
Copernical Team
The Parker Solar Probe is getting pelted by hypervelocity dust. Could it damage the spacecraft?

There's a pretty significant disadvantage to going really fast—if you get hit with anything, even if it is small, it can hurt. So when the fastest artificial object ever—the Parker Solar Probe—gets hit by grains of dust that are a fraction the size of a human hair, they still do damage. The question is how much damage, and could we potentially learn anything from how exactly that damage happens? According to new research from scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB), the answer to the second question is yes, in fact, we can.
Parker is cruising through the inner solar system on its orbit around the sun at a cool 180 km/s (400,000 mph). But the environment it is traveling through is anything but cool—the probe needs the help of a giant heat shield to ensure that the full force of a star doesn't entirely destroy its innards.
Space junk forces spacewalk delay, too risky for astronauts

Image: ISS captured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour

It can be hard to appreciate that a human-made, football-pitch-sized spacecraft is orbiting 400 km above our heads, but there it is.
The jewel of human cooperation and ingenuity that is the International Space Station shines brightly in this image captured by ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour.
Crew-2 got this amazing view during a flyaround of the orbiting lab after undocking from the Harmony module on 8 November, before their return to Earth.
Since this image was taken, there has even been a new addition in the form of the Russian Node Module, known as Prichal. The final Russian module planned for the station, it is a spherical node attached to the Russian segment with six docking ports for future Progress and Soyuz arrivals.
A collaboration between five space agencies, the station has become a symbol of peaceful international cooperation for 23 years now. It represents the best of our space engineering capabilities as well as humankind's pursuit of scientific knowledge and exploration.
By any standards, it is an incredible piece of spacecraft engineering. Weighing 420 tons, it travels in low-Earth orbit at more than 27 000 km/hour, circling Earth approximately 16 times every day.
Micro-geostationary satellite wins ESA support

A small European telecommunications satellite intended for launch into geostationary orbit some 36 000 kilometres above the Earth – which can be used as a basis for future satellites – has won support from ESA.
Brain and coat from RUAG Space for Galileo navigation satellites

Kacific enables mobile operators to provide better service to customers

Knight Sky LLC joins NIC4 to expand critical connectivity solutions for globally

First LoRa message bounced off the moon

NASA starts loading fuel for James Webb Space Telescope launch

Testing confirms Webb Telescope on track for targeted Dec 22 Launch
