3 Questions: Evidence for planetary formation through gravitational instability
Monday, 09 September 2024 13:37
Exoplanets form in protoplanetary disks, a collection of space dust and gas orbiting a star. The leading theory of planetary formation, called core accretion, occurs when grains of dust in the disk collect and grow to form a planetary core, like a snowball rolling downhill. Once it has a strong enough gravitational pull, other material collapses around it to form the atmosphere.
A secondar ALMA observations reveal gravitational instability in planet-forming disk
Monday, 09 September 2024 13:37
Planet formation has traditionally been described as a "bottom-up" process, where dust grains gradually clump together over millions of years, forming larger structures step by step. However, a competing theory suggests that planets can form much faster via a "top-down" process, where material in a protoplanetary disk fragments due to gravitational instability.
An international team of ast NASA's mini BurstCube mission detects mega blast
Monday, 09 September 2024 13:37
The shoebox-sized BurstCube satellite has observed its first gamma-ray burst, the most powerful kind of explosion in the universe, according to a recent analysis of observations collected over the last several months.
"We're excited to collect science data," said Sean Semper, BurstCube's lead engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "It's an important mileston Leah Harris Joins SpaceNews as Marketing, Advertising Operations, and Audience Development Manager
Monday, 09 September 2024 13:37
China is taking a keen interest in lava tubes as possible lunar habitats
Monday, 09 September 2024 12:17
Ensuring military resilience: spacecraft must integrate alternative PNT solutions
Monday, 09 September 2024 12:00
Goodnight, Cluster: brilliant end to trailblazing mission
Monday, 09 September 2024 05:00
The first satellite in ESA’s Cluster quartet safely came back down to Earth last night in a world-first ‘targeted reentry’, marking a brilliant end to this remarkable mission.
The spacecraft, dubbed ‘Salsa’ (Cluster 2), reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 20:47 CEST on 8 September 2024 over the South Pacific Ocean. In this region, any risk of fragments reaching land are absolutely minimised.
During the last two decades Cluster has spent in space, it has provided invaluable data on how the Sun interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, helping us better understand and forecast space weather. With this first-ever targeted reentry,
FAA to complete orbital debris upper stage regulations in 2025
Sunday, 08 September 2024 23:25
Cluster reentry explained: world's first targeted reentry
Sunday, 08 September 2024 13:15
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The first of four satellites that make up ESA’s Cluster mission is coming safely back down to Earth, marking a brilliant end to this remarkable mission.
The satellite’s orbit was tweaked back in January to target a region as far as possible from populated regions. This ensures that any spacecraft parts that survive the reentry will fall over open ocean.
During 24 years in space, Cluster has sent back precious data on how the Sun interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, helping us better understand and forecast potentially dangerous space weather.
With this first ever targeted reentry, Cluster goes down in history
In the shadow of war, diplomats and experts seek to ban weapons from space
Sunday, 08 September 2024 12:00
Boeing's beleaguered Starliner returns home without astronauts
Saturday, 07 September 2024 17:39
Boeing's beleaguered Starliner made its long-awaited return to Earth on Saturday without the astronauts who rode it up to the International Space Station, after NASA ruled the trip back too risky.
After years of delays, Starliner launched in June for what was meant to be a roughly weeklong test mission - a final shakedown before it could be certified to rotate crew to and from the orbital l Space travel comes with risk—SpaceX's Polaris Dawn mission will push the envelope further than ever
Saturday, 07 September 2024 10:10
Space is an unnatural environment for humans. We can't survive unprotected in a pure vacuum for more than two minutes. Getting to space involves being strapped to a barely contained chemical explosion.
Since 1961, fewer than 700 people have been into space. Private space companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin hope to boost that number to many thousands, and SpaceX is already taking bookings for flights to Earth orbit.
I'm an astronomer who has written extensively about space travel, including a book about our future off-Earth. I think a lot about the risks and rewards of exploring space.
As the commercial space industry takes off, there will be accidents and people will die. Polaris Dawn, planned to launch early in September 2024, will be a high-risk mission using only civilian astronauts. So, now is a good time to assess the risks and rewards of leaving the Earth.
Space travel is dangerous
Most Americans vividly recall the disasters that led to the loss of 14 astronauts' lives. Two of the five space shuttles disintegrated, Challenger in 1986 soon after launch and Columbia in 2003 on reentry.