Bremen, Germany (SPX) Feb 23, 2021
For the fifth time, a team of 25 international scientists used the Northrop Grumman CYGNUS supply vehicle for the International Space Station to conduct experiments with large fires in space. This time, amazing data was transmitted from the return journey to Earth that even the combustion researchers could not have predicted: in weightlessness, a flame tends to spread in the opposite direction t

Berkeley CA (SPX) Feb 23, 2021
The latest star data from the Gaia space observatory has for the first time allowed astronomers to generate a massive 3D atlas of widely separated binary stars within about 3,000 light years of Earth - 1.3 million of them. The one-of-a-kind atlas, created by Kareem El-Badry, an astrophysics Ph.D. student from the University of California, Berkeley, should be a boon for those who study bina

Washington DC (UPI) Feb 22, 2021
Astrophysicists have traced a subatomic particle called a neutrino to its cosmic origins, a tidal disruption event located some 700 million light-years from Earth. The new research - published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy - suggests the violent destruction of a faraway star by a supermassive black hole was powerful enough to send a tiny, near-frictionless particle racing acr

New York NY (SPX) Feb 23, 2021
A team of scientists has detected the presence of a high-energy neutrino - a particularly elusive particle - in the wake of a star's destruction as it is consumed by a black hole. This discovery, reported in the journal Nature Astronomy, sheds new light on the origins of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays - the highest energy particles in the Universe. The work, which included researchers from m

Washington DC (DOD) Feb 19, 2021
The Israel Missile Defense Organization (IMDO), in the Directorate of Defense Research and Development of the Israel Ministry of Defense, and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) have begun the development of the Arrow 4 interceptor. Arrow 4 will be the next generation of endo-exoatmospheric interceptors for the Arrow Weapon System, which today consists of Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 interceptors.

Boulder CO (SPX) Feb 23, 2021
On Feb. 22, 1906, German astrophotographer Max Wolf helped reshape our understanding of the solar system. Again. Born in 1863, Wolf had a habit of dramatically altering the astronomy landscape. Something of a prodigy, he discovered his first comet at only 21 years old. Then in 1890, he boldly declared that he planned to use wide-field photography in his quest to discover new asteroids, whi

Bethesda MD (SPX) Feb 23, 2021
Astronautics is the discipline of designing, building, and operating space vehicles. This field of endeavor addresses the design of space missions, spacecraft and in-orbit operations. Related technological areas include rocket engines,launch vehicles, orbital mechanics, satellite dynamics and control, space navigation and numerous others. An astronautics education provides the foundation for pos

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