Copernical Team
Comet Atlas may have been a blast from the past
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However, this nameless space visitor is not recorded in any known historical account. So how do astronomers know that there was such an interplanetary intruder?
Enter comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4), which first appeared near the beginning of 2020. Comet ATLAS, first detected by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), operated by the University of Hawaii, quickly met an untimely Rise and shine
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After four months of darkness, it is finally time to rise and shine for the crew at Concordia Research Station in Antarctica. The most-welcome Sun finally made its appearance on 11 August and ESA-sponsored medical doctor Nick Smith was not about to miss it.
For nine months Nick and his fellow crew mates have been living and working in one of the most isolated, confined and extreme environments on Earth, with no way in or out of the Station during the winter-over period.
Nick is overseeing experiments in human physiology and biology, atmospheric physics, meteorology, and astronomy, among other disciplines.
China's astronauts make spacewalk to upgrade robotic arm
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Chinese astronauts edged into space on Friday to add the finishing touches to a robotic arm on the Tiangong space station.
The foray, the second spacewalk in two months and relayed on state television, is part of China's heavily promoted space programme which has already seen the nation land a rover on Mars and send probes to the moon.
In June, three crew arrived at the station, where they are set to remain in space for a total of three months in China's longest crewed mission to date.
Netflix announces documentary series on Inspiration4 space mission
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Netflix will soon premiere a documentary series chronicling Inspiration4, the world's first all-civilian space mission, the streaming service said Thursday.
The five-episode show will air in September and will depict how the four-member crew is preparing and then launching into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in near real time.
The mission, scheduled for September 15, is financed and run by Jared Isaacman, the 38-year-old founder of payment processing company Shift4 Payments and the latest wealthy businessman to take advantage of the growing space tourism industry.
Isaacman has invited three "everyday" people along with him for the ride: a medical worker, a college professor and an engineer.
The show, titled "Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission To Space" will "take viewers behind the scenes with the four crew members—from their unconventional selection and intensive months-long commercial astronaut training, through the intimate and emotional moments leading up to liftoff," Netflix said in a statement.
Japan aims to bring back soil samples from Mars moon by 2029
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Japanese space agency scientists said Thursday they plan to bring soil samples back from the Mars region ahead of the United States and China, which started Mars missions last year, in hopes of finding clues to the planet's origin and traces of possible life.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, plans to launch an explorer in 2024 to land on Phobos, a Martian moon, to collect 10 grams (0.35 ounce) of soil and bring it back to Earth in 2029.
The rapid return trip is expected to put Japan ahead of the United States and China in bringing back samples from the Martian region despite starting later, project manager Yasuhiro Kawakatsu said in an online news conference.
Northrop Grumman Opens Missile Defense Futures Lab in Huntsville
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Northrop Grumman recently opened its new Missile Defense Futures Lab (MDFL) in Huntsville. The company's MDFL is pioneering change with speed and precision to develop, test and field an integrated missile defense system.
"Partnering with our customers, Northrop Grumman is leading the way as the defense industry undergoes digital transformation," said Lisa Brown, vice president, missile def NASA seeks student tech ideas for suborbital launch
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NASA is calling on all sixth through 12th-grade educators and students to submit experiments for possible suborbital flights as a way of gaining firsthand experience with the design and testing process used by NASA researchers.
The NASA TechRise Student Challenge invites students to design, build, and launch experiments on suborbital rockets and high-altitude balloons. The challenge aims t ISRO soon to carry out static test of solid fuel engine for small rocket
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The Indian space agency is gearing up to test the solid fuel motor of its small rocket under development, said a senior official.
The official also said the space agency is planning to fly the small rocket - Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) - before the end of this year itself with an Indian earth observation satellite.
The SSLV is being designed to have a carrying capacity of a NASA awards grants in Break the Ice Lunar Challenge
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As NASA prepares to go to the Moon with the Artemis program, in-situ resource utilization is paramount, and there is no hotter commodity than water. To that effect, 13 teams from across the United States have won a share of a $500,000 prize in a competition that asked for ideas for digging and hauling icy Moon "dirt" - or regolith.
NASA's Break the Ice Lunar Challenge opened in November 20 Firefly Aerospace selects Redwire as key mission partner in 2023 Lunar lander mission
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Redwire, a leader in mission critical space solutions and high reliability components for the next generation space economy, has been awarded a subcontract from Firefly Aerospace to provide avionics and critical navigation systems for their Blue Ghost lunar lander.
Firefly Aerospace was awarded a contract to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the