Cosmic beasts and where to find them
Sunday, 17 January 2021 13:25
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Two giant radio galaxies have been discovered with South Africa's powerful MeerKAT telescope. These galaxies are thought to be amongst the largest single objects in the Universe. The discovery has been published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society .
The U.S. Postal Service to issue NASA sun science forever stamps
Sunday, 17 January 2021 12:22 Write a comment
NASA's images of the sun's dynamic and dazzling beauty have captivated the attention of millions. In 2021, the US Postal Service is showcasing the sun's many faces with a series of sun Science forever stamps that show images of solar activity captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, or SDO.
"I have been a stamp collector all my life and I can't wait to see NASA science highlighted in this way," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. "I feel that the natural world around us is as beautiful as art, and it's inspiring to be able to share the import and excitement of studying the sun with people around the country.
Virgin Orbit rocket reaches orbit, satellites deployed
Sunday, 17 January 2021 09:22 Write a comment
California-based Virgin Orbit made its first successful flight to orbit Sunday using a rocket launched from a plane over the Pacific Ocean, announcing later that the satellites aboard were released successfully.
The rocket soared into space at 2:40 p.m. EST after the company's Cosmic Girl aircraft, a modified Boeing 747-400, released it from beneath a wing.
"Payloads successfully Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reaches space on 2nd try
Sunday, 17 January 2021 08:26 Write a comment
Richard Branson's Virgin Orbit reached space on Sunday, eight months after the first demonstration flight of its air-launched rocket system failed, the company said.
A 70-foot-long (21.34-meter-long) LauncherOne rocket was released from beneath the wing of a Boeing 747 carrier aircraft off the coast of Southern California, ignited moments later and soared toward space.
The two-stage rocket carried a cluster of very small satellites known as CubeSats developed and built as part of a NASA educational program involving U.S.
Virgin Orbit reaches orbit on second LauncherOne mission
Saturday, 16 January 2021 22:21 Write a comment
Updated 7:20 p.m. Eastern with post-launch comments from Virgin Orbit.
COVINGTON, La. — Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket reached orbit on its second flight Jan. 17, demonstrating the performance of the air-launch system after years of development.
NASA test of mega Moon rocket engines cut short
Saturday, 16 January 2021 18:40 Write a comment
NASA conducted a test firing of the engines for its giant Space Launch System (SLS) lunar rocket on Saturday but they shut down earlier than planned, the space agency said.
The "hot-fire" test at the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi was supposed to last a little over eight minutes—the time the engines would burn in flight—but they shut down just over a minute into the burn.
"Teams are assessing the data to determine what caused the early shutdown, and will determine a path forward," NASA said in a statement.
The SLS rocket is intended to launch the Artemis missions that will take US astronauts back to the Moon.
Despite being cut short, NASA said the test of the RS-25 engines had provided valuable information for the planned missions.
NASA's moon rocket roars to life during shortened test-firing
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
NASA's plan to test its new moon rocket fell short of a scheduled eight-minute test-firing Saturday in Mississippi as the engines were shut down at just over a minute into the test.
The 212-foot-high core stage of the rocket roared to life at 5:27 p.m. at the John C. Stennis Space Center. The test created huge clouds of steam as 300 gallons of water per minute cooled the test stand to prev Virgin Orbit targets Sunday for LauncherOne mission from California
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
Virgin Orbit plans to try again Sunday to send 10 small science satellites for NASA and several universities into orbit using a rocket launched over the Pacific Ocean.
The mission is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PST when Virgin's Cosmic Girl aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, takes off from Mojave Air and Space Port 90 miles north of Los Angeles. The plane carries the LauncherOne rocket Earth Observation data could represent a billion-dollar opportunity for Africa
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
Earth Observation [EO] data provides a billion-dollar opportunity for economies on the African continent, one that could create jobs and build new resilience after COVID-19.
The newly released report Unlocking the Potential of Earth Observation to address Africa's critical challenges lays out the multiple economic benefits from EO data. The report was written in collaboration with Digital Could we harness energy from black holes
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
A remarkable prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity - the theory that connects space, time, and gravity - is that rotating black holes have enormous amounts of energy available to be tapped.
For the last 50 years, scientists have tried to come up with methods to unleash this power. Nobel physicist Roger Penrose theorized that a particle disintegration could draw energy from Teams crack code, qualify for final stage of NASA Space Robotics
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
NASA, in partnership with Space Center Houston - the official visitor center of NASA's Johnson Space Center- has selected 22 qualifying teams to compete in the competition round of Phase 2 of the Space Robotics Challenge. Eligible teams will advance to the final virtual competition round, which will begin in late January.
Phase 2 of the Space Robotics Challenge, a NASA Centennial Challenge OneWeb secures investment from Softbank and Hughes Network Systems
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communications company jointly owned by the UK Government and Bharti Global, has secured additional funding from SoftBank Group Corp. ("SoftBank") and Hughes Network Systems LLC ("Hughes"), bringing OneWeb's total funding to $1.4 billion. The capital raised to date positions the Company to be fully funded for its first-generation satellite fleet, total Leaf Space reaches 10 million euro funding
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
Leaf Space, the Italian ground segment as-a-service company focused on microsatellites, announced it has completed its Series A financing round of 5 million euro, bringing its total funding to 10 million euro. A contribution of 2 million euro came from Primo Space, the investment fund of Primomiglio SGR focused on investments in highly innovative companies in the space industry. The other 3 mill Major space station components cleared for operations
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
Three major components of China's space station program have passed technical and quality assessments and are ready for upcoming missions, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Experts from the agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp reviewed the design, construction and test reports on the space station's Tianhe core module, the Tianzh New research highlights image improvements using charge-injection devices
Saturday, 16 January 2021 05:41 Write a comment
The night sky is speckled with the light from hundreds of billions of stars within our galaxy. The brightest few thousand of these celestial bodies captivate the human eye and imagination. For astronomers seeking to detect undiscovered stars and, potentially, the planets around them, however, this brightness can be problematic as it may overwhelm the light coming from fainter, nearby objects.