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ESA and NASA are working hand in hand before the first Artemis mission to the Moon through a series of joint mission simulations. Teams based at the Erasmus Support Facility (ESF) at ESA’s ESTEC facility in The Netherlands, the German Space Operations Centre at ESA’s Columbus Control Centre in Oberphfaffenhofen and NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston are combining their expertise in a series of exercises to ensure a successful launch.
In a recent study submitted to Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, a team of researchers from Yale University investigated how to identify impact craters that may have been created by Interstellar Objects (ISOs). This study is intriguing as the examination of ISOs has gained notable interest throughout the scientific community since the discoveries and subsequent research of ‘Oumuamua and Comet 2I/Borisov in 2017 and 2019, respectively. In their paper, the Yale researchers discussed how the volume of impact melt within fixed-diameter craters could be a possible pathway for recognizing ISO craters, as higher velocity impacts produce greater volumes of impact melt.
When big spiral galaxies collide, they don’t end up as one really big spiral. Instead, they create a humongous elliptical galaxy. That’s the fate awaiting the Andromeda Galaxy and our Milky Way. They’ll tangle in a galactic dance starting in a few million years. Want to know what it’s going to look like when the action starts? The Gemini North telescope in Hawai’i just released a stunning image of two galaxies like ours tangling it up. These are NGC 4568 and NGC 4567 and their interaction provides a sneak peek at our galactic neighborhood in the distant future.
According to the most widely-accepted theory by astronomers, planetary systems begin as massive clouds of gas and dust (aka. a nebula) that experience gravitational collapse at the center to form new stars. The remaining matter in the system forms a “circumplanetary disk” around the star, which gradually accretes to form young planets. Studying disks in the earliest stages of planetary formation could help answer some hard questions about how the Solar System formed over 4.5 billion years ago.
Satellite images have revealed the extent of damage at Russia's Saki Air Base on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, currently occupied by Russian military forces.
The Super Heavy prototype Booster 7 fired one of its 33 Raptor engines for 20 seconds on Thursday (Aug. 11).
Astronomers have long considered Betelgeuse a candidate for a long-overdue supernova within our galaxy. Yet the red supergiant appears to be recovering following a mysterious 2019 event.
The Mengtian module arrived at Wenchang spaceport in south China on Tuesday (Aug. 9) after being shipped in containers from the northern port city of Tianjin.
A meteorite on Earth holds new evidence that asteroids do indeed mysteriously spit out pebbles, a new study finds.
Astronomers have found at least one dusty galaxy masquerading as a high-redshift galaxy, complicating the search for the first galaxies.
China has carried out its ninth orbital mission within the last 30 days, sending 16 new commercial satellites into orbit with a Long March 6 rocket.
NASA's InSight Mars lander has discovered little evidence of underground water at its site, but scientists are urging more research before drawing firm conclusions.
John Grunsfeld says NASA should embrace and expand the partnership between human space explorers and robotic ones.
Meteor showers occur when Earth passes through a trail of dust from asteroids or comets, the dust burns up in Earth's atmosphere resulting in shooting stars.
Radioactive heating in this asteroid's early days may have destabilized the small world, creating asymmetric surface features.
We all wish that we could sometimes see into the future. Now, thanks to the very latest data from ESA’s star mapping Gaia mission, astronomers can do just that for the Sun. By accurately identifying stars of similar mass and composition, they can see how our Sun is going to evolve in the future. And this work extends far beyond a little astrophysical clairvoyance.
The first orbital test flight of SpaceX's Starship deep-space transportation vehicle won't get off the ground this month.
The Pentagon is speaking out against Russia's launch of a spy satellite believed to be shadowing one of its American counterparts closely in the same orbit.
Engineers and technicians at the SpaceX Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, are working on getting the fully-stacked Starship and Super Heavy prototypes ready for their orbital launch test. The most recent step consisted of a static fire test with the BN7 Super Heavy prototype, where the booster was placed on the orbital launch pad and fired one of its thirty-three Raptor 2 engines. News of the test was shared via SpaceX’s official Twitter account and showed the BN7 blasting the launch pad, leading many to wonder what the orbital launch test will look like!
A "potentially hazardous" asteroid the size of a blue whale is set to zip past Earth on Friday (Aug. 12).
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