Astronomers carry out largest ever cosmological computer simulation
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27An international team of astronomers has carried out what is believed to be the largest ever cosmological computer simulation, tracking not only dark but also ordinary matter (such as planets, stars and galaxies), giving us a glimpse into how our Universe may have evolved. The FLAMINGO simulations calculate the evolution of all components of the universe - ordinary matter, dark matter, and dark
Dragonfly tunnel visions
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27With its dense atmosphere and low gravity, Saturn's moon Titan is a great place to fly. But well before NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft lander soars through Titan's skies, researchers on Earth - led by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland - are making sure their designs and models for the nuclear-powered, car-sized drone will work in a truly unique environment
CRS-29 mission flies research to the Space Station
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27The 29th SpaceX commercial resupply services (CRS) mission for NASA carries scientific experiments and technology demonstrations, including studies of enhanced optical communications and measurement of atmospheric waves. The uncrewed SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than Nov. 5.
Texas A and M joins multimillion-dollar moon orbit tracking project
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27Texas A and M University is joining a multi-university team on a major research project to track objects orbiting the moon. The Air Force Research Laboratory is awarding up to $5 million over five years for the Space University Research Initiative (SURI). "The SURI is an outstanding initiative to train our next-generation workforce. We look forward to carrying out creative research aimed a
UArizona researchers probe how a piece of the moon became a near-Earth asteroid
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27In 2021, a team of University of Arizona astronomers suggested that a recently discovered near-Earth asteroid, Kamo`oalewa, could be a chunk of the moon. Two years after the striking discovery, another UArizona research group has found that a rare pathway could have enabled this to happen. So far, only distant asteroids from beyond the orbit of Mars have been considered a source of near-Ea
Mouse mummies point to mammalian life in "Mars-like" Andes
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27The dry, wind-swept summits of volcanoes in the Puna de Atacama of Chile and Argentina are the closest thing on Earth to the surface of Mars due to their thin atmosphere and freezing temperatures. At their extreme elevations of more than 6,000 meters above sea level, experts had concluded that mammalian life simply wasn't possible. But researchers reporting October 23 in the journal Current Biol
The Moon is 40 million years older than previously thought
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27By analyzing tiny lunar crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, researchers recalculated the age of the Earth's Moon. Although previous assessments estimated the Moon as 4.425 billion years old, the new study discovered it is actually 4.46 billion years old - 40 million years older than previously thought. Led by researchers at the Field Museum and the University of Glasgow, the
Researchers capture first images of a radio 'ring of fire' solar eclipse
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology's Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (NJIT-CSTR) have captured the Oct. 14 solar eclipse in a way never seen before - recording the first radio images of an annular eclipse's famous "ring of fire" effect. The eclipse was partially visible to much of the continental U.S. for several hours that Saturday, though the full "ring of fire" effe
French Space Days India 2023 celebrates Indo-French collaboration
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27French Space Days India 2023, organized by Business France in partnership with CNES, GIFAS, ISpA, IFCCI and supported by IN-Space and ISRO, concluded with remarkable achievements and key figures that underscored the strength of bilateral space cooperation. This four-day immersive event, spread across Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, brought together visionaries and experts from France an
Fugro SpAARC's operations set to grow with new funding from Western Australian Govt
Tuesday, 24 October 2023 01:27Fugro SpAARC's space operations set to grow with further funding from Western Australian Government Fugro's Space Automation, AI and Robotics Control Complex (SpAARC) in Perth, Western Australia (WA), is to receive an additional AUD 5 million in funding from the WA Government. Roger Cook, the WA Premier, made the announcement at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Perth on the morning of the opening
SwRi wins QuickSounder weather satellite contract
Monday, 23 October 2023 21:53Space Force identifying priorities for modernizing spaceports
Monday, 23 October 2023 19:23China adds Belarus as partner for ILRS moon base
Monday, 23 October 2023 16:36A Russian satellite has shifted within 60 km of another spacecraft
Monday, 23 October 2023 15:55When it comes to saber-rattling, few countries employ it as much as Russia does. During their ongoing invasion and occupation of Ukraine, the country's leadership has repeatedly threatened to use atomic weapons. But the threats don't stop there.
A private company called Slingshot Aerospace says Russia has maneuvered one of their Luch satellites uncomfortably close to Western spacecraft in GEO (geostationary orbit.)
And it's not the first time.
The satellite in question is named Luch (Olymp) 2 and its Norad ID is 55841. Russia launched it in March of 2023, and it's a successor to Luch (Olymp) Norad ID 40258. The naming conventions are a little confusing, but Luch 1 was a well-known interloper.
Two groups look at the economic viability of mining asteroids
Monday, 23 October 2023 14:02Two teams of economists have conducted economic assessments of mining asteroids—one of them is a trio with one member each from the University of Tor Rome Vergata, the University of Maryland and Middlebury College. They looked at asteroid mining as part of the next logical step in monetizing space exploration.
The second group, with three members from the Colorado School of Mines and a fourth with the International Monetary Fund, focused more on the challenges that would have to be surmounted for industry to capitalize on assets that are currently free for the taking on asteroids. Both groups have published papers describing their efforts in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Prior research has shown that there are valuable materials on asteroids. This includes diamonds and perhaps other gems, but the truly valuable materials are more likely to be metals that are highly valued but in short supply here on Earth, such as cobalt, nickel and platinum. Such metals have seen a rise in value in recent years as they have been used in a host of modern technology products such as batteries, solar panels and windmill parts.