Paris (ESA) Dec 21, 2021
The next SpaceX resupply vehicle is packed with European science, ready for delivery to the International Space Station just in time for Christmas. The Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, at 11:06 CET (10:06 GMT) Tuesday 21 December. But before it does, we take a quick peek at some of the European cargo it carries. b>Safe air br

Heidelberg, Germany (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
A group of astronomers, led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy (MPIA), have identified one of the longest known structures in the Milky Way. It stretches some 3900 light-years and consists almost entirely of atomic hydrogen gas. This filament, called "Maggie", could represent a link in the matter cycle of the stars. Analysing the measurements suggests that the atomic gas

Boston MA (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
It's hard to imagine a more inhospitable world than our closest planetary neighbor. With an atmosphere thick with carbon dioxide, and a surface hot enough to melt lead, Venus is a scorched and suffocating wasteland where life as we know it could not survive. The planet's clouds are similarly hostile, blanketing the planet in droplets of sulfuric acid caustic enough to burn a hole through human s

Mataro, Spain (AFP) Dec 20, 2021
For Neil Harbisson, a self-described "cyborg" artist living near Barcelona, colour is quite literally music to his ears thanks to an antenna he designed to overcome colour blindness. Well-known in Spain and with an international following that enabled him to meet the likes of Leonardo di Caprio and Tom Cruise, Harbisson is now testing out a new device designed to feel physically the passing

Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
New Horizons remains healthy and continues to send valuable data from deep in the Kuiper Belt - more than 5 billion miles away - even as it speeds farther and farther from the Earth and Sun. As 2021 winds down, I want to recount what the New Horizons project has accomplished this year, and also look ahead to tell you about our plans for 2022. During a busy and productive 2021, our sc

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
Every so often, the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud throw galactic snowballs made up of ice, dust and rocks our way: 4.6-billion-year-old leftovers from the formation of the solar system. These snowballs - or as we know them, comets - go through a colourful metamorphosis as they cross the sky, with many comets' heads turning a radiant green colour that gets brighter as they approach the Sun.

Woodbine GA (SPX) Dec 21, 2021
Camden County, Georgia, a rocket testing location and alternate launch site for the Apollo program, has reclaimed its aerospace heritage with the issuance of a launch site operator license (LSOL) by the Federal Aviation Administration for Spaceport Camden. Spaceport Camden is a multiuser, vertical lift, commercial launch site on the Atlantic seaboard that will support up to 12 small vehicle laun

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 20, 2021
The Mars helicopter Ingenuity traveled 754 feet at 5.6 mph on its 18th flight on the Red Planet, NASA has confirmed. The helicopter is moving back toward the rover Perseverance's original landing site as the rover and helicopter prepare to move in another direction. "The #MarsHelicopter keeps going, going, going!" NASA posted on Twitter late Friday, after the agency confirmed dat

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 20, 2021
NASA and SpaceX plan to send about 13,000 pounds of science experiments, supplies and equipment from Florida on Tuesday to the International Space Station. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off at 5:06 a.m. from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center. Space Force forecasters predict only a 40% chance of favorable weather conditions for the launch, citing cumulous clouds,