder Rick Tumlinson. "We spent a lot of time slowly a
NASA's first weather report from Jezero Crater on Mars
The weather often plays a role in our daily plans. You might put on a light jacket when the forecast calls for a cool breeze or delay your travel plans because of an impending storm. NASA engineers use weather data to inform their plans, too, which is why they're analyzing the conditions millions of miles away on Mars.
The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA) system aboard NASA's Perseverance rover first powered on for 30 minutes Feb. 19, approximately one day after the rover touched down on the Red Planet.
Exploring comet thermal history: Burnt-out comet covered with talcum powder
The world's first ground-based observations of the bare nucleus of a comet nearing the end of its active life revealed that the nucleus has a diameter of 800 meters and is covered with large grains of phyllosilicate; on Earth large grains of phyllosilicate are commonly available as talcum powder.
Lockheed Martin expands quick, affordable launch capability with ABL Block Buy
ABL Space Systems will provide Lockheed Martin with routine launches of RS1 rockets to accelerate payload technologies into orbit. Lockheed Martin will purchase up to 26 vehicles through 2025 and then up to 32 additional launches through 2029. Launches could use a network of U.S. and international launch sites, including Vandenberg Space Force Base, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and in the
A new phase in Bose-Einstein condensate of light particles observed
A single "super photon" made up of many thousands of individual light particles: About ten years ago, researchers at the University of Bonn produced such an extreme aggregate state for the first time and presented a completely new light source. The state is called optical Bose-Einstein condensate and has captivated many physicists ever since, because this exotic world of light particles is home
Even without a brain, Penn Engineering's metal-eating robots can search for food
When it comes to powering mobile robots, batteries present a problematic paradox: the more energy they contain, the more they weigh, and thus the more energy the robot needs to move. Energy harvesters, like solar panels, might work for some applications, but they don't deliver power quickly or consistently enough for sustained travel. James Pikul, assistant professor in Penn Engineering's
Rise of the 'robo-plants', as scientists fuse nature with tech
Remote-controlled Venus flytrap "robo-plants" and crops that tell farmers when they are hit by disease could become reality after scientists developed a high-tech system for communicating with vegetation. Researchers in Singapore linked up plants to electrodes capable of monitoring the weak electrical pulses naturally emitted by the greenery. The scientists used the technology to trigger
Thermal power nanogenerator created without solid moving parts
As environmental and energy crises become increasingly more common occurrences around the world, a thermal energy harvester capable of converting abundant thermal energy - such as solar radiation, waste heat, combustion of biomass, or geothermal energy - into mechanical energy appears to be a promising energy strategy to mitigate many crises. The majority of thermal power generation techno
A sun reflector for earth?
Nine of the hottest years in human history have occurred in the last decade. Without a major shift in this climate trajectory, the future of life on Earth is in question. Should humans, whose fossil-fueled society is driving climate change, use technology to put the brakes on global warming? Every month since September 2019 the Climate Intervention Biology Working Group, a team of internat
An Australian 'space command' could be a force for good - or a cause for war
As the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) celebrated 100 years with a spectacular and well-attended flyover in Canberra yesterday, many eyes were lifted to the skies. But RAAF's ambitions go even higher, as its motto "through adversity, to the stars" hints. The Chief of Air Force, Air Marshall Mel Hupfeld, announced the intention to create a new "space command". Having a dedicated space com