
Copernical Team
Researchers biomines vanadium aboard ISS

Israel Space Agency selects Ramon.Space for computing payload

An accidental discovery hints at a hidden population of cosmic objects

X-ray magnifying glass enhances view of distant black holes

NASA prompts companies for Artemis Lunar Terrain Vehicle Solutions

Application of fission-powered spacecraft in solar system exploration missions

Air Force rescue crews ready in case of SpaceX, Boeing launch malfunctions

Inspiration4 crew will conduct health research during three day mission

Spacecraft deorbiting device ready for upcoming test launch

A drag sail that a team at Purdue University developed to pull launch vehicles in space back to Earth is scheduled to undergo a test launch on Thursday (Sept. 2).
The mission, set to take off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, will evaluate how well the prototype helps its vehicle deorbit from space after mission completion. A livestream of the launch will be available through Everyday Astronaut.
Faster deorbiting times may prevent spacecraft and launch vehicles from turning into hazardous space debris as they wait to deorbit naturally, a process that could take days, months or years without assistance. Abandoned, lost or post-mission space vehicles are part of the more than nine thousand tons of space debris currently traveling through Earth's lower orbit at dangerous speeds.
Geologists propose theory about a famous asteroid

The asteroid Vesta is the second largest asteroid in our Solar System. With a diameter of about 330 miles, it orbits the sun between the planets Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids have long played a part in building popular fascination with space. "Marooned off Vesta" was the first story published by American writer Isaac Asimov, the third story he wrote, appearing in the March 1939 issue of the science fiction magazine Amazing Stories.
"When we think of asteroid belts, we probably picture Han Solo maneuvering the millennium falcon through a dense set of irregularly shaped gray rocks in space," Christian Klimczak, associate professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences department of geology. "While most rocks are indeed irregularly shaped and gray, they are far apart and NASA's Dawn spacecraft did not have to maneuver around any other asteroids to reach and explore Vesta."
Dawn was the space probe launched by NASA in September 2007 with the mission of studying two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt, Vesta and Ceres.
Vesta, like Earth, is composed of rock in its crust and mantle, and it has an iron core.