Pasadena CA (JPL) May 15, 2024
An unusual boost in plant productivity can foreshadow severe soil water loss. NASA satellites are following the clues. Flaring up rapidly and with little warning, the drought that gripped much of the United States in the summer of 2012 was one of the most extensive the country had seen since the yearslong Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The "flash drought," stoked by extreme heat that baked the mo

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2024
The Earth's atmosphere is composed of layers of gas that protect the planet. Rei Ueyama, an atmospheric scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, discusses its functions and importance. The Atmospheric Science Branch focuses on atmospheric behavior. Ueyama's work involves processes in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, supporting NASA's airborne missions. "The Earth's atmosphere allows

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Over the weekend of 10–12 May 2024, Earth was struck by the largest solar storm in more than a decade. While many of us enjoyed colourful auroras lighting up Earth’s protective atmosphere, spacecraft had to endure being buffeted by incredibly strong solar winds and electromagnetic radiation.  

Positioned between the Sun and Earth, the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) caught the entire solar outburst on camera. The Sun can be seen spewing out clouds of particles, with an extremely large burst sent to Earth on 11 May. The bright spots on the left and right are Jupiter

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2024
Sidus Space (NASDAQ: SIDU) has begun activating the payload on LizzieSat-1 (LS-1) following the completion of its commissioning phase. LS-1 was launched and deployed via SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg SLC-4 on March 4, 2024. The Sidus team completed the Launch and Early Operations Phase (LEOP) on March 14 after establishing communications with the spacecraft and receiving NORAD ID 59132 f

Darmstadt, Germany (SPX) May 15, 2024
"ESA's new operations centre will be efficient, sustainable, adaptable and accessible," says Rolf Densing, ESA's Director of Operations and head of the ESOC site. "The new building will ensure Europe's continued ability to implement its most ambitious space missions and will serve as an inspirational window into the world of spacecraft operations for experts, the public and decision-makers."

Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 15, 2024
In 2018, very large organic molecules were discovered in ice particles on Saturn's moon Enceladus. Whether they indicate the existence of life or were created in some other way is still unclear. A recent study could help answer this question. Conditions that support or maintain life in extraterrestrial oceans might leave molecular traces in grains of ice. The research was conducted at the FU Ber

Boston MA (SPX) May 15, 2024
MIT researchers, including several undergraduate students, have discovered three of the oldest stars in the universe, and they happen to live in our own galactic neighborhood. The team spotted the stars in the Milky Way's "halo" - the cloud of stars that envelopes the entire main galactic disk. Based on the team's analysis, the three stars formed between 12 and 13 billion years ago, the ti

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2024
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is analyzing an unusual event in Earth's magnetotail, the part of the magnetosphere trailing away from the Sun. Using data from NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, SwRI scientists are studying substorms, disturbances in the magnetotail that release energy and can cause aurorae. Since their launch in 2015, the MMS spacecraft have been examinin

Boston MA (SPX) May 15, 2024
Astronomers at MIT, the University of Liege in Belgium, and elsewhere have discovered a huge, fluffy oddball of a planet orbiting a distant star in our Milky Way galaxy. The discovery, reported in the journal Nature Astronomy, is a promising key to the mystery of how such giant, super-light planets form. The new planet, named WASP-193b, appears to dwarf Jupiter in size, yet it is a fractio

Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 15, 2024
Researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa have made a key discovery about the formation of essential molecules in space, which could provide insights into how life began on Earth. A team from the Department of Chemistry has identified how nitrogen-carrying aromatic molecules can form in space. These molecules are crucial in many chemical and biological processes and are found in co