Twin Star Systems May Hold Key to Planet Formation Insights
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
Astronomers have developed a new approach to studying planet formation by focusing on "twin" binary star systems, where two stars born at the same time and place orbit each other. This fresh perspective, detailed in a Yale study, suggests that certain binary systems could offer unique insights into how planetary systems form, much like comparing human twins in biological research.
Malena R

Venus May Host Active Tectonics Driven by Subsurface Plumes
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
New findings from NASA's Magellan mission suggest that Venus may experience ongoing tectonic activity, driven by hot, buoyant plumes of molten material rising from its mantle. Unlike Earth, which has large, mobile tectonic plates, Venus has a single, continuous crust that deforms under internal forces. Researchers focused on structures known as coronae, vast circular features believed to form wh

Deploying a practical solution to space debris
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Boston MA (SPX) May 15, 2025
At this moment, there are approximately 35,000 tracked human-generated objects in orbit around Earth. Of these, only about one-third are active payloads: science and communications satellites, research experiments, and other beneficial technology deployments. The rest are categorized as debris - defunct satellites, spent rocket bodies, and the detritus of hundreds of collisions, explosions, plan

Nose cone glitch wipes Australian rocket launch
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Sydney (AFP) May 16, 2025
An Australian aerospace firm said Friday it has scrubbed a historic attempt to send a locally developed rocket into orbit, citing a glitch in the nose cone protecting its payload - a jar of Vegemite.
An electrical fault erroneously deployed the opening mechanism of the carbon-fibre nose cone during pre-flight testing, Gilmour Space Technologies said.
The nose cone is designed to shield

Reflect Orbital Raises $20 Million in Series A Funding to Advance Satellite Constellation
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
Reflect Orbital has secured $20 million in Series A funding to accelerate the deployment of its satellite constellation designed to deliver sunlight on demand. The round was led by Lux Capital, with additional backing from Sequoia Capital and Starship Ventures.
The company is focused on creating a network of satellites capable of reflecting sunlight to Earth for large-scale lighting and en

Space Forge Secures Largest UK Space Tech Series A to Advance In-Orbit Manufacturing
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
London, UK (SPX) May 15, 2025
Space Forge, a leader in space-based advanced materials manufacturing, has secured Pounds 22.6 million (approximately $30 million) in Series A funding, marking the largest such investment in UK space technology history. The funding round was led by the NATO Innovation Fund, with participation from the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), World Fund, and the British Business Bank

York Space Systems Bard Mission Set for Launch to Test Advanced Communications for NASA
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
York Space Systems (York), the Denver-based aerospace firm specializing in rapid mission deployment, has confirmed its Bard mission is ready for launch. The mission will test the Polylingual Experimental Terminal (PExT), a cutting-edge communications system developed in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Pro

Two Earth Return Missions in Two Months Highlight Rocket Lab's Rapid Re-entry Capabilities
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
Rocket Lab has achieved a rapid turnaround of two Earth return missions within just two months, successfully delivering Varda Space Industries' W-3 capsule back to Earth. This marks the third overall success in Varda's W-series missions, highlighting Rocket Lab's growing expertise in hypersonic re-entry logistics.
The latest mission saw the W-3 capsule return at 02:07 a.m. UTC on May 14, f

More int'l space cooperation now that Norway is 55th Artemis Accords partner
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Washington DC (UPI) May 15, 2025
Norway became the 55th nation to sign the Artemis Accords during a ceremony in Oslo Thursday, agreeing to a pact designed to promote international cooperation in space exploration.
"The United States and Norway have a longstanding relationship in space," a release from the U.S. State Department said. "Collaboration stretches back to 1962, when NASA supported the first suborbital rocket

NASA Observes First Visible-light Auroras at Mars
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Boulder CO (SPX) May 15, 2025
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover made history by detecting them for the first time from the surface of another planet, and MAVEN confirmed the detection.
On March 15, 2024, near the peak of the current solar cycle, the Sun produced a solar flare and an accompanying coronal mass ejection (CME), a massive explosion of gas and magnetic energy that carries with it large amounts of solar energeti

What Martian Craters Reveal About Subsurface Composition
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 15, 2025
A team of planetary scientists has discovered a new approach to explore the Martian subsurface using debris layers created by impact craters. The study shows that ejecta blankets - layers of rock and other material expelled during an impact event - can reveal significant details about the subsurface composition depending on the type of material beneath the crater. This breakthrough could enhance

Flavor Symmetry Anomaly Detected in High-Energy Nuclear Collisions
Friday, 16 May 2025 05:05
Berlin, Germany (SPX) May 12, 2025
An international team of physicists working on the NA61/SHINE experiment has discovered a striking violation of a fundamental quark-level symmetry known as flavor symmetry during high-energy nuclear collisions. This unexpected observation, made in collisions of argon and scandium atomic nuclei, challenges long-held assumptions about the behavior of quarks under extreme conditions and may hint at

Eutelsat’s DoD setback adds to GEO headwinds as LEO growth builds
Friday, 16 May 2025 03:27
The sudden loss of a large U.S.
House hearing on asteroid threats also takes up budget threats
Friday, 16 May 2025 01:47
A House hearing about how NASA is dealing with the threat posed by asteroid impacts turned into a discussion about impacts of budget cuts.
Norway signs Artemis Accords
Thursday, 15 May 2025 22:14
Norway signed the Artemis Accords May 15, a sign that the new administration continues to advance the document outlining best practices for responsible space exploration.