ESA is backing a bold proposal to create a commercially viable constellation of satellites around the Moon.

Tempe AZ (SPX) May 18, 2021
While scientists have amassed considerable knowledge of the rocky planets in our solar system, like Earth and Mars, much less is known about the icy water-rich planets, Neptune and Uranus. In a new study recently published in Nature Astronomy, a team of scientists re-created the temperature and pressure of the interiors of Neptune and Uranus in the lab, and in so doing have gained a greate

Washington DC (UPI) May 18, 2021
United Launch Alliance sent a new missile-warning satellite into orbit for the U.S. Space Force from Florida on Tuesday afternoon. The Atlas V rocket lifted off at 1:37 p.m. EDT into a mostly blue sky from Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. After just a minute into flight, the vehicle traveled at 2,000 mph. The satellite, known as SBIRS GEO 5, is the fifth in a ser

Edwards AFB CA (SPX) May 17, 2021
NASA's X-59 requires the use of creative and strategic supersonic technologies to control and soften the jarring sound that hits the ground as the aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound above. One of these creative technologies is the placement of the X-59 engine inlet. This visual is a closeup looking downstream inside of the X-59's engine inlet where, later in the assembly process

Chicago IL (SPX) May 19, 2021
A team including Northwestern University astrophysicists has developed the most realistic, highest-resolution 3D simulation of star formation to date. The result is a visually stunning, mathematically-driven marvel that allows viewers to float around a colorful gas cloud in 3D space while watching twinkling stars emerge. Called STARFORGE (Star Formation in Gaseous Environments), the comput

Beijing, China (SPX) May 19, 2021
China's Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) - one of the country's key national science and technology infrastructure facilities - has found a dozen ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic accelerators within the Milky Way. It has also detected photons with energies exceeding 1 peta-electron-volt (quadrillion electron-volts or PeV), including one at 1.4 PeV. The latter is the highest ener

Beijing (XNA) May 19, 2021
China's core space station module Tianhe has recently completed its platform function tests and entered the orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Tuesday. The core module, which was sent into orbit on April 29, has recently completed platform function tests for rendezvous and docking, astronaut stay and the m

Sydney, Australia (SPX) May 19, 2021
Euroconsult is opening a representative office in Australia to serve local and international clients in the fast growing Australian space sector, further expanding its global market reach. As part of recent work carried out on the Australian space market, including an assessment for Austrade on the development of potential Australian launch capabilities, Euroconsult had the opportunity to witnes

Greenbelt MD (SPX) May 19, 2021
New artificial intelligence technology could speed up physical fault diagnosis in spacecraft and spaceflight systems, improving mission efficiency by reducing down-time. Research in Artificial Intelligence for Spacecraft Resilience (RAISR) is software developed by Pathways intern Evana Gizzi, who works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. With RAISR, artificial int

Orlando FL (UPI) May 19, 2021
NASA scientists, as well as astronomers around the world, plan to install lunar observatories in the next few years to peer into the universe's ancient past - just after the Big Bang. Science equipment headed to the moon already includes a spectrometer built for launch in early 2022, known as ROLSES, which will study how sunlight charges the slight lunar atmosphere. The acronym includes t