NASA pilots use specialty suits to validate data
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 15:27
Welcome to NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem Postlaunch Airborne eXperiment (PACE-PAX). We've been talking about this validation campaign and now are finally here. "Here" being one of three main locations where PACE-PAX validation efforts are taking place: NASA's Armstrong Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
PACE-PAX uses the unique vantage point of the ER-2 aircraft to gather data on small particles in the atmosphere and ultimately help verify the data gathered by the satellite in orbit.
NASA's ER-2 aircraft flies high in the sky—approximately 70,000 feet in altitude, where the pilot can see the curvature of Earth. At that high an altitude, pilots must be equipped with a uniform closer to that of an astronaut rather than a flight suit. In fact, while flying the ER-2, the pilot sports a pressurized suit that is essentially a spacesuit.
"The spacesuit is the last line of defense against the elements at altitude," said Kirt Stallings, an ER-2 research pilot. "If the aircraft cabin lost pressurization the spacesuit would automatically inflate protecting the pilot from the elements and allowing them to safely recover the aircraft.
Walking on the Moon in Cologne: Europe's lunar life simulator
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:39
A large, ordinary-looking warehouse in the German city of Cologne is the closest you can get to walking on the moon—without leaving Earth.
The facility known as LUNA, which was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, is the world's most faithful recreation of the lunar surface, according to the European Space Agency (ESA).
European astronauts will train inside the unique simulator and test equipment that will one day travel to the moon—including potentially on NASA's upcoming Artemis program, which plans to send humans there on a mission in a few years.
From the outside, it looks like a huge white hangar in a corner of the German Aerospace Center on the outskirts of Cologne.
China launches eight satellites using Smart Dragon 3 rocket
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
On Tuesday morning, China launched a Smart Dragon 3 carrier rocket from the coast of Haiyang in Shandong province, successfully deploying eight satellites into space. According to the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, the satellites were placed into their designated orbital positions shortly after the rocket's launch at 10:31 am from a launch service ship. This marks the fourth sea-bas New Glenn second stage completes successful hotfire test ahead of November launch
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Blue Origin's New Glenn second stage (GS2) successfully completed a critical hotfire test Tuesday, marking a key step toward its first flight, set for November from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 36. The NG-1 mission will carry Blue Ring technology as its first payload.
The 15-second hotfire test was the first time the vehicle operated as a fully integrated system. This test was conducted A Striped Surprise
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Last week, team scientists and the internet alike were amazed when Perseverance spotted a black-and-white striped rock unlike any seen on Mars before. Is this a sign of exciting discoveries to come?
It has now nearly been a month since the rover began its climb up the steep slopes leading to the crater rim, on the hunt for ancient rocks that could teach us about early Martian history. Whil Nuclear strategies tested at Sandia could avert asteroid disaster
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Sandia National Laboratories is exploring a coordinated nuclear response to deflect potentially catastrophic asteroids, according to physicist Nathan Moore. His team is using Sandia's Z machine-the world's most powerful pulsed-power facility-to simulate asteroid deflection scenarios and gather critical data on how asteroids of different compositions respond to such methods.
"To most people Astronomers catch a glimpse of a uniquely inflated and asymmetric exoplanet
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Astronomers from the University of Arizona, along with an international group of researchers, observed the atmosphere of a hot and uniquely inflated exoplanet using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The exoplanet, which is the size of Jupiter but only a tenth of its mass, is found to have east-west asymmetry in its atmosphere, meaning that there is a significant difference between the two edges DECam Study Reveals Dense Galactic Clusters Around Early Universe Quasars
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Astronomers using the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) have confirmed that early-Universe quasars are surrounded by densely packed galaxies, solving a long-standing debate. DECam's wide field of view and unique filters allowed astronomers to gain new insights into the quasar neighborhoods, explaining why previous studies have produced inconsistent results.
Quasars are extremely bright celestial Dark Matter May Experience Forces Beyond Gravity
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
The mystery of dark matter continues to challenge scientists, and new findings from the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC) suggest that dark matter may not behave according to previous assumptions. While it is commonly believed that dark matter only interacts via gravity, a recent study indicates that dark matter experiences additional forces that may reshape our understanding of the Uni Lab Findings Suggest Some Indicators of Life on Exoplanets May Be Misleading
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
A new study led by the University of Colorado Boulder has shown that gases often seen as indicators of life on distant planets may not be as reliable as previously thought. Researchers managed to recreate dimethyl sulfide - a molecule traditionally associated with biological activity - in a lab without the involvement of living organisms.
Published in 'Astrophysical Journal Letters', the s New optical atomic clock design simplifies technology without losing precision
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Researchers have unveiled an optical atomic clock that operates with a single laser and functions at room temperature, dramatically simplifying the design without compromising on accuracy or stability. This breakthrough could lead to the development of compact and portable high-performance atomic clocks.
"Over the last two decades, many great advances have been made in the performance of n NJIT secures NSF grant to develop AI-driven solar eruption forecasting system
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Researchers at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have received a $593,864 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop an AI-powered system that enhances the forecasting of solar eruptions, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This three-year initiative, led by Yan Xu from NJIT's Institute for Space Weather Sciences (ISWS) and Jason Wang from the uni Draco set to capture data during satellite destruction
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
For nearly 70 years of spaceflight, around 10,000 satellites and rocket bodies have reentered Earth's atmosphere, with many more to follow. However, what happens to a satellite during its final moments of destruction remains unclear.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is preparing the Destructive Reentry Assessment Container Object (Draco) mission, designed to capture unique in-flight data du IBM and NASA unveil open-source AI model for climate and weather applications
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
IBM (NYSE: IBM) has introduced a new open-source AI foundation model aimed at weather and climate analysis, now available to researchers, developers, and businesses. Created in collaboration with NASA and with contributions from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the model is designed for a wide array of weather-related tasks and long-term climate projections.
The model's architecture allows f Xi emphasizes China's drive to lead in space exploration
Wednesday, 25 September 2024 13:17
Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an accelerated push in China's space sector, urging aerospace workers to build on their recent achievements and continue advancing the nation's space ambitions. Speaking on Monday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi addressed representatives of space scientists and engineers involved in the Chang'e-6 lunar mission, underscoring the importanc