Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
New research has revealed the distribution of dark matter in never before seen detail, down to a scale of 30,000 light-years. The observed distribution fluctuations provide better constraints on the nature of dark matter. Mysterious dark matter accounts for most of the matter in the Universe. Dark matter is invisible and makes itself know only through its gravitational effects. Dark matter

Leicester UK (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
A star like our own Sun in a nearby galaxy is gradually being eaten away by a small but ravenous black hole, losing the equivalent mass of three Earths every time it passes close. The discovery by University of Leicester astronomers is reported today (7 September) in Nature Astronomy and provides a 'missing link' in our knowledge of black holes disrupting orbiting stars. It suggests a whole mena

Osaka, Japan (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
There are many unexplained anomalies in the orbits and distribution of trans-Neptunian objects, small celestial bodies located at the outer reaches of the solar system. Now, based on detailed computer simulations of the early outer solar system, researchers from Japan predict the possibility of an undiscovered Earth-like planet beyond Neptune orbiting the Sun. Should this prediction come true, i

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 06, 2023
Earth planning date: Wednesday, September 6, 2023: Today I served on the rover science operations team as the Geology theme group Keeper of the Plan, otherwise known as the "GKOP." The GKOP operates the software that is specifically designed to help the science team build a plan of geology-focused observations that fit within the pre-determined duration of the science blocks on each sol. T

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
NASA's LRO - the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - spacecraft imaged the Chandrayaan-3 landing site on the Moon's surface. The Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) Chandrayaan-3 touched down on the Moon on Aug. 23, 2023. The Chandrayaan-3 landing site is located about 600 kilometers from the Moon's South Pole. The circumference of the Moon is approximately 10,917 kilometers (6,783 mile

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 11, 2023
Earth planning date: Friday, September 1, 2023: Most long weekend plans are packed with lots of fun science, and this weekend's plan - to get us through the US Labor Day holiday - was no exception. But the way this one was packed had an unusual pattern to it - many of our activities came in pairs! The rarest pair was two separate uses of the DRT - it has been more than 200 sols since we last had

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
Every morning and afternoon, like clockwork, the surface of the Moon trembles with tiny "moonquakes." Now, new analysis of seismic activity on the Moon has characterized these events and discovered that some of them are not what they seem. The new research is described in a study appearing in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets on September 5. Without an atmosphere to insul

Washington DC (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
Early morning on Sunday, Sept. 24, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft's sample capsule will come face-to-face with Earth's atmosphere for the first time since the mission's 2016 launch. On board are an estimated 8.8 ounces, or 250 grams, of rocky material collected from the surface of Bennu in 2020 - NASA's first asteroid sample and the largest ever collected in space. When it approaches Earth, the

Stennis Space Center MS (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
Relativity Space, has signed an enhanced use lease agreement (EULA) on the vertical test stand at the A-2 complex within NASA's historic Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. The agreement marks the first time a commercial tenant has modernized an underutilized legacy test stand at NASA Stennis, signifying the strength of the public-private partnership between the two entities. Th

Long Beach CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2023
SpinLaunch, a pioneering space company enabling rapid and sustainable low-cost access to space, and the Sumitomo Corporation ("SC") of Japan, a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company, have formed a strategic partnership to expand the global market for affordable and sustainable space services. Sumitomo has also made an investment in SpinLaunch. In recent years,