Space is not the safest place to be. During spaceflight, both devices and humans risk exposure to high levels of radiation. Without sufficient protection, instruments would malfunction, and astronauts might face serious health risks. A team of researchers from Ghent University in Belgium are testing the potential of 3D-printed hydrogels – materials that can soak up large amounts of water – to serve as highly-effective radiation shields.

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2025
Mission Space is preparing to make a major stride forward by sending its new Zohar space weather sensor payload into orbit aboard SpaceX's Transporter-13. This launch marks a significant milestone, as the sensor is designed to deliver continuous readings on solar activity, radiation levels, and magnetospheric variations in real time. Zohar is placed and managed in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by

Paris, France (SPX) Feb 04, 2025
The European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) has released the very first GNSS and Secure SATCOM User Technology Report, offering a unified resource that addresses two central space-based capabilities. This new publication builds upon earlier GNSS User Technology and Secure SATCOM Market and User Technology studies, presenting an extensive review of the most recent innovations

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
Coordinate your actions, unify your approach, and collaborate to fulfill a shared objective. This "pep talk" succinctly captures how NASA's latest swarm-based breakthrough operates. Known as Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy (DSA), it allows each satellite to make decisions independently while uniting with fellow spacecraft to pursue collective goals, all free from human oversight. Within NA

Huntsville AL (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
A graduate research assistant at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), a part of The University of Alabama system, has published a paper in the journal Astronomy and Physics that builds on an earlier study to help understand why the solar corona is so hot compared to the surface of the sun itself. To shed further light on this age-old mystery, Syed Ayaz, a Ph.D. candidate in the U

London, UK (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
Physicists have carried out an advanced simulation that they believe exposes fresh details about an elusive occurrence, potentially shaping the Universe's eventual destiny. The research centers on a concept called false vacuum decay, a scenario in which our Universe's apparent stability might be only temporary. Originally proposed in quantum field theory around five decades ago, the idea s

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
Three months after lifting off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Europa Clipper spacecraft still has 1.6 billion miles (2.6 billion kilometers) ahead before it settles into Jupiter's orbit in 2030. On arrival, it will capture detailed views of Europa's icy terrain. In the meantime, a pair of specialized cameras called star trackers is busy photographing deep space to confirm the c

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
Hall thrusters, an essential propulsion technology for space missions such as NASA's Psyche asteroid mission and SpaceX's Starlink satellites, operate using plasma to achieve efficient thrust. The research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Hall thruster for CubeSats. This thruster will be integrated into t

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Feb 04, 2025
By leveraging artificial intelligence, researchers have identified a newly formed crater on Mars, revealing that the impact event propelled vibrations deep into the planet's mantle. Recent findings show that meteoroid impacts on Mars generate seismic waves that penetrate farther into the planet's interior than once believed. Two new studies illustrate this by matching quake data from NASA'

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 05, 2025
China's Chang'e 7 mission is on track for a 2026 launch, with its sights set on the moon's southern polar region. The goal, China Media Group reported Monday, is to identify water ice deposits and trial breakthrough technologies crucial for extended human operations on the lunar surface. According to the report, the probe features a new hopper module equipped with a water molecule analyzer