Copernical Team
Lessons learned from a simulated asteroid strike
In an alternate reality playing out at this year's international Planetary Defense Conference, a fictional asteroid crashes over Europe, 'destroying' a region about 100 km wide near the Czech Republic and German border. The scenario was imagined, but the people who took part are very real, and the lessons learnt will shape our ability to respond to dangerous asteroids for years to come.
Image: Hubble views a dazzling cosmic necklace
The interaction of two doomed stars has created this spectacular ring adorned with bright clumps of gas—a diamond necklace of cosmic proportions. Fittingly known as the "Necklace Nebula," this planetary nebula is located 15,000 light-years away from Earth in the small, dim constellation of Sagitta (the Arrow).
A pair of tightly orbiting sun-like stars produced the Necklace Nebula, which also goes by the less glamorous name of PN G054.203.4. Roughly 10,000 years ago, one of the aging stars expanded and engulfed its smaller companion, creating something astronomers call a "common envelope." The smaller star continued to orbit inside its larger companion, increasing the bloated giant's rotation rate until large parts of it spun outwards into space. This escaping ring of debris formed the Necklace Nebula, with particularly dense clumps of gas forming the bright "diamonds" around the ring.
The pair of stars which created the Necklace Nebula remain so close together—separated by only several million miles—that they appear as a single bright dot in the center of this image.
Vega-C: power and versatility
Video:
00:05:04
Europe’s new launch vehicle, Vega-C, is near completion. Elements will soon be shipped to Kourou for assembly and preparation for Vega-C’s inaugural flight.
This new launcher improves its Vega predecessor by offering more power and versatility at similar cost. This new design allows Vega-C to transport larger and heavier payloads into space making it a world-class competitor on the global launcher market while ensuring Europe’s independent access to space.
China's Fengyun weather data freely available for EO applications
Many meteorological satellite networks are constantly scanning Earth, providing vital research data and real-time life-saving weather information. Since China began its initial development in 1970, the Fengyun (FY) series of meteorological satellites have advanced considerably throughout more than 50 years.
While FY satellites primarily focus on the atmosphere, they are capable of observin New brain-like computing device mimics associative learning
Researchers have developed a computing device that is capable of learning by association, essentially merging storage and memory capacity.
Researchers at Northwestern University and the University of Hong Kong used organic electromagnetic chemical "synaptic transistors" to simultaneously store and process information, according to a study published Friday in Nature Communications. Stratolaunch set for second hypersonic vehicle test
Aerospace company Stratolaunch's carrier aircraft, which is designed to launch hypersonic and space vehicles, is performing its second test flight in California's Mojave Desert, the company said on Thursday.
"We are airborne," the company said in a statement. "Currently performing various flight test maneuvers."
The aircraft will complete its test flight at about 2 p.m. Eastern Time Space law and the fight against space debris
Space is getting crowded. More than 100 million tiny pieces of debris are spinning in Earth orbit, along with tens of thousands of bigger chunks and around 3,300 functioning satellites.
Large satellite constellations such as Starlink are becoming more common, infuriating astronomers and baffling casual skywatchers. In the coming decade, we may see many more satellites launched than in all Latin America looks to space, despite limitations on ground
Mars missions, astronauts coming and going at the International Space Station, China's increasingly ambitious space program. Space-related news is flowing, and not just from the world's richest, biggest nations. Take Latin America.
On Feb. 17, the congress in Nicaragua, one of the region's poorest, most conflict-prone nations, approved a law creating a space agency. Costa Rica, known for relative growth and stability, did the same on Feb. 18, the day that the NASA rover Perseverance landed on Mars to look for signs of ancient life.
SpaceX returns 4 astronauts to Earth; rare night splashdown
SpaceX safely returned four astronauts from the International Space Station on Sunday, making the first U.S.
ISS astronauts splash down off Florida on SpaceX craft
A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule carrying four astronauts back to Earth splashed down off Panama City early Sunday, a NASA livestream showed.
Boats were retrieving the spacecraft and crew after their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station.
The crew reported they were feeling well, NASA said.
The capsule splashed down at 2:56 am (0656 GMT) in the dark in the Gulf of Mexi