Kepler unveils expansion plans after $60 million funding round
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 17:25
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TAMPA, Fla. — Canadian startup Kepler plans to build a U.S. presence after raising $60 million for its low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite data constellation.
The company said the office expansion will bring it closer to U.S.
Shenzhen offers support to boost satellite sector in Chinese city
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 11:47 Write a comment
HELSINKI — Shenzhen will provide up to $47 million in support for development of satellite equipment, applications and other areas to drive space-related innovation in the southern Chinese city.
The city in Guangdong province will provide as much as 40 percent of total investment for a project, or up to 300 million yuan per project, the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission announced Monday.
Solar eclipse chaser: What to expect from this week's partial eclipse
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 11:41 Write a comment
In December 2020, in the middle of a pandemic, I made the somewhat questionable decision to fly 11,200km from where I live in Belfast, Northern Ireland to Santiago, Chile. Then, I boarded a connecting two-hour flight and drove for a further two hours, just to experience two minutes and 20 seconds of darkness.
I followed the guidelines of both the UK and Chilean governments. I got COVID-compliant travel insurance; I took a PCR test 72 hours before arriving in Chile; I wore a mask for the 15-hour flight and had my temperature taken in every building I entered. I also risked getting stranded on the other side of the world the week before Christmas, as the UK was considering banning domestic flights from England to Northern Ireland.
You might wonder why I'd go through all of this. The answer? To witness the most spectacular sight in nature: a total solar eclipse. Despite my endeavor, the Chilean weather thwarted my efforts and cloud coverage denied me a glimpse of the Sun's ethereal pearly atmosphere.
Sierra Space signs Dream Chaser agreement with British spaceport
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 11:00 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Sierra Space, the new space subsidiary of Sierra Nevada Corporation, announced June 9 that it signed an initial agreement with a British spaceport that could lead to landings of the company’s Dream Chaser vehicle there.
Colorado lawmakers invite VP Harris to tour space facilities
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 08:00 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of lawmakers from Colorado in a June 9 letter urge Vice President Kamala Harris to visit military and space industry facilities in the state as she prepares to take over as chair of the National Space Council.
Dust: An Out-of-This World Problem
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
Dust is a nuisance on Earth. Thankfully, we can simply pull out a vacuum or grab a rag to rid ourselves of the concoction of dust mites, fibers, soil, pollen, and other tiny bits.
Beyond Earth's atmosphere, dust is insidious. On the Moon, it's made of crushed rock and is damaging to everything from lunar landers to spacesuits and human lungs if inhaled. As NASA readies to return to the Moo SpaceX Cargo Dragon truck docks at Space Station
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
While the International Space Station was traveling more than 250 miles over the South Pacific ocean, a SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft autonomously docked to the space-facing side of the orbiting laboratory's Harmony module at 5:09 a.m. EDT, Saturday, June 5. NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur were monitoring docking operations for Dragon.
This 22nd contracted resupply miss Earth's meteorite impacts over past 500 million years tracked
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
For the first time, a unique study conducted at Lund University in Sweden has tracked the meteorite flux to Earth over the past 500 million years. Contrary to current theories, researchers have determined that major collisions in the asteroid belt have not generally affected the number of impacts with Earth to any great extent.
Researchers have been studying geological series since the 19t First images of Ganymede as Juno sailed by
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
The first two images from NASA Juno's June 7, 2021, flyby of Jupiter's giant moon Ganymede have been received on Earth. The photos - one from the Jupiter orbiter's JunoCam imager and the other from its Stellar Reference Unit star camera - show the surface in remarkable detail, including craters, clearly distinct dark and bright terrain, and long structural features possibly linked to tectonic fa Finding quasars: Rare extragalactic objects are now easier to spot
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
Astrophysicists from the University of Bath have developed a new method for pinpointing the whereabouts of extremely rare extragalactic objects. They hope their technique for finding 'changing-look quasars' will take scientists one step closer to unravelling one of greatest mysteries of the universe - how supermassive black holes grow. Quasars are believed to be responsible for regulating the gr From burglar alarms to black hole detectors
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
Last year, Anupam Mazumdar, a physicist from the University of Groningen, jointly proposed an experiment together with colleagues from the UK that could conclusively prove whether gravity is a quantum phenomenon. This experiment would focus on observing two relatively large, entangled quantum systems in free fall.
In a new article, published on 4 June in Physical Review Research, the scien Organic molecules reveal clues about dying stars and outskirts of Milky Way
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Researchers from the University of Arizona will present findings from radio-astronomical observations of organic molecules at the 238th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society, or AAS, during a press conference titled "Molecules in Strange Places" at the 238th AAS Meeting on Tuesday, June 8, at 12:15 p.m. EDT.
A team led by Lucy Ziurys at the University of Arizona reports observations THOR hammers drones in new video animation
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
The Air Force Research Laboratory has created a new video animation that realistically depicts THOR (Tactical High-power Operational Responder) destroying swarms of enemy drones in a base defense scenario.
In an effort to counter the increasing threat posed by enemy drones and other airborne threats, the Air Force developed THOR.
THOR is a prototype Directed Energy (DE) weapon used t Radiation-hardened MOSFET qualified for commercial and military satellites and space power solutions
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
Power supplies in space applications operate in environments that require enhanced radiation technology to withstand extreme particle interactions and solar and electromagnetic events.
These events degrade space-based systems and disrupt operations. To meet this requirement, Microchip Technology Inc. has announced the qualification of its M6 MRH25N12U3 radiation-hardened 250V, 0.21 Ohm Rds Lunar IceCube passes critical testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
Wednesday, 09 June 2021 06:44 Write a comment
The Lunar IceCube CubeSat successfully passed essential environmental testing at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The spacecraft, pictured above, will fly aboard the upcoming Artemis I mission to the Moon as a secondary payload to investigate the amount and distribution of water ice on the Moon.
The spacecraft must go through intensive testing on Earth before flig