Copernical Team
NASA's PUNCH mission engages with blind and low-vision communities
For thousands of years, humans have observed the Sun and stars, relying primarily on visual tools and recordings. However, recent developments are expanding this experience beyond just the visual realm, enabling a multisensory exploration of the cosmos.
Students from the Alliance for Technology, Learning and Society (ATLAS) Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder have partnered wit Hubble Investigates a Dwarf Galaxy Beyond the Local Group
The NASA Hubble Space Telescope has captured a detailed image of UGC 4879, a dwarf irregular galaxy also known as VV124. The high-resolution capabilities of Hubble allow astronomers to observe individual stars within the galaxy, even in its most densely populated regions. This detailed view aids in accurately determining the galaxy's distance and analyzing the composition and age of its stars. Venus' Mesosphere Shows Sharp Rise in Deuterium to Hydrogen Ratio
Researchers using the Solar Occultation in the Infrared (SOIR) instrument aboard the European Space Agency's Venus Express probe have observed a significant and unexpected increase in the deuterium to hydrogen ratio (HDO/H2O) in Venus' mesosphere. This discovery adds a new layer of complexity to our understanding of Venus' water history, raising questions about whether the planet may have once h A Baby Planet Reveals Its Hiding Place
A new analysis of archival data reveals shocked gas in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star TW Hydrae. This discovery hints at the presence of a 4-Earth-mass planet and gives researchers a rare opportunity to study the earliest stages of planet formation.
Baby planets form in disks surrounding young stars, but the details of this process remain unclear - especially because th NASA Awards $1.25 Million to Teams Innovating Space Food Production
NASA has granted $1.25 million to three U.S. teams during the final round of the Deep Space Food Challenge, recognizing their pioneering technologies designed to produce safe, nutritious, and flavorful food for long-term space missions.
These innovative food production systems aim to support the sustainability of food supplies for future space exploration, including NASA's Artemis missions Engineers conduct first in-orbit test of swarm satellite autonomous navigation
In the future, teams of smaller satellites, referred to by scientists as a "swarm," may collaborate to offer enhanced accuracy, agility, and autonomy, replacing large, costly individual space satellites. Researchers at Stanford University's Space Rendezvous Lab are at the forefront of this development, having recently completed the inaugural in-orbit test of a prototype system that navigates a s Planets Hold More Water in Their Interiors Than Previously Believed
For years, scientists have modeled planets based on Earth's structure-an iron core, a silicate mantle, and surface water. This model has often been applied to exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system. However, "it is only in recent years that we have begun to realize that planets are more complex than we had thought," explains Caroline Dorn, Professor for Exoplanets at ETH Zurich.
E SpaceX rolls out new booster for Cape Canaveral launch
SpaceX launches lately have been pushing the record envelope for booster reflight, but a Starlink launch Tuesday morning rolled out a brand new first stage.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 of the company's internet satellites lifted off at 9:20 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40.
Shiny and white, the booster was missing the telltale signs of having been flown before, as boosters are normally covered with black carbon scoring. This was the first launch of the booster, which is targeted to be used to support the Crew-9 human spaceflight next month for launch No. 2.
It made a recovery landing downrange in the Atlantic on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas.
The company has four boosters that have completed at least 20 launches and landings, and is in the midst of a certification process to get them up to 40 each.
This was the 59th launch from the Space Coast from all providers in 2024. SpaceX has been responsible for all but four, with 39 coming from SpaceX from Canaveral and the other 16 from SpaceX from neighboring KSC.
SpaceX sends 22 Starlink satellites into orbit using new first stage booster
SpaceX debuted a new Falcon 9 first stage booster as it launched a batch of Starlink satellites on Tuesday morning.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex in Florida at about 9:20 a.m. EDT, near the end of the launch window, as weather conditions improved. The rocket was carrying 22 Starlink satellites.
Lifting off with a new first stage, the Falcon NASA CubeSats launch as commercial rideshares
A pair of CubeSats from NASA's Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator, or PTD, series lifted off on SpaceX's Transporter-11 rideshare mission at 11:56 a.m. PDT Friday, August 16, from Vandenburg Space Force Base in California.
The two small satellites, PTD-4 and PTD-R, will help advance NASA's efforts to validate novel technologies and increase small spacecraft capabilities in order to shape the future of space exploration and technology.
PTD-4 will demonstrate a high-power, low-volume deployable solar array with an integrated antenna, while PTD-R will focus on testing simultaneous ultraviolet and short-wave infrared optical sensing from space for the first time via two 85-mm aperture monolithic telescopes mounted side-by-side.