NASA to demonstrate laser communications from Space Station
Tuesday, 29 August 2023 10:20
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 29, 2023
NASA uses the International Space Station - a football field-sized spacecraft orbiting Earth - to learn more about living and working in space. For over 20 years, the space station has provided a unique platform for investigation and research in areas like biology, technology, agriculture, and more. It serves as a home for astronauts conducting experiments, including advancing NASA's space commu

UNIDIR and SWF Introduce the Space Security Lexicon: Bridging the Gap in Space Terminology
Tuesday, 29 August 2023 10:20
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Aug 29, 2023
The intricacies of space security terminology can sometimes create barriers in international discussions. With the rapid evolution of space technology and policies, the need for a universal understanding of terms has become imperative. Recognizing this void, the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) and the Secure World Foundation (SWF) have crafted the "Space Security Lexic

Benchmark wins AFRL award to develop thrusters for ASCENT
Tuesday, 29 August 2023 10:00

Webb captures a cosmic Whirlpool
Tuesday, 29 August 2023 07:00
The graceful winding arms of the grand-design spiral galaxy M51 stretch across this image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Unlike the menagerie of weird and wonderful spiral galaxies with ragged or disrupted spiral arms, grand-design spiral galaxies boast prominent, well-developed spiral arms like the ones showcased in this image. This galactic portrait is a composite image that integrates data from Webb’s Near-InfraRed Camera (NIRCam) and the innovative Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), half of which was contributed by Europe.
In this image the dark red regions trace the filamentary warm dust permeating the medium of the galaxy. The red regions show
NASA confirms multi-year delay in next New Frontiers competition
Monday, 28 August 2023 22:08

After Moon landing, India eyes the Sun
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
New Delhi (AFP) Aug 28, 2023
Days after becoming the first nation to land a craft near the Moon's largely unexplored south pole, India's space agency said on Monday it will launch a satellite to survey the Sun.
"The launch of Aditya-L1, the first space-based Indian observatory to study the Sun, is scheduled for September 2," the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Aditya,

Accretion disks: How big are they really?
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 25, 2023
Using the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF's NOIRLab, astronomers have detected for the first time evidence of the presence of an accretion disk within the active galactic nucleus of galaxy III Zw 002. Using two rare and peculiar near-infrared emission lines, these observations place firm limits on the size of the galaxy's accretion disk a

How a cup of water can unlock the secrets of our Universe
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
London, UK (SPX) Aug 24, 2023
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have made a discovery that could change our understanding of the universe. In their study published in Science Advances, they reveal, for the first time, that there is a range in which fundamental constants can vary, allowing for the viscosity needed for life processes to occur within and between living cells. This is an important piece of the puz

In the service of planetary science, astrophysics and heliophysics
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Boulder CO (SPX) Aug 25, 2023
New Horizons is healthy, in active operations mode and speeding across the Kuiper Belt. Just as it did while hibernating from June 2022 through February 2023, the spacecraft is collecting round-the-clock data on our Sun's cocoon in the galaxy called the heliosphere.
I am even more excited about an intense period of diverse science observations that is stretching across August and September

Lockheed Martin to supply 36 Small Satellites to advance SDA satcom network
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Littleton CO (SPX) Aug 22, 2023
The Space Development Agency (SDA) awarded Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) a firm-fixed price agreement valued at approximately $816 million to build 36 Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) Beta satellites. T2TL is part of an overarching plan to strengthen deterrence with more resilient space architectures for beyond line-of-sight (BLOS) targeting, data transport, and advanced missile detection and trac

NASA's TEMPO sends first North American pollution data maps
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Washington DC (UPI) Aug 24, 2023
The first data maps from a NASA pollution-monitoring instrument were released Thursday. NASA's TEMPO device creates visual representations of pollution and air quality over North America from 22,000 miles above the equator.
"Neighborhoods and communities across the country will benefit from TEMPO's game-changing data for decades to come," NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a stateme

PILOTing through the magnetosphere: Using mission design to advance science
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 25, 2023
Not so long ago (2022), Advanced Space collaborated with a team of science and engineering organizations to help design a science mission to study the effects of the biggest space weather maker in the solar system: the Sun. The mission concept, called Plasma Imaging, LOcal measurement, and Tomographic experiment (PILOT), is designed to measure the flow of cold, dense plasma into and out of Earth

Russia fails to restart space exporation program, eyes Chinese cooperation
Monday, 28 August 2023 19:41
Sydney, Australia (The Conversation) Aug 24, 2023
This week, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had hoped to return to the Moon after an absence of nearly 50 years. Instead, on Saturday it lost control of its Luna-25 lander. The agency explained the spacecraft "switched to an off-design orbit and ceased to exist as a result of a collision with the lunar surface".
Yet, in an interview aired on state television, the agency's chief, Yuri Bor
