An enormous burst of gamma rays, detected by ESA’s Integral space telescope, has struck Earth. The blast caused a significant disturbance in our planet’s ionosphere. Such disturbances are usually associated with energetic particle events on the Sun but this one was the result of an exploding star almost two billion light-years away. Analysing the effects of the blast could provide information about the mass extinctions in Earth’s history.

Washington DC (UPI) Nov 13, 2023
Every construction worker who ever accidentally left their tools at their worksite now has something in common with NASA astronauts, who lost a tool bag worth $100,000 during a spacewalk on Nov. 1, the space agency announced. The white satchel, which can now be seen orbiting the Earth with a telescope or a good pair of binoculars, is hovering about 200 miles above the planet. The bag el

Eindhoven, Netherlands (AFP) Nov 14, 2023
Climate crises, nuclear Armageddon, or a sudden meteor strike - it's clear humanity could do with Planet B. But first we need to learn to reproduce safely in space, says Dutch entrepreneur Egbert Edelbroek. Edelbroek's firm, Spaceborn United, is pioneering space sex research, with the eventual aim of natural conception and birth in the partial gravity environment found on Mars. The chal

Boston MA (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
On Nov. 9, a Lincoln Laboratory-developed laser communications terminal integrated on a NASA-built payload was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle. Cameras inside the launch vehicle enabled the laboratory and a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center team to watch as the payload headed for the International Space Station (ISS), a football-field-sized research platform orbiting Earth about 250 mil

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Fino Mornasco, Italy (SPX) Nov 14, 2023 D-Orbit, a leader in space logistics and orbital transportation, marked another milestone with the successful launch of its 12th commercial mission, Cosmic Wander, aboard SpaceX's Transporter-9 mission. The mission took off at 10:49 AM PT from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, deploying the ION Satellite Carrier into a sun-synchronous orbit at 52

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Airbus has launched a groundbreaking technology designed to mitigate the risks posed by tumbling satellites in space. The innovative device, named "Detumbler," was developed in association with Exotrail and EnduroSat and is scheduled for an in-orbit demonstration early in 2024. The Detumbler represents a significant advancement in addressing the challenges of space debris, particularly in Low Ea

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Ensign-Bickford Aerospace and Defense (EBAD) has once again marked its presence in the ever-evolving space industry with its innovative NEA Payload Release Modules (PRM), playing a pivotal role in the recent SpaceX Transporter-9 Rideshare mission. This achievement not only showcases the PRM's advanced dispensing capabilities but also highlights EBAD's commitment to delivering high-quality aerosp

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
ICEYE, a prominent name in persistent monitoring and natural catastrophe solutions using radar imaging satellites, has recently fortified its constellation with the successful deployment of four new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellites. Launched on November 11 via SpaceX's Transporter-9 smallsat rideshare mission, coordinated by Exolaunch, these satellites took flight from Vandenberg Space

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF's NOIRLab, is now peering deeper into the dusty dwellings of young stars with its new IGRINS-2 instrument. This next-generation spectrograph is an upgraded version of the high-demand visiting instrument IGRINS on Gemini South that will expand our understanding of cosmic objects shrouded by dust and gas. IGRINS-2

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 14, 2023
The dream of colonizing Mars has taken a significant leap forward thanks to groundbreaking research led by scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This research, recently published in Nature Synthesis, outlines a novel method for synthesizing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts using Martian meteorites, driven by an