One year ago, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted, causing widespread destruction to the Pacific Island Nation of Tonga, spewing volcanic material up to 58 km into the atmosphere. It brought a nearly 15 m tsunami that crashed ashore, destroying villages, and creating a sonic boom that rippled around the world – twice.

Satellites orbiting Earth scrambled to capture images and data of the aftermath of the disaster. Almost a year later, you can now listen to a sonification of the largest eruption of the 21st Century, created using wind data from ESA’s Aeolus mission.

Washington (AFP) Jan 12, 2023
The US government is examining 510 UFO reports, over triple the number in its 2021 file, and while many were caused by drones or balloons, hundreds remain unexplained, according to a report released Thursday. The 2022 report by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) said that 247 "unidentified anomalous phenomena" or UAP reports have been filed with it since June 2021, when it revealed

Arlington VA (SPX) Jan 13, 2023
The Department of Defense participated in the annual Combined Space Operations (CSpO) Initiative Principals Board, hosted by the New Zealand Defense Force and New Zealand Ministry of Defense, December 6-8. The annual event brought together counterparts from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with a focus on advancing collaboration an

Washington DC (UPI) Jan 15, 2023
SpaceX launched its fifth Falcon Heavy rocket mission, USSF-67, on Sunday from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The rocket made liftoff at 5:56 p.m. EST, with 5 million pounds of thrust. The payload included two military satellite systems: the Continuous Broadcast Augmenting SATCOM and Long Duration Propulsive ESPA. The first system is a geostationary relay satellite which

Taiyuan, China (XNA) Jan 15, 2023
China successfully launched a Long March-2D rocket on Sunday, sending 14 new satellites into space. The rocket blasted off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province at 11:14 am (Beijing Time). The satellites, including Qilu-2 and Qilu-3, have entered their planned orbits. This was the 462nd flight mission using the Long March rocket series.

Xichang, China (XNA) Jan 15, 2023
China launched two carrier rockets on Friday to place four satellites into orbit. A Long March 2C rocket blasted off at 2:10 am at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Southwest China's Sichuan province and soon deployed the APSTAR 6E communications satellite into its preset geosynchronous orbit, according to a news release from China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's dominan

Jiuquan, China (XNA) Jan 15, 2023
China on Friday launched a Long March 2D carrier rocket, placing three satellites in space. The rocket blasted off at 3 pm (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China and sent the satellites Yaogan 37, Shiyan 22A, and Shiyan 22B into preset orbit. The three satellites will mainly be used for in-orbit verification of new technologies such as space enviro

Sapporo, Japan (SPX) Jan 15, 2023
Understanding how dust grains form in interstellar gas could offer significant insights to astronomers and help materials scientists develop useful nanoparticles. Laboratory and rocket-borne studies have revealed new insights into how interstellar dust grains came into being before our solar system formed. The results, published by Hokkaido University researchers and colleagues in Japan an

Washington DC (SPX) Jan 15, 2023
Humans have always been drawn to explore, discover, and learn as much as we can about the world-and worlds-around us. This isn't always easy, but it's in our nature. For the benefit of all humanity, NASA and its partners will land the first woman and first person of color on the surface of the Moon with Artemis. Following two Artemis test missions, Artemis III, currently planned for 2025,

Beijing (XNA) Jan 15, 2023
The China Manned Space Agency on Friday unveiled a detailed list of crop seeds and microbial strains on board the Shenzhou XIV and Shenzhou XV manned spaceships. More than 1,300 pieces of crop seeds and microbial strains from 112 contributors, including Chinese universities, research institutes, and grass-root breeding stations, were brought into space for breeding experiments. China