Copernical Team
Q&A with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
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Watch the replay of our live Q&A media session (In English and Italian) with ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
Samantha is scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station from NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA, no earlier than 21 April 2022. She will fly to the Station as a Mission Specialist aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft alongside NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins.
Upon arrival at the orbital outpost her ESA mission ‘Minerva’ will officially begin. This is the second space mission for Samantha and will see her support over 35 European and
NASA scientific balloon will take student payloads to stratosphere
NASA has selected nine student teams to launch scientific payloads on a NASA heavy-lift balloon for the 16th High-Altitude Student Platform (HASP) mission flying during the fall 2022 campaign in Fort Sumner, New Mexico.
HASP, which is led by the Louisiana State University's Department for Physics, is a joint project between NASA's Wallops Flight Facility Balloon Program Office in Virginia, NASA's Science Mission Directorate, the Louisiana Space Grant Consortium in Baton Rouge, and NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas.
"HASP provides higher education students with an authentic NASA experience to build a science payload, launch it, and analyze the data," said Joyce L. Winterton, Wallops senior advisor for education and leadership development. "It encourages students to pursue STEM careers and become part of the future NASA workforce.
Axiom launch: Why commercial space travel could be another giant leap for air pollution
The Axiom-1 mission to send four private astronauts to the International Space Station is the first of many missions planned by NASA to expand the ISS for commercial use as part of what's being called the low-Earth orbit economy.
The commander of the Axiom-1 mission has emphatically stated that this is not an example of space tourism, as the crew have undergone training and the mission includes plans to conduct biomedical research.
Crew members—all men aged 52 to 71—reportedly paid a whopping US$55 million (£42.3 million) per ticket, an amount that would no doubt fund a formidable biomedical research program here on Earth. But beyond the ludicrous ticket price, I'm concerned about the potential environmental impacts of such space jaunts.
Webb’s instruments: meet MIRI
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The James Webb Space Telescope will explore the infrared Universe.
It will use four cutting-edge instruments, including the Mid-InfraRed Instrument. MIRI is one of Europe's contributions to the James Webb Space Telescope.
MIRI supports all of Webb’s science goals. It will image the Universe, study planets around our own and other stars and investigate stars and galaxies across cosmic history.
The instsrument will be kept extra cold by its very own ‘cryocooler’. This stops heat from Webb disrupting MIRI’s detectors, so the sensitive instrument can see mid-infrared light.
Webb is an international partnership between NASA, ESA and CSA
Learn more
Dwindling water levels of Lake Powell seen from space
After decades of drought, water levels in Lake Powell, the second-largest humanmade reservoir in the United States, have shrunk to its lowest level since it was created more than 50 years ago, threatening millions of people who rely on its water supply. Satellite images allow us to take a closer look at the dwindling water levels of the lake amidst the climate crisis.
The hunt for the gravitational wave background
Coalescing supermassive black holes in the centers of merging galaxies fill the universe with low-frequency gravitational waves. Astronomers have been searching for these waves by using large radio telescopes to look for the subtle effect these spacetime ripples have on radio waves emitted by pulsars within our Galaxy.
Now, an international team of scientists has shown that the high-energy CACI completes review for planned 2023 satellite launch
CACI International Inc (NYSE: CACI) has completed the Critical Design Review (CDR) for its demonstration small satellite program (DemoSat) launch scheduled for early 2023, which is slated to deliver two mission payloads to low earth orbit. CACI and its partner, York Space Systems - a specialized manufacturer of spacecraft and space collection solutions - will demonstrate alternative positioning, Astronomers detect galactic space laser
A powerful radio-wave laser, called a 'megamaser', has been observed by the MeerKAT telescope in South Africa.
The record-breaking find is the most distant megamaser of its kind ever detected, at about five billion light years from Earth.
The light from the megamaser has travelled 58 thousand billion billion (58 followed by 21 zeros) kilometres to Earth.
The discovery was made Raymond praises Space Force achievements and purpose while noting ongoing threats, challenges
Using language that was both stark and an urgent call to action, Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond, said April 5 that the cornerstone to U.S. security and prosperity is keeping space "accessible, stable, and secure."
And while achieving that goal was once a foregone conclusion, it no longer is. That is why the U.S., its allies and most of all, the United States Space Fo Kendall highlights space's importance, need to 'transform' operations and thinking for the domain
Presenting a robust case for operating in - and defending - space, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said April 5 that "transforming" without delay priorities, practices and spending for the domain is necessary to adequately adapt to a theater that is more volatile yet also increasingly essential to the nation's security and everyday life.
"Space is a warfighting domain now," Kendall blunt 
