Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 04, 2023
Pentoses are essential carbohydrates in the metabolism of modern lifeforms, but their availability during early Earth is unclear since these molecules are unstable. A new study led by the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, reveals a chemical pathway compatible with early Earth conditions and by which C6 aldonates could have acted as a source of pentoses

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Dec 04, 2023
Astronomers from the Netherlands have provided compelling evidence linking a repeating Fast Radio Burst (FRB) source to a potential 'hypernebula.' Utilizing the European VLBI Network (EVN), the team has made significant strides in understanding these mysterious cosmic phenomena. This research marks a notable advancement in the study of FRBs and their origins. Fast Radio Bursts are fleeting

Austin TX (SPX) Dec 04, 2023
It first appeared as a glowing blob from ground-based telescopes and then vanished completely in images from the Hubble Space Telescope. Now, the ghostly object has reappeared as a faint, yet distinct galaxy in an image from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Astronomers with the COSMOS-Web collaboration have identified the object AzTECC71 as a dusty star-forming galaxy. Or, in other w

Bonn, Germany (SPX) Dec 04, 2023
The universe is expanding. How fast it does so is described by the so-called Hubble-Lemaitre constant. But there is a dispute about how big this constant actually is: Different measurement methods provide contradictory values. This so-called "Hubble tension" poses a puzzle for cosmologists. Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and St. Andrews are now proposing a new solution: Using an alter

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 04, 2023
Reinvented as NASA's OSIRIS-APEX, the spacecraft formerly known as OSIRIS-REx is about to face the first major test of its mission to asteroid Apophis: it will fly closer to the Sun than ever before, exposing its components to higher temperatures than they were designed to endure. At its closest approach (known as its perihelion) on Jan. 2, 2024, OSIRIS-APEX will be about 46.5 million mile

Six years of hard work and dedication paid off in spectacular fashion today, as the Educational Irish Research Satellite, EIRSAT-1, successfully blasted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Hitching a ride on a Space-X Falcon-9 launcher, the tiny satellite – measuring just 10.7cm x 10.7cm x 22.7cm – has now made history as Ireland’s first satellite!

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On 1 December 2023, at 19:19 CET (18:18 GMT), Ireland's first satellite EIRSAT-1 launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, USA. 

Built by students at University College Dublin under guidance of ESA’s Education Office, EIRSAT-1 is a 2-unit CubeSat carrying three experiments, including a novel gamma ray detector that will study some of the most luminous explosions in the universe.    

The mission has been in development since the team was accepted to the ESA Academy Fly Your Satellite! programme in 2017. Over the past six years, the students have worked with ESA experts and acquired the professional competences needed

Week in images: 27 November - 01 December 2023

Discover our week through the lens

Video: 00:00:24

Scenes from a 30-second burn with re-ignition of an early prototype of the Prometheus engine at ArianeGroup’s test facility in Vernon, France, on 20 October 2023.

The 100-tonne thrust class Prometheus burns liquid oxygen-liquid methane fuel. Methane is clean burning and simplifies handling, to help enable reusability and reduce the cost of ground operations before and after flight.

The engine is mounted in an early prototype of a reusable rocket stage, called Themis, which is being developed in parallel with the engine under contract from ESA. While engine testing continues, work is also underway to prepare a more advanced