London, UK (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
In October 2021, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) commissioned the ClearSpace UK-based subsidiary to perform a feasibility study for a mission to remove at least two UK-registered derelict objects from low Earth orbit (LEO). In this study, the team explored different mission scenarios, defined the mission and system requirements and selected the technologies necessary for the implementation of the mis

Fayetteville AK (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
Does the existence of life on Earth tell us anything about the probability of abiogenesis - the origin of life from inorganic substances - arising elsewhere? That's a question that has confounded scientists, and anyone else inclined to ponder it, for some time. A widely accepted argument from Australian-born astrophysicist Brandon Carter argues that the selection effect of our own existenc

Washington DC (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
After 10 months flying in space, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - the world's first planetary defense technology demonstration - successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency's first attempt to move an asteroid in space. Mission control at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, announced the successful impact at 7:14 p.m. E

Tucson AZ (SPX) Sep 27, 2022
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully hit its target Sept. 26, and now scientists are analyzing to what degree the kinetic impact changed the trajectory of Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos. The mission is a test to see if hitting a body headed for Earth with a small spacecraft could redirect the threat away from us. Five Planetary Science In

ESA continues to break down barriers and create more opportunities for small companies to get involved in space. Start-up companies and small enterprises offer agile and bespoke development adding value to Europe’s future space economy.

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These spectacular images feature the spiral galaxy IC 5332, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (left) and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (right). The images display the powerful capabilities that both world-leading space telescopes provide, especially when combining their data.

The Webb image shows the spiral galaxy in unprecedented detail thanks to observations from its Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). IC 5332 lies over 29 million light-years from Earth, and has a diameter of roughly 66 000 light-years, making it a little larger than the Milky Way. It is notable for being almost perfectly face-on with respect

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The night of 26 September 2022 will make space history - as the moment when NASA's DART spacecraft impacts the Dimorphos asteroid in an attempt to divert its course - humankind's first planetary defence test. Next, in 2024, ESA launches its Hera spacecraft to investigate the post-impact asteroid. In fact, Hera is not one spacecraft but three: it carries with it ESA's first deep-space CubeSats to make extra observations of its target.

With the Hera mission, ESA is assuming even greater responsibility for protecting our planet and ensuring that Europe plays a leading role in the common effort

After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration – successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space.

Laurel, United States (AFP) Sept 26, 2022
NASA's DART spaceship on Monday struck the asteroid Dimorphos in a historic test of humanity's ability to prevent a cosmic object from devastating life on Earth. Impact occurred at 7:14 pm Eastern Time (2314 GMT), 10 months after the Double Asteroid Redirection Test probe blasted off from California to carry out its first-of-a-kind experiment. "We're embarking on a new era, an era in whi

ESA’s Hera mission team congratulates their counterparts in NASA’s DART mission team for their historic impact with the Dimorphos asteroid. Moving at 6.1 km per second, the vending-machine-sized Double Asteroid Redirect Test spacecraft struck the 160-m diameter asteroid at 01:15 CEST (00:15 BST) in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in humankind’s first test of the ‘kinetic impactor’ method of planetary defence.