Copernical Team
Multiple Spacecraft Tell the Story of One Giant Solar Storm
April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the Sun, until a brilliant flash erupted and an enormous cloud of solar material billowed away from our star. Such outbursts from the Sun are not unusual, but this one was unusually widespread, hurling high-speed protons and electrons at velocities nearing the speed of light and striking several spacecraft across the inner solar system. In fa
Bayesian network analysis sheds light on sci-fi and real-world exoplanet representation
A team from the St Andrews Centre for Exoplanet Science and the Space Research Institute (IWF) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has utilized Bayesian network analysis to quantitatively examine the portrayal of exoplanets in science fiction. This research marks a significant step forward in understanding the relationship between scientific discovery and its representation in popular culture, p
JWST images dispersing gas in a planet-forming disk for first time
An international team of astronomers, led by Naman Bajaj from the University of Arizona, has utilized the unparalleled capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to provide new insights into the final stages of planet formation. This marks the first time scientists have imaged winds emanating from an aging, yet still planet-forming, disk around the young star TCha, offering a rare gli
PYXIS satellite set to enhance satellite technology
Axelspace Corporation, a Tokyo-based leader in the microsatellite sector, has announced the scheduled launch of its latest demonstration satellite, PYXIS. The launch is set to take place on March 4, 2024, utilizing SpaceX's reliable Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. This mission, dubbed Transporter-10, aims to place PYXIS into a sun-synchronous orbit between 50
Solved at Pitt: What are Saturn's rings made of?
On a given night, the Allegheny Observatory might be hosting an open house, a lecture given by astronomy experts, educational programs for kids or tours set aside specifically for teachers and their families. Most nights of the week, Pitt students are also at the observatory, hard at work learning how to use the tools of astronomy to explore the night sky and understand the rules that gove
NASA's Juno Mission Measures Oxygen Production at Europa
Scientists with NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter have calculated the rate of oxygen being produced at the Jovian moon Europa to be substantially less than most previous studies. Published on March 4 in Nature Astronomy, the findings were derived by measuring hydrogen outgassing from the icy moon's surface using data collected by the spacecraft's Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE) instr
Curiosity successfully drills 40 holes on Mars
Earth planning date: Friday, March 1, 2024: The "Mineral King" drill hole did not quite reach the target depth that we typically desire to ensure that we have enough sample in the drill stem to deliver to our internal CheMin and SAM instruments. However, based on the information we did have (see details in the Sol 4110 blog), we proceeded with delivery to CheMin, and got the good news yest
NASA uses ORNL supercomputers to plan smooth landing on Mars
A U.S. mission to land astronauts on the surface of Mars will be unlike any other extraterrestrial landing ever undertaken by NASA. Although the space agency has successfully landed nine robotic missions on Mars since its first surface missions in 1976 with the Viking Project, safely bringing humans to Mars will require new technologies for flight through the Martian atmosphere. But these
ispace Europe and CDS Partner to Deploy Advanced Localization Tech on the Moon
ispace EUROPE S.A., a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of ispace, inc., has entered into a strategic memorandum of understanding with Control Data Systems SRL (CDS). This collaboration is aimed at developing localization and telecommunications technology to for Lunar applications in support of the quest for sustainable human presence and infrastructure development on Earth's natural satellite.
NASA Names Winners in Lunar Gateway Packing and Storing Challenge
Humans living in space have confronted the challenge of maximizing the physical space available to them. As NASA works to return astronauts to the Moon with its Artemis campaign and chart a new era of deep space exploration with Gateway, humanity's first space station in lunar orbit, being organized and space-efficient is important. To help address the iss