InSight mission: Mars unveiled
Thursday, 22 July 2021 18:25
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Using information obtained from around a dozen earthquakes detected on Mars by the Very Broad Band SEIS seismometer, developed in France, the international team of NASA's InSight mission has unveiled the internal structure of Mars. The three papers published on July 23, 2021 in the journal Science, involving numerous co-authors from French institutions and laboratories, including the CNRS, the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, and Université de Paris, and supported in particular by the French space agency CNES and the French National Research Agency ANR, provide, for the first time, an estimate of the size of the planet's core, the thickness of its crust and the structure of its mantle, based on the analysis of seismic waves reflected and modified by interfaces in its interior. It makes this the first ever seismic exploration of the internal structure of a terrestrial planet other than Earth, and an important step towards understanding the formation and thermal evolution of Mars.
Scientists determine Mars crustal thickness
Thursday, 22 July 2021 17:00 Write a comment
Based on the analysis of marsquakes recorded by NASA's InSight mission, the structure of Mars's crust has now been determined in absolute numbers for the first time. Beneath the InSight landing site, the crust is either approximately 20 or 39 kilometers thick. That is the result of an international research team led by geophysicist Dr.
NorthStar developing prototype Earth observation system for marine and coastal tracking
Thursday, 22 July 2021 16:45 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — NorthStar Earth & Space, a startup developing a constellation for tracking other satellites, has secured Canadian government funding for a prototype Earth observation monitoring system to combat climate change.
Montréal-based NorthStar said July 22 it is working with the Canadian Coast Guard on the project, using an airborne hyperspectral sensor system to monitor sensitive marine and coastal environments.
Exodus Orbitals is developing an open satellite platform
Thursday, 22 July 2021 10:30 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Canadian startup Exodus Orbitals plans to launch its first satellite in March to take the software-defined space trend a step further, providing a platform for third parties to upload and run their applications from orbit.
Picture-frame-sized CubeSat antenna reaches orbit
Thursday, 22 July 2021 09:53 Write a comment
An ESA project has developed satellite antenna the size of a small picture frame, intended for miniature CubeSats. Built by Polish company WiRan the antenna found its first customer as soon as it was finalised, and is already serving in space.
Manipulating magnets in the quest for fusion
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58 Write a comment
After decades of plasma physics research, Senior Research Scientist Brian LaBombard is taking on magnets for MIT's new fusion effort.
"You get the high field, you get the performance."
Senior Research Scientist Brian LaBombard is summarizing what might be considered a guiding philosophy behind designing and engineering fusion devices at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). Begin Planetary shields will buckle under stellar winds from their dying stars
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58 Write a comment
Any life identified on planets orbiting white dwarf stars almost certainly evolved after the star's death, says a new study led by the University of Warwick that reveals the consequences of the intense and furious stellar winds that will batter a planet as its star is dying. The research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and lead author Dr Dimitri Veras will pres SuperBIT: A low-cost balloon-borne telescope to rival Hubble
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58 Write a comment
Durham, Toronto and Princeton Universities have teamed up with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency to build a new kind of astronomical telescope. SuperBIT flies above 99.5% of the Earth's atmosphere, carried by a helium balloon the size of a football stadium. The telescope will make its operational debut next April and when deployed should obtain high-resolution images rivalling those of the Hubb Long-period oscillations of the Sun discovered
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58 Write a comment
These motions were measured by analyzing 10 years of observations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Using computer models, the scientists have shown that the newly discovered oscillations are resonant modes and owe their existence to the Sun's differential rotation. The oscillations will help establish novel ways to probe the Sun's interior and obtain information about our star's inn Britain supports U.S. plan for deep space radar station
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58 Write a comment
A U.S. Space Force plan to position a system in Britain to monitor spacecraft up to 22,400 miles from earth drew the approval of the Royal Air Force chief.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston, in the United States to examine the plans, said Britain is "very interested" in hosting an element of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability, under development by the Space and Missile Systems Expanding space fuels global growth in patent filings
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:40 Write a comment
The explosive growth in space activity in recent years is observed through a new lens in the pages of a major study of global and European space-related patents. At the same time as membership of the global space club increases, and yearly number of space launches goes on growing, a steepening of patent filings in both Europe and across the world suggest a maturing market, as key players seek to defend their intellectual assets.
Space-based connectivity comes another step closer
Thursday, 22 July 2021 07:59 Write a comment
A world in which people can connect to one another instantly and reliably through space-enabled laser communications has just come closer. A study has now identified how to create high-speed broadband in space.
FAA revises criteria for commercial astronaut wings
Thursday, 22 July 2021 01:05 Write a comment
EL PASO, Texas — The Federal Aviation Administration has revised its criteria for awarding astronaut wings to those flying on commercial spacecraft, making the requirements stricter while including a significant loophole.
The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation issued an order July 20 describing its FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program and the criteria for awarding them.
Russia launches Nauka module to space station after years of delay
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10 Write a comment
After years of delays, Russia launched a new multipurpose laboratory module named Nauka to the International Space Station on Wednesday from Kazakhstan.
A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the module lifted off about10:58 a.m. EDT from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome. The mission reached a successful orbit, according to NASA.
Besides a laboratory, whose name means "science" in Englis NASA funds hopper to explore lunar polar craters
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10 Write a comment
Arizona State University is partnering with Intuitive Machines on a mini extreme mobility lunar vehicle, called Micro-Nova, that will hop around the moon's surface and take the first-ever pictures inside craters close to the lunar south pole.
On July 16, 2021, NASA awarded the project a $41.6 million "Tipping Point" contract to develop, fly and operate a deployable lunar "hopper lander" on