Washington DC (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
In two separate studies, researchers identify nucleosynthetic isotope anomalies in the volatile elements potassium (K) and zinc (Zn) in meteorites, which constrain the origins of the material that formed Earth. According to both studies, roughly 90% of Earth's mass was contributed by non-carbonaceous (NC) material from the inner Solar System and about 10% by carbonaceous chondrite (CC) material

Redstone Arsenal AL (SPX) Jan 25, 2023
The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command focused on integrating Army space capabilities in many of its 2022 operations. In February, the United States and Europe intervened to help Ukraine with air defense systems, artillery systems and munitions, counter-unmanned aerial systems, radars, and more following Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. USAS

Austin TX (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
GIT Satellite Communications (GIT) announced has become an Iridium Certus service provider and will support U.S. government customers with hardware platforms, airtime, and data services. A long-time Iridium government service provider for narrowband voice and data services, GIT has now expanded its offering with Iridium Certus global satellite L-band broadband and midband connectivity. In

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
Scientists have discovered the first gamma-ray eclipses from a special type of binary star system using data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. These so-called spider systems each contain a pulsar - the superdense, rapidly rotating remains of a star that exploded in a supernova - that slowly erodes its companion. An international team of scientists scoured over a decade of Fermi

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
A giant diffuse tail of stars has been discovered emanating from a large, faint dwarf galaxy. The presence of a tail indicates that the galaxy has experienced recent interaction with another galaxy. This is an important clue for understanding how so called "ultra-diffuse" galaxies are formed. Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope found a tail of star

Rochester NY (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
Scientists on the hunt for a previously undetected type of gravitational waves believe they are getting close and have refined techniques to use in upcoming observational runs. Researchers from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration outlined the most sensitive search to date for continuous gravitational waves from a promising source in a paper recently published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
selected nine space technologies for flight testing to advance innovations that address mission needs for both the agency and the commercial space industry. Selected as part of the NASA's 2022 TechFlights solicitation, these technologies will fly aboard commercial suborbital vehicles such as high-altitude balloons, aircraft following parabolic flight profiles, suborbital rocket-powered sys

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
What do the Perseverance rover and Superman have in common? They both can "see" through solid rock! Superman has X-ray vision whereas Perseverance has RIMFAX, a ground penetrating radar or GPR, located on the lower rear of the rover. RIMFAX uses radio waves to image the subsurface rock layers as the rover drives along. It is the first instrument of its kind sent by NASA to Mars and can "se

Huntsville AL (SPX) Jan 27, 2023
NASA continues to evaluate data and learn more about the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's debut performance during the agency's Nov. 16 Artemis I launch. Following an initial data assessment and review that determined the SLS rocket met or exceeded all performance expectations, SLS engineers are now taking a closer look at the Moon rocket's performance to prepare for the first crewed Artemis m