Copernical Team
Government faces risk of inaction in first space hostage situation, warns think tank
The Center for the Study of Space Crime, Piracy, and Governance (CSCPG), a nonpartisan research group, has released a report titled 'What Will Happen in the First Space Hostage Crisis?' that explores the United States government's likely response to a space-based hostage incident. The report raises concerns about potential government paralysis due to current military and intelligence community (
Earth from Space: Northern Territory, Australia
The journey of Juice – episode 1
ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), is on an epic eight-year journey to Jupiter. This first episode of ‘The journey of Juice’ tells the story of Juice’s first months in space, from its launch on 14 April 2023 to its lunar-Earth gravity assist (LEGA for short) in August 2024. This flyby was not only the first double gravity assist manoeuvre of its kind, it was also a perfect opportunity to test out the spacecraft’s cameras and science instruments.
In this episode, Juice’s Mission Manager Nicolas Altobelli explains how the spacecraft will become the first ever human-made
Rocket Lab delivers 2nd Pioneer Spacecraft to Varda for In-Space manufacturing
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has successfully completed the integration and testing of its second Pioneer spacecraft for Varda Space Industries, Inc. ("Varda"). Varda is pioneering in-space pharmaceutical processing and hypersonic re-entry logistics. This follows the first successful mission of Rocket Lab's Pioneer spacecraft for Varda in June 2023. During that mission, Varda crysta
NASA holds Stakeholder Workshops to chart LEO microgravity strategies
NASA recently hosted two international workshops in London and Washington, D.C. on September 6 and 13, gathering input from global stakeholders. The sessions focused on refining NASA's low Earth orbit (LEO) microgravity strategy, seeking feedback from international partners, U.S. industry, and academia. In late August, NASA introduced a draft with 42 objectives, covering six key areas: sci
Method for predicting sunspot numbers and magnetic synoptic maps developed
A new study led by Prof. Jiansen He's team at Peking University, in collaboration with researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduces a novel approach for predicting solar activities. The team combines spatiotemporal decomposition methods with machine learning to forecast sunspot numbers and solar magnetic synoptic maps for Solar Cycle 25. The global distribution of the solar
ESO telescope reveals the most detailed infrared map of the Milky Way
Astronomers have unveiled a massive infrared map of the Milky Way, the most detailed ever created, featuring over 1.5 billion celestial objects. The map was produced using the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) VISTA telescope, which has been observing the central regions of the galaxy for more than 13 years. The project, which generated 500 terabytes of data, is now the largest observational
NASA studies solar radiation with BioSentinel as auroras dance across Earth
In May 2024, Earth experienced a spectacular geomagnetic storm that produced brilliant auroras visible across the planet. These light displays result from coronal mass ejections, which are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun, interacting with Earth's magnetic field. This natural shield protects the planet from solar radiation during such storms. As NASA prepares for crewe
This rocky planet around a white dwarf resembles Earth - 8 billion years from now
The discovery of an Earth-like planet 4,000 light years away in the Milky Way galaxy provides a preview of one possible fate for our planet billions of years in the future, when the sun has turned into a white dwarf, and a blasted and frozen Earth has migrated beyond the orbit of Mars. This distant planetary system, identified by University of California, Berkeley, astronomers after observ
Hubble finds that a black hole beam promotes stellar eruptions
In a surprise finding, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have discovered that the blowtorch-like jet from a supermassive black hole at the core of a huge galaxy seems to cause stars to erupt along its trajectory. The stars, called novae, are not caught inside the jet, but apparently in a dangerous neighborhood nearby. The finding is confounding researchers searching for an ex