NASA will pay $500,000 for good ideas on food production in space
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
NASA is prepared to pay $500,000 for a good idea to help feed astronauts on long-term space missions with something other than dried, packaged food from Earth.
The space agency has set a July 30 deadline on its Deep Space Food Challenge, when it will choose a winning idea. The Canadian Space Agency launched a similar challenge with phased awards totaling $500,000 that will result in a g Could the surface of Phobos reveal secrets of the Martian past
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
The Martian moon Phobos orbits through a stream of charged atoms and molecules that flow off the Red Planet's atmosphere, new research shows.
Many of these charged particles, or ions, of oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, and argon, have been escaping Mars for billions of years as the planet has been shedding its atmosphere. Some ions, scientists predict, have been smashing into the surface of Phob Study reveals MESSENGER watched a meteoroid strike Mercury
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
NASA's MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to Mercury has been out of operation for nearly six years, but the data it collected keeps on giving, from revealing new insights about Venus' atmosphere to providing a new way to measure the length of time neutrons can survive on their own.
Now, a recent study in Nature Communications shows the spacecr NASA names leaders to key Agency roles
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
NASA has named appointees for senior agency positions. Bhavya Lal joins the agency as acting chief of staff, Phillip Thompson will serve as White House liaison, Alicia Brown will serve as associate administrator for the Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, and Marc Etkind will serve as associate administrator for the agency's Office of Communications. In addition, Jackie McGuinne Backreaction observed for first time in water tank black hole simulation
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
Scientists have revealed new insights into the behaviour of black holes with research that demonstrates how a phenomenon called backreaction can be simulated.
The team from the University of Nottingham have used their simulation of a black hole, involving a specially designed water tank, for this latest research published in Physical Review Letters. This study is the first to demonstrate t Searching for dark matter through the fifth dimension
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
Theoretical physicists of the PRISMA+ Cluster of Excellence at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz are working on a theory that goes beyond the Standard Model of particle physics and can answer questions where the Standard Model has to pass - for example, with respect to the hierarchies of the masses of elementary particles or the existence of dark matter.
The central element of the theory Astronomers detect extended dark matter halo around ancient dwarf galaxy
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
The Milky Way is surrounded by dozens of dwarf galaxies that are thought to be relics of the very first galaxies in the universe. Among the most primitive of these galactic fossils is Tucana II - an ultrafaint dwarf galaxy that is about 50 kiloparsecs, or 163,000 light years, from Earth.
Now MIT astrophysicists have detected stars at the edge of Tucana II, in a configuration that is surpri Kongsberg Geospatial improves BVLOS drone operations safety with a horizonless air picture
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
Kongsberg Geospatial, developer of the TerraLens Geospatial SDK, uAvionix, creators of the PingStation Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) transponder, and Aireon, developers of a space-based ADS-B network announced that they will be demonstrating a horizonless air picture to help improve drone operations safety in an upcoming online seminar hosted by the Association for Unmanned Connecting machines in remote regions
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
On Nov. 26, seven fishermen aboard a small fishing boat off the coast of Maharashtra in western India were struck with panic when their vessel was damaged and began to sink. The panic was warranted: The boat was too far from shore to radio for help.
Tens of thousands of fishermen find themselves in a similar situation around the world every year. Globally, the vast majority of small, deep- Hawkeye 360 deploys next-generation radio frequency sensing satellites
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
HawkEye 360 Inc., the first commercial company to use formation-flying satellites to create a new class of radio frequency (RF) data and data analytics, has announced that Cluster 2 - the company's second cluster of satellites - has successfully been deployed into orbit.
After launching aboard the SpaceX Falcon 9 this Sunday morning, the trio of satellites was dispensed from Spaceflight In Zero-G and gravity effects in Low Earth Orbits
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:48
A common misconception about astronauts orbiting the earth is that they are in a gravity-free environment. Unfortunately, according to Newtonian physics, gravity is everywhere present in the universe. Generally, the phenomenon of weightlessness is associated with the term, "zero-G" which would apply to situations in which there is an absence of forces on a body.
Weight as we know it is the Earth observation vital in monitoring wetland waters
Monday, 01 February 2021 08:00
Celebrated annually on 2 February, World Wetlands Day aims to raise global awareness about the importance of wetlands for our planet. This year’s theme shines a light on wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages actions to restore them. From their vantage point of 800 km high, Earth-observing satellites provide data and imagery on wetlands that can be used to monitor and manage these precious resources sustainably.
Entrepreneur purchases SpaceX Crew Dragon mission
Monday, 01 February 2021 00:20
WASHINGTON — An entrepreneur has purchased a SpaceX Crew Dragon mission slated for launch late this year that will include three other people as part of a project that is a mix of charity and commerce.
SpaceX announced Feb.
US billionaire buys SpaceX flight to orbit with 3 others
Sunday, 31 January 2021 21:31
Space tourism: new test flight planned for Virgin Galactic
Sunday, 31 January 2021 19:55
Space tourism company Virgin Galactic said Monday it planned a new test flight for its SpaceShipTwo craft this month after an aborted test in early December.
"The flight window will open on February 13 with opportunities to fly throughout February, pending good weather conditions and technical readiness," Richard Branson's company said.
"Pre-flight preparations are already underway at Spaceport America, New Mexico."
It added the flight would test remedial work completed since the December test when the onboard computer halted ignition of the rocket motor.
SpaceShipTwo had been expected to take its first passengers into space later this year.
So far, 600 people who have paid up to $250,000—Virgin Galactic calls them "future astronauts"—have been waiting for years to take their seat.
SpaceShipTwo's development was delayed by a devastating crash of the first one in 2014 due to a pilot error.
When fully functional, the spacecraft will be taken up by a special plane and released at high altitude.