Copernical Team
Sunday, 03 January 2021 15:30
Six space missions to look forward to in 2021
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Space exploration achieved several notable firsts in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including commercial human spaceflight and returning samples of an asteroid to Earth.
The coming year is shaping up to be just as interesting. Here are some of the missions to keep an eye out for.
Artemis 1
Artemis 1 is the first flight of the Nasa-led, international Artemis program to return astronauts to the Moon by 2024. This will consist of an uncrewed Orion spacecraft which will be sent on a three-week flight around the Moon. IT will reach a maximum distance from Earth of 450,000km—the farthest into space that any spacecraft that can transport humans will have ever flown.
Artemis 1 will be launched into Earth orbit on the first Nasa Space Launch System, which will be the most powerful rocket in operation. From Earth orbit, the Orion will be propelled onto a different path towards the Moon by the rocket's interim cryogenic propulsion stage.
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Friday, 01 January 2021 09:28
Astronauts eat first radishes grown in space as 2020 ends
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Washington DC (UPI) Jan 02, 2021
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated the New Year in part by eating radishes, the first vegetables grown in space besides leafy greens.
The space radishes were grown from seeds over the past 27 days in the microgravity of orbit as part of NASA's program to develop space agriculture.
The astronauts appreciated having fresh produce on the orbiting space labo
Astronauts aboard the International Space Station celebrated the New Year in part by eating radishes, the first vegetables grown in space besides leafy greens.
The space radishes were grown from seeds over the past 27 days in the microgravity of orbit as part of NASA's program to develop space agriculture.
The astronauts appreciated having fresh produce on the orbiting space labo
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
Experiment takes 'snapshots' of light, stops light, uses light to change properties of matter
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Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Dec 30, 2020
Light travels at a speed of about 300,000,000 meters per second as light particles, photons, or equivalently as electromagnetic field waves. Experiments led by Hrvoje Petek, an R.K. Mellon professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy examined ideas surrounding the origins of light, taking snapshots of light, stopping light and using it to change properties of matter.
Petek worked w
Light travels at a speed of about 300,000,000 meters per second as light particles, photons, or equivalently as electromagnetic field waves. Experiments led by Hrvoje Petek, an R.K. Mellon professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy examined ideas surrounding the origins of light, taking snapshots of light, stopping light and using it to change properties of matter.
Petek worked w
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
Primordial black holes and the search for dark matter from the multiverse
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Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 30, 2020
The Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) is home to many interdisciplinary projects which benefit from the synergy of a wide range of expertise available at the institute. One such project is the study of black holes that could have formed in the early universe, before stars and galaxies were born.
Such primordial black holes (PBHs) could account for
The Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU) is home to many interdisciplinary projects which benefit from the synergy of a wide range of expertise available at the institute. One such project is the study of black holes that could have formed in the early universe, before stars and galaxies were born.
Such primordial black holes (PBHs) could account for
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
Silence please! Why radio astronomers need things quiet in the middle of a WA desert
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Canberra, Australia (The Conversation) Dec 23, 2020
A remote outback station about 800km north of Perth in Western Australia is one of the best places in the world to operate telescopes that listen for radio signals from space.
It's the site of CSIRO's Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) and is home to three telescopes (and soon a fourth when half of the Square Kilometre Array, the world's largest radio telescope, is built there).
A remote outback station about 800km north of Perth in Western Australia is one of the best places in the world to operate telescopes that listen for radio signals from space.
It's the site of CSIRO's Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory (MRO) and is home to three telescopes (and soon a fourth when half of the Square Kilometre Array, the world's largest radio telescope, is built there).
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
Sustained teleportation of quantum information achieved in test
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Washington DC (UPI) Jan 01, 2021
For the first time, scientists successfully demonstrated sustained, long-distance teleportation of quantum information.
The breakthrough, described this month in the journal PRX Quantum, suggests a viable quantum internet could soon be a reality.
"Quantum teleportation is essential for many quantum information technologies, including long-distance quantum networks," according to
For the first time, scientists successfully demonstrated sustained, long-distance teleportation of quantum information.
The breakthrough, described this month in the journal PRX Quantum, suggests a viable quantum internet could soon be a reality.
"Quantum teleportation is essential for many quantum information technologies, including long-distance quantum networks," according to
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
Novel public-private partnership facilitates development of fusion energy
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Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Jan 01, 2021
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is collaborating with private industry on cutting-edge fusion research aimed at achieving commercial fusion energy. This work, enabled through a public-private DOE grant program, supports efforts to develop high-performance fusion grade plasmas.
In one such project PPPL is working in coordination with MIT's Pl
The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is collaborating with private industry on cutting-edge fusion research aimed at achieving commercial fusion energy. This work, enabled through a public-private DOE grant program, supports efforts to develop high-performance fusion grade plasmas.
In one such project PPPL is working in coordination with MIT's Pl
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 10:12
GomSpace wins significant product order in North America
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Aalborg, Denmark (SPX) Jan 01, 2021
GomSpace has seen out 2020 with the signing of a contract with an existing customer within the North American market in the geo-intelligence industry for the delivery of a software defined radio modules and antenna systems. The contract is worth 5,1 MSEK and will be fully delivered in 2021.
GomSpace has over the years built a strong product portfolio and in-orbit track record with its soft
GomSpace has seen out 2020 with the signing of a contract with an existing customer within the North American market in the geo-intelligence industry for the delivery of a software defined radio modules and antenna systems. The contract is worth 5,1 MSEK and will be fully delivered in 2021.
GomSpace has over the years built a strong product portfolio and in-orbit track record with its soft
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 05:08
China's space achievements out of this world
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Beijing (XNA) Jan 01, 2021
China's space industry has produced a remarkable scorecard this year: characterized by the nation's first independent Mars mission, the completion of a global navigation satellite network and a landmark adventure that retrieved rocks and soil from the moon.
The most significant event in China's space field, and also one of the most notable space activities globally, this year-the Chang'e 5
China's space industry has produced a remarkable scorecard this year: characterized by the nation's first independent Mars mission, the completion of a global navigation satellite network and a landmark adventure that retrieved rocks and soil from the moon.
The most significant event in China's space field, and also one of the most notable space activities globally, this year-the Chang'e 5
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Thursday, 31 December 2020 05:08
NASA studies fruit flies to understand astronaut sleep cycles
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Orlando FL (UPI) Jan 01, 2021
Tiny fruit flies are helping NASA study how brain activity and sleep patterns change when organisms live in the microgravity of space.
An experiment on the International Space Station will build on the United States' legacy of using fruit flies to understand how life endures in space.
The experiment, known as Genes in Space-7, uses genetic matter derived from fruit fly brains to unde
Tiny fruit flies are helping NASA study how brain activity and sleep patterns change when organisms live in the microgravity of space.
An experiment on the International Space Station will build on the United States' legacy of using fruit flies to understand how life endures in space.
The experiment, known as Genes in Space-7, uses genetic matter derived from fruit fly brains to unde
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