Copernical Team
Out of this world: Shepard put golf on moon 50 years ago
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![Out of this world: Shepard put golf on moon 50 years ago](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/1-outofthiswor.jpg "In this Feb. 6, 1971, file photo, Apollo 14 astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. conducts an experiment near a lunar crater using an instrument from a two-wheeled cart carrying various test tools. Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. and his crew brought back 42 kilograms of moon rocks. Left behind were two golf balls that Shepard, who later described the moon's surface as "one big sand trap," hit with a makeshift 6-iron to become a footnote in history. (NASA via AP, File)")
ESA and JAXA meet online to agree future cooperation
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ESA Director General Jan Wörner and President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa took part in an online bilateral meeting on 4 February, confirming the status of cooperative activities between the two agencies.
Every challenge astronauts will face on a flight to Mars
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In 1972, the space race officially ended as NASA sent one last crew of astronauts to the surface of the moon (Apollo 17). This was the brass ring that both the US and the Soviets were reaching for, the "moonshot" that would determine who had supremacy in space. In the current age of renewed space exploration, the next great leap will clearly involve sending astronauts to Mars.
This will present many challenges that will need to be addressed in advance, many of which have to do with simply getting the astronauts there in one piece! These challenges were the subject of a presentation made by two Indian researchers at the SciTech Forum 2020, an annual event hosted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), RUDN University, and the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Week in images: 01 - 05 February 2021
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Week in images: 01 - 05 February 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Japan in bloom
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The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the algal blooms swirling around the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Japan.
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for SPHEREx Astrophysics Mission
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NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission. Inside a martian canyon
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Inside a martian canyon SPIRou Stares at a Young Rebel: the AU Mic Planetary System
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A team of astronomers using SPIRou, the spectropolarimeter / high-precision velocimeter at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), measured the mass and density of a close-in Neptune-like planet orbiting the hugely-active newborn star AU Microscopii (AU Mic), showing that this warm planet, named AU Mic b, orbits in the equatorial plane of its host.
These observations mark the very first Head of US Space Force says not many understand its purpose
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Ever since former President Trump started talking about it early on during his time in office, the Space Force has gained the attention of many Americans, while lawmakers in both parties see it as integral to ensuring that the military gives space the priority it requires in order to fight China and Russia.
The Chief of Space Operations General Jay Raymond said that there might be a public SpaceX launches fourth Starlink mission of 2021
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Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida early Thursday with the mission to send a cluster of 60 Starlink communication satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The 21-story, two-stage rocket launched at 1:19 a.m. EST Thursday from Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
While weather at the launch site was favorable, officials said they