China Successfully Launches Gaofen 11E Remote-Sensing Satellite
Sunday, 21 July 2024 22:14
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 21, 2024
China launched a remote-sensing satellite on Friday morning to fulfill several tasks, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor.
The State-owned conglomerate said in a news release that the Gaofen 11E was carried by a Long March 4B rocket that lifted off at 11:03 am at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in North China's Shanxi province

Washington DC and Milwaukee Among US Cities Most at Risk from Space Weather
Sunday, 21 July 2024 22:14
London, UK (SPX) Jul 21, 2024
Several cities in the United States, including the nation's capital, have power grids particularly vulnerable to space weather, according to new research. However, the reasons for this susceptibility remain unclear.
The British Geological Survey (BGS) conducted a study revealing that some US regions are more prone to the impacts of geomagnetic storms. These storms are caused by solar flare

New Method to Accurately Predict Solar Storms to Protect Earth's Technology
Sunday, 21 July 2024 22:14
London, UK (SPX) Jul 21, 2024
Space storms could soon be forecasted with greater accuracy thanks to significant advancements in predicting when a violent solar eruption may impact Earth. Scientists have developed a method to determine the exact speed of a coronal mass ejection (CME) and predict its impact on Earth before it fully erupts from the Sun.
CMEs, which are bursts of gas and magnetic fields from the solar atmo

ESA stations support three Moon missions in 2024
Saturday, 20 July 2024 06:00
Happy International Moon Day!
ESA’s network of satellite communication stations – Estrack – continues to connect Earth and the Moon in 2024. ESA stations are supporting three new and returning partners this year: one of them carried ESA’s first scientific instrument to the lunar surface and another will deploy the first Moon rover made in Europe.
Juice prepares for historic double flyby of Moon and Earth
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Paris, France (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
Next month, ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will undertake a groundbreaking maneuver: the first combined lunar-Earth flyby. This precise operation, now being prepared at ESA mission control, will utilize the gravitational forces of the Moon and Earth in quick succession, setting Juice on course for its journey to Jupiter.
Juice represents Europe's inaugural mission to the Jupiter

NASA and Boeing finalize Starliner engine tests and proceed with analysis
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
NASA and Boeing engineers are currently evaluating the results from last week's engine tests conducted at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico. These efforts are part of the preparations for the return of the Boeing Crew Flight Test from the International Space Station in the coming weeks.
Teams have completed ground hot fire testing at White Sands and are in the process of analy

LRO Mini-RF data reveals extensive cave network beneath lunar surface
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
An international team of scientists has uncovered new evidence of caves beneath the Moon's surface using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
The re-analysis of radar data from LRO's Mini-RF (Miniature Radio-Frequency) instrument, collected in 2010, revealed a cave extending over 200 feet from the base of a pit. This pit is situated 230 miles northeast of the historic Apoll

Lunar swirls influenced by soil structure
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
Lunar swirls, characterized by their contrasting light and dark patches, exhibit more than just variations in brightness. The differences also encompass the structure of lunar soils and the grains within them.
Lunar swirls are distinct high- and low-albedo patterns found on the Moon's surface, both in the dark basalt plains known as mare and the bright highland regions. The origins of thes

NASA rover finds pure sulfur crystals in Martian rock
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
Among several recent findings, the rover has found rocks made of pure sulfur - a first on the Red Planet.
Scientists were stunned on May 30 when a rock that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover drove over cracked open to reveal something never seen before on the Red Planet: yellow sulfur crystals.
Since October 2023, the rover has been exploring a region of Mars rich with sulfates, a kind of

Astronomers Discover Unique Orbit of Rare Exoplanet with WIYN Telescope
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 18, 2024
Astronomers using the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope at the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF NOIRLab, have found an exoplanet with a highly unusual orbit. This planet is on a trajectory to become a hot Jupiter and has one of the most elongated orbits of all known transiting exoplanets, as well as a reverse orbit around its star. This discovery sheds lig

Discovery of intermediate-mass black hole near galactic center
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 19, 2024
An international team of researchers, led by PD Dr. Florian Peissker, has identified signs of an intermediate-mass black hole while studying a star cluster near the supermassive black hole SgrA* (Sagittarius A*) at the center of our galaxy.
Despite extensive research, only about ten intermediate-mass black holes have been discovered throughout the universe. These black holes, believed to h

Exoplanet's Unique Orbit Sheds Light on Formation of Massive Gas Giants
Friday, 19 July 2024 18:48
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 18, 2024
Astronomers have identified a planet with the most elongated orbit ever detected among transiting planets. This exoplanet's highly stretched orbit provides new insights into the formation and evolution of close-in massive gas planets, also known as hot Jupiters. Remarkably, the exoplanet orbits its star in the opposite direction to the star's rotation.
The study, led by Penn State research
