Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
The Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) has uncovered critical details about planetary system formation by detecting a dense concentration of dust grains outside the orbits of two known planets in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young star PDS 70. These findings, led by Kiyoaki Doi, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and former Ph.D. student at the Nat

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
ispace, inc. (ispace) (TOKYO: 9348), a global leader in lunar exploration, and Magna Petra, a pioneering company focused on the extraction and return of helium-3 isotopes from the Moon, have signed a memorandum of understanding to advance sustainable resource exploration on the lunar surface. The agreement outlines plans for both companies to contribute to the growth of the lunar economy b

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
Swinburne University of Technology has been chosen to provide essential technology for a groundbreaking national mission: Australia's first lunar rover. As part of the $42 million Australian Space Agency project, the ELO2 Consortium will design, build, and operate the Australian-made rover, "Roo-ver," on the Moon's surface. Swinburne's Space Technology and Industry Institute (STII) will pl

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
T-Mobile has launched registration for its beta program of T-Mobile Starlink, a new direct-to-cell satellite service set to eliminate cellular dead zones by covering the 500,000 square miles in the U.S. without ground-based network access. The beta program follows recent FCC approval and marks a key step in integrating Starlink's satellite technology with T-Mobile's terrestrial network. "T

Baltimore MD (SPX) Dec 23, 2024
NASA's Parker Solar Probe is in good health and operating normally as it speeds toward its closest-ever flight around the Sun on Christmas Eve. Mission operators at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, received a beacon transmission from Parker, through NASA's Deep Space Network complex in Canberra, Australia, indicating all spacecraft systems were operat

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
As seen across North America at sometimes surprisingly low latitudes, brilliant auroral displays provide evidence of solar activity in the night sky. More is going on than the familiar visible light shows during these events, though: When aurora appear, the Earth's ionosphere is experiencing an increase in ionization and total electron content (TEC) due to energetic electrons and ions precipitat

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
NASA's DAVINCI - Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging - mission embodies the spirit of innovation and exploration that its namesake, Leonardo da Vinci, was famous for. Scheduled to launch in the early 2030s, DAVINCI will explore Venus with both a spacecraft and a descent probe. DAVINCI's probe will be the first in the 21st century to brave Venus' atmos

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 23, 2024
I have always loved the mountains. Growing up on the flat plains of Midwestern USA, every summer I looked forward to spending a few days on alpine trails while on vacation. Climbing upward from the trailhead, the views changed constantly. After climbing a short distance, the best views were often had by looking back down on where we had started. As we climbed higher, views of the valleys below e

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2024
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) recently captured an image of the retired InSight lander, offering insights into dust accumulation on Mars. Taken on Oct. 23 using the orbiter's High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, the image reveals InSight's solar panels now share the same reddish-brown hue as the Martian surface. InSight, which landed in November 2018, was

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 23, 2024
The Moon's surface is coated in a gritty layer known as lunar regolith, composed of gravel, pebbles, and fine dust. Astronauts during the Apollo missions discovered that this fine, powdery dust - electromagnetically charged due to solar and cosmic radiation - clings stubbornly to surfaces, including gloves, boots, and spacecraft, and is highly abrasive. This poses a significant challenge for NAS