For the first time, the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has observed the chemical signature of carbon-rich dust grains at redshift ~ 7 [1], which is roughly equivalent to one billion years after the birth of the Universe [2]. Similar observational signatures have been observed in the much more recent Universe, attributed to complex, carbon-based molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). It is not thought likely, however, that PAHs would have developed within the first billion years of cosmic time.

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After completing its mission in orbit, ESA’s wind mission Aeolus will soon reenter Earth's atmosphere. Currently orbiting 320 km above, Aeolus is being kept in orbit with its remaining fuel. This fuel is running out, and the satellite will soon succumb to Earth’s atmosphere and gravity.  

Going above and beyond what the satellite was technically designed to do, ESA is attempting a first-of-its-kind assisted reentry to reduce the (already very small) risk of damage from any fragments that survive the journey and reach the ground.

ESA held an online media briefing on 19 July 2023 to explain more about this assisted

Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Jul 19, 2023
The new supercomputer "Urania" has been put into operation by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam. With 6,048 compute-cores and 22 Terabyte of memory it is just as powerful as its predecessor, but requires only half the electricity to operate. Scientists in the Astrophysical and Cosmological Relativity department are now able to compute gravitational waveforms of coales

Urbana IL (SPX) Jul 14, 2023
Mars rovers have teams of human experts on Earth telling them what to do. But robots on lander missions to moons orbiting Saturn or Jupiter are too far away to receive timely commands from Earth. Researchers in the Departments of Aerospace Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a novel learning-based method so robots on extraterrestrial bodies c

Paris (ESA) Jul 19, 2023
No two missions are the same but launches have many milestones and features in common with each other: a satellite or spacecraft is launched on a gravity-defying rocket into space, after it separates and, exact sequences differ but it is woken up, solar arrays are deployed, instruments are switched on and tested and its thrusters are fired to get it where it needs to be. Five years ago, Ae

Boston MA (SPX) Jul 14, 2023
Many scholars, analysts, and other observers have suggested that resistance to innovation is an Achilles' heel of authoritarian regimes. Such governments can fail to keep up with technological changes that help their opponents; they may also, by stifling rights, inhibit innovative economic activity and weaken the long-term condition of the country. But a new study co-led by an MIT professo

Tucson AZ (SPX) Jul 19, 2023
David Grinspoon, a Senior Scientist at Planetary Science Institute has been appointed by NASA to be the new Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe. As Senior Scientist for Astrobiology Strategy at NASA Grinspoon will serve as the Agency's senior leader for astrobiology, spearheading efforts from NASA

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 19, 2023
The universe is full of powerful supermassive black holes that create powerful jets of high-energy particles, creating sources of extreme brightness in the vastness of space. When one of those jets points directly at Earth, scientists call the black hole system a blazar. To understand why particles in the jet move with great speeds and energies, scientists look to NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ra

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 17, 2023
Earth planning date: Monday, July 17, 2023. Today we planned a two sol "Touch and Go" plan. Our weekend drive successfully brought us about 28 metres, bringing us closer to the "crater cluster," a series of small craters grouped close together. These craters were created by meteoroid impacts, probably from a single meteoroid that broke up before it reached the surface. So this mini campaig

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 19, 2023
Engineers and technicians at Cape Canaveral are preparing the Psyche spacecraft for liftoff, which is slated for Oct. 5. With less than 100 days to go before its Oct. 5 launch, NASA's Psyche spacecraft is undergoing final preparations at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Teams of engineers and technicians are working almost around the clock to ensure the orbiter is ready to journey 2.5 billion mile