Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures the intricate blend of natural, rural and urban landscapes around Kunshan, a city in eastern China.
Space News & Blog Articles
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What’s the Best Material for a Lunar Tower?
Physical infrastructure on the Moon will be critical to any long-term human presence there as both America and China gear up for a sustained human lunar presence. Increasingly, a self-deploying tower is one of the most essential parts of that physical infrastructure. These towers can hold numerous pieces of equipment, from solar panels to communications arrays, and the more weight they can hold in the lunar gravity, the more capable they become. So it’s essential to understand the best structural set-up for these towers, which is the purpose of a recent paper by researchers at North Carolina State University and NASA’s Langley Research Center.
What Does a Trip to Mars Do to the Brain?
It’s not long before a conversation about space travel is likely to turn to the impact on the human body. Our bodies have evolved to exist on Earth with a constant force of 1G acting upon them but up in orbit, all of a sudden that force is apparently lacking. The impact of this is well known; muscle loss and reduction in bone density but there are effects of spaceflight. Cosmic radiation from the Galaxy has an impact on cognition too, an effect that has recently been studied in mice!
James Webb Space Telescope finds supernova 'Hope' that could finally resolve major astronomy debate
The James Webb Space Telescope has observed a distant cosmic explosion that erupted in the early universe called "supernova Hope" that could help resolve lingering "Hubble trouble."
Live coverage: ULA to launch second test flight of its Vulcan rocket from Cape Canaveral
United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket sits at launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) ahead of the planned Cert-2 launch on Oct. 4, 2024. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
United Launch Alliance is preparing for its final planned test flight with its new Vulcan rocket in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning. The mission, dubbed Cert-2, is the second of two missions needed before ULA can begin launching U.S. national security payloads on Vulcan.
When is the next solar eclipse?
It'll be about six months before skywatchers are treated to another solar eclipse — during which only part of the sun will be obscured from view.
How to watch ULA's 2nd-ever Vulcan Centaur rocket launch on Oct. 4
United Launch Alliance is set to launch the second test flight of its Vulcan Centaur rocket on Friday morning (Oct. 4), and you can watch the action live online.
Curiosity Mars rover's wheels are more battered than ever — but they still work
The latest photo of Curiosity's wheels shows new — but not debilitating — damage.
Could a New Sungrazer Comet Put on a Show at the End of October?
Could this be the next great comet? To be sure, these words have been said lots of times before. In a clockwork sky, how comets will perform is always the great wildcard. Comets from Kohoutek to ISON have failed to live up to expectations, while others like W3 Lovejoy took us all by surprise. But a discovery this past weekend has message boards abuzz, as an incoming sungrazer could put on a show right around Halloween.
Gravitational Lens Confirms the Hubble Tension
We’ve known the Universe is expanding for a long time. The first solid paper demonstrating cosmic expansion was published by Edwin Hubble in 1929, based on observations made by Vesto Slipher, Milton Humason, and Henrietta Leavitt. Because of this, the rate of cosmic expansion is known as the Hubble constant, or Hubble parameter, H0. From this parameter, you can calculate things such as the age of the Universe since the Big Bang, so knowing the value of H0 is central to our understanding of modern cosmology.
Can you see Earth's new 'mini-moon' with the naked eye?
On Sunday, Sept. 29, Earth captured a new "mini-moon" called 2024 PT5. The bus-size asteroid is expected to orbit our planet for 57 days, but is too small to be visible to amateur skywatchers.
BepiColombo spacecraft's flyby of Mercury begins unraveling the planet's magnetic mystery
The secrets of Mercury's strange magnetic bubble are gradually being unlocked by the BepiColombo spacecraft as it makes its rapid flybys of the world.
Biggest solar flare since 2017 erupts from sun and Earth is in the firing line (video)
On Oct. 3, the sun released the most powerful solar flare this solar cycle, a colossal X9.05 eruption — and it's heading for Earth.
In photos: Annular solar eclipse 2024 delights with stunning 'ring of fire' display
On Oct. 2, an annular solar eclipse turned the sun into an impressive "ring of fire." Here are some of the best photos of the dramatic display.
First moonwalker Neil Armstrong's speech notes posted online by Purdue
Neil Armstrong is perhaps best known for saying 12 words on July 20, 1969: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." But there's more to his record, as his alma mater can attest.
Top 'safety risk' for the ISS is a leak that has been ongoing for 5 years, NASA audit finds
The ISS has been dealing with a leak in its Russian segment since 2019. As NASA and Roscosmos work to solve it, a new report says the leak is a primary 'safety risk' to operations.
Aurora alert: Possible geomagnetic storm could spark northern lights as far south as Illinois and Oregon tonight
Aurora chasers are on high alert for possible geomagnetic storm conditions Oct.3 through Oct. 5 with northern lights possible as far south as Illinois and Oregon.
Sentinel-2 unveils the seasonal rhythm of intertidal seagrass
Thanks to an ESA-funded project and data from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, researchers have revealed seasonal variations in intertidal seagrass across Western Europe and North Africa. As a key indicator of biodiversity, these new findings offer valuable insights for the conservation and restoration of these vital ecosystems.
Mercury’s magnetic landscape mapped in 30 minutes
As BepiColombo sped past Mercury during its June 2023 flyby, it encountered a variety of features in the tiny planet’s magnetic field. These measurements provide a tantalising taste of the mysteries that the mission is set to investigate when it arrives in orbit around the Solar System’s innermost planet.
No place too remote: Enabling satellite connectivity from Pole to Pole
To achieve truly global connectivity, telecommunications satellites are essential. Through the Sunrise Partnership Project with Eutelsat OneWeb – part of Eutelsat Group – and support from the UK Space Agency, ESA is extending advanced 5G connectivity to areas beyond the reach of traditional ground networks.
