Copernical Team
Time crystals "impossible" but obey quantum physics
Scientists have created the first "time-crystal" two-body system in an experiment that seems to bend the laws of physics. It comes after the same team recently witnessed the first interaction of the new phase of matter. Time crystals were long believed to be impossible because they are made from atoms in never-ending motion. The discovery, published in Nature Communications, shows th
Putting the theory of special relativity into practice, by counting galaxies
Scientists who study the cosmos have a favorite philosophy known as the "mediocrity principle," which, in essence, suggests that there's really nothing special about Earth, the Sun or the Milky Way galaxy compared to the rest of the universe. Now, new research from CU Boulder adds yet another piece of evidence to the case for mediocrity: Galaxies are, on average, at rest with respect to th
The Modes of Webb's NIRISS
The Webb team continues to commission the 17 science instrument modes. This week we asked Nathalie Ouellette of the Universite de Montreal to give more detail about the modes of the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS), Canada's scientific instrument on Webb. "NIRISS will be able to capture both images and spectra from different types of celestial objects in near-infrare
Another 6 SFL built microsatellites now in orbit
Six microsatellites developed by Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) were successfully launched by the SpaceX Transporter-5 rideshare mission on May 25. The three GHGSat greenhouse gas monitoring and three HawkEye 360 radio frequency (RF) geolocation microsatellites bring to 36 the total number of SFL-built satellites placed into orbit since 2020. "SFL congratulates GHGSat and HawkEye 360 for th
Aegis Aerospace and Intuitive Machines team up for lunar science services
Officials of space and defense technology company Aegis Aerospace Inc. and pioneering space company Intuitive Machines yesterday formally announced they have entered into the first Texas-based business-to-business contract to deliver a commercial science payload to the Moon. This unique agreement extends Aegis Aerospace's Space Testing as a Service (STaaS) business model from Earth orbit t
China discloses tasks of Shenzhou-14 crewed space mission
The upcoming Shenzhou-14 crewed space mission will complete the construction of the Tiangong space station, with a basic three-module structure consisting of the core module Tianhe and the lab modules Wentian and Mengtian, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Saturday. The mission will build the space station into a national space laboratory, said Lin Xiqiang, deputy direct
Subscale booster motor for future Artemis missions fires up at Marshall
Engineers successfully fired a 2-foot-diameter, subscale solid rocket booster June 1, 2022, at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The test, conducted in Marshall's East Test Area, produced 92,000 pounds of thrust and was done as part of the booster obsolescence and life extension (BOLE) program, providing an upgraded booster design for the evolved configuration of
Mars is all shook up
Recently, 47 new 'marsquakes' (that is, quakes on Mars) have been detected by Professor Hrvoje Tkalcic from the Australian National University and Professor Weijia Sun from the Chinese Academy of Science. The discovery suggests Mars to be more seismically active than previously thought. The findings also provide clues about the composition of Mars and how other rocky planets in our Solar S
Three Chinese astronauts arrive at space station
Three Chinese astronauts arrived at the country's space station on Sunday, the Chinese space agency for human flights said, the latest stride in Beijing's aim to become a major space power.
The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket at 0244 GMT from the Jiuquan launch center in northwestern China's Gobi desert, reported state broadcaster CCTV.
The team is tasked with "completing in-orbit assembly and construction of the space station", as well as "commissioning of equipment" and conducting scientific experiments, state-run CGTN said Saturday.
The astronauts entered the central module of the Tiangong station at around 1250 GMT, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said. The journey took about "seven hours of flight", CCTV reported.
Tiangong, which means "heavenly palace", is expected to become fully operational by the end of the year.
Three Chinese astronauts dock at space station
Three Chinese astronauts docked at the country's space station on Sunday, the state broadcaster said, marking a new milestone in Beijing's drive to become a major space power. The trio blasted off in a Long March-2F rocket at 0244 GMT from the Jiuquan launch centre in northwestern China's Gobi desert, said broadcaster CCTV. The team is tasked with "completing in-orbit assembly and const