Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 08, 2024
The International Space Station (ISS) wrapped up the week with a focus on robotics, microbiology, and space agriculture as the Expedition 72 crew tackled an intensive schedule of scientific investigations and maintenance. Preparations for an upcoming spacewalk and continued work on the station's systems rounded out the crew's activities. NASA astronaut and station commander Suni Williams c

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
On December 1, 2024, the European Space Agency's BepiColombo mission completed its fifth flyby of Mercury, marking a historic first by capturing the planet in mid-infrared light. The unprecedented images provide fresh insights into the temperature and mineral composition of Mercury's cratered surface. Mercury, the least-explored terrestrial planet in the Solar System, has only been visited

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 05, 2024
The longevity of space telescopes is improving as researchers devise serviceable designs for future observatories. Inspired by current missions like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the European Space Agency's Gaia, a new servicing plan has been developed to ensure these powerful tools can operate for longer periods. "Although the next generation of large space telescopes are bein

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Plextek, a leading consultancy recognized for its expertise in low Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) sensing technology, has published its latest innovation in the field of in-orbit space operations and sensing. In their technical paper titled "Sensing in Space" Plextek showcases groundbreaking mmWave radar technology, designed to improve the safety and reliability of future space and satellite missions.

Hamden CT (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
When you bake a loaf of bread or a batch of muffins, you put the dough into a pan. As the dough bakes in the oven, it expands into the baking pan. Any chocolate chips or blueberries in the muffin batter become farther away from each other as the muffin batter expands. The expansion of the universe is, in some ways, similar. But this analogy gets one thing wrong - while the dough expands in

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
Mercury, the smallest and innermost planet in the solar system, continues to intrigue planetary researchers with its unique composition and structure, which differ significantly from Earth's Moon despite surface similarities. BepiColombo, a collaborative mission by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), aims to resolve these mysteries. Launched in 2018, th

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
The Anthropic Principle (AP), first proposed by Brandon Carter in 1973, suggests that the universe is uniquely fine-tuned to support life. This idea has long sparked philosophical and scientific debates but has lacked empirical methods for validation. A recent paper in the *Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics (JCAP)*, co-authored by Nemanja Kaloper from the University of California, D

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
In 1989, NASA's Voyager mission made history by capturing humanity's first close-up glimpse of Neptune, completing its exploration of the solar system's four giant outer planets. Since their 1977 launches, the twin spacecraft, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, revealed Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune to be far more intricate than scientists had previously imagined, prompting continued exploration.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
A team of planetary scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder has shed new light on the dynamics behind Mars' infamous dust storms. These events, which sometimes enshroud the entire planet in fine particles, may be triggered by warmer and sunnier conditions on the Martian surface. Lead researcher Heshani Pieris emphasized the importance of understanding these storms for the safety

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 10, 2024
The asteroid that extinguished the dinosaurs is estimated to have been about 10 kilometers across. That's about as wide as Brooklyn, New York. Such a massive impactor is predicted to hit Earth rarely, once every 100 million to 500 million years. In contrast, much smaller asteroids, about the size of a bus, can strike Earth more frequently, every few years. These "decameter" asteroids, meas