Lund, Sweden (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
A research team led by Lund University in Sweden has provided an important clue to the origin of the element Ytterbium in the Milky Way, by showing that the element largely originates from supernova explosions. The groundbreaking research also provides new opportunities for studying the evolution of our galaxy. The study is published in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Ytterbium is one of four

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, now under construction, will test new technologies for space-based planet hunting. The mission aims to photograph worlds and dusty disks around nearby stars with detail up to a thousand times better than possible with other observatories. Roman will use its Coronagraph Instrument - a system of masks, prisms, detectors, and even self-flexing mirrors

Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 25, 2022
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover snapped this view of a hill in Mars' Jezero Crater called "Santa Cruz" on April 29, 2021, the 68th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. About 20 inches (50 centimeters) across on average, the boulders in the foreground are among the type of rocks the rover team has named "Ch'al" (the Navajo term for "frog" and pronounced "chesh"). Perseverance will return to the ar

Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 25, 2022
If all goes according to plan, the rover's drive on sol 3397 will position us at the edge of the rocks that cap Greenheugh Pediment. This drive was pushed back from sol 3395 in order to collect even more data on the sedimentary rocks in our current workspace before we leave this rock formation and enter into a new one. This transition is documented in the Mastcam drive direction image above, in

Gottingen, Germany (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
The third-largest crater on the dwarf planet Ceres was geologically active at least once many millions of years after its formation. In a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Gottingen, the University of Munster (WWU) and the National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) in Bhubane

Moscow, Russia (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
Researchers from HSE University have developed a mathematical model that explains the levitation of charged dust particles over the sunlit lunar surface for almost any latitude. For the first time, the model takes into account the Earth's magnetotail-a particular area around our planet. The research data is important for planning the Luna-25 and Luna-27 space missions. The study was published in

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 24, 2021
NASA officials said Thursday the space agency is making progress toward a crucial test in mid-March of the first moon rocket since the Apollo-era but the agency did not set a new launch date for the first lunar mission. NASA plans the full "wet-dress rehearsal" of the SLS moon rocket on the pad at 6 p.m. ET on March 17. The first such mission to the moon, although uncrewed, may h

Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 25, 2022
Flight 19 was successfully completed on February 7, 2022, at 20:21 PST (Sol 345 of the Perseverance mission, 12:00 LMST Local Mean Solar Time), and placed Ingenuity safely within the designated landing ellipse just above the eastern ridge of the "South Seitah" basin. Flight 19 was a reminder of the challenges and unpredictability of the Martian environment. As discussed in our previous upd

Swindon UK (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
Pulse Power and Measurement Ltd (PPM) has been working with Aston University through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) to develop a game-changing approach to technology used in the radio-over-fibre communications industry. The project will look to transform the connection between low earth orbit (LEO) satellite antenna dishes and modems through optics rather than electronics, delivering per

McLean VA (SPX) Feb 25, 2022
Intelsat S.A. has successfully completed and emerged from its financial restructuring process as a private company with a substantially strengthened capital structure to support its growth as the leader in satellite communications. This final milestone follows receipt of regulatory approvals, completion of certain corporate actions, and satisfaction of other customary conditions. Intelsat'