Washington DC (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
NASA has awarded a contract to the University of Michigan for the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) for mission operations and closeout. A constellation of eight microsatellites, the system can view storms more frequently and in a way traditional satellites are unable to, increasing scientists' ability to understand and predict hurricanes. The total value of the contract

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
The Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) unanimously approved $80.7 million in EXIM financing to support launch services by SpaceX and also U.S.-brokered launch and initial in-orbit insurance for Hispasat Canarias S.L.U., a subsidiary of Hispasat, S.A., of Spain. These EXIM-supported services will help Hispasat to deploy a new satellite, Amazonas Nexus.

Washington DC (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
NASA continues to work to resolve a problem with the Hubble Space Telescope payload computer that halted on June 13. After performing tests on several of the computer's memory modules, the results indicate that a different piece of computer hardware may have caused the problem, with the memory errors being only a symptom. The operations team is investigating whether the Standard Interface

Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
For many years now, astronomers and physicists have been in a conflict. Is the mysterious dark matter that we observe deep in the Universe real, or is what we see the result of subtle deviations from the laws of gravity as we know them? In 2016, Dutch physicist Erik Verlinde proposed a theory of the second kind: emergent gravity. New research, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics this w

Houston TX (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
We can't detect them yet, but radio signals from distant solar systems could provide valuable information about the characteristics of their planets. A paper by Rice University scientists describes a way to better determine which exoplanets are most likely to produce detectable signals based on magnetosphere activity on exoplanets' previously discounted nightsides. The study by Rice alumnu

Rochester NY (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
By sending a Black Brant IX rocket on a 15-minute flight to space and back, researchers from Rochester Institute of Technology, Caltech, Kwansei Gakuin University, and Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute glimpsed traces of light from the earliest stages of the universe. The Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment-2 (CIBER-2) completed a successful first launch on June 7 at the White Sands

Brussels, Belgium (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
"Detecting primordial black holes opens up new perspectives to understand the origin of the Universe, because these still hypothetical black holes are supposed to have formed just a few tiny fractions of a second after the Big Bang. Their study is of great interest for research in theoretical physics and cosmology, because they could notably explain the origin of dark matter in the Universe".

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jun 23, 2021
A Perseverance rover scientist's favorite shot from the young Mars mission provides a new angle on an old and intriguing surface feature. Ask any space explorer, and they'll have a favorite image or two from their mission. For Apollo 8's Bill Anders, it was a picture looking back at the Earth from near the Moon. Astronaut Randy Bresnik prizes a photo of an aurora he took while aboard the I

Denver CO (SPX) Jun 23, 2021
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to design and build the aeroshell for the Mars Sample Retrieval Lander. The capsule will protect the spacecraft through its landing sequence on Mars when it hits the atmosphere with extreme speed and force that generate thousands of degrees of heat. "We are excited to partner with JPL again to design, fabricate and test an

Beijing (XNA) Jun 23, 2021
Astronauts on board the core module of China's space station have a wide variety of foods specifically designed for them to enjoy during their three-month space journey, according to project leaders. Ji Qiming, assistant director of the China Manned Space Agency, said that there are more than 120 kinds of food and beverages inside the core module, named Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens. These