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New Way to Make Plasma Propulsion Lighter and More Efficient Plasma propulsion is a subject of keen interest to astronomers and space agencies. As a highly-advanced technology that offers considerable fuel-efficiency over conventional chemical rockets, it is currently being used in everything from spacecraft and satellites to exploratory missions. And looking to the future, flowing plasma is also being investigated for more advanced propulsion concepts, as well as magnetic-confined fusion. However, a common problem with plasma propulsion is the fact that it relies on what is known as a “neutralizer”. This instrument, which allows spacecraft to remain charge-neutral, is an additional drain on power. Luckily,Read More →

2 US Astronauts Conduct Unplanned, Rapidly Executed Contingency Space Walk on Space Station Astronaut Jack Fischer waves while attached to the Destiny laboratory during a spacewalk on May 23, 2017 to replace a failed data relay box and install a pair wireless antennas. Credit: NASA The post 2 US Astronauts Conduct Unplanned, Rapidly Executed Contingency Space Walk on Space Station appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to Source Powered by WPeMaticoRead More →

Scientists Propose a New Kind of Planet: A Smashed Up Torus of Hot Vaporized Rock There’s a new type of planet in town, though you won’t find it in well-aged solar systems like our own. It’s more of a stage of formation that planets like Earth can go through. And its existence helps explain the relationship between Earth and our Moon. The new type of planet is a huge, spinning, donut-shaped mass of hot, vaporized rock, formed as planet-sized objects smash into each other. The pair of scientists behind the study explaining this new planet type have named it a ‘synestia.’ Simon Lock, a graduateRead More →

Astronomy Cast Ep. 449: Robots in Space! When you think of a robot, you’re probably imagining some kind of human-shaped machine. And until now, the robotic spacecraft we’ve sent out into space to help us explore the Solar System look nothing like that. But that vision of robots is coming back, thanks to a few new robots in development by NASA and other groups. Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast! We usually record Astronomy Cast as a live Google+ Hangout on Air every Friday at 1:30 pm Pacific / 4:30 pm Eastern. You can watch here on Universe Today orRead More →

What is Neptune Made Of? Since it’s discovery in the mid-19th century, Neptune has consistently been a planet of mystery. As the farthest planet from our Sun, it has only been visited by a single robotic mission. And there are still many unanswered questions about what kind of mechanics power its interior. Nevertheless, what we have learned about the planet in the course of the past few decades is considerable. For example, thanks to the Voyager 2 probe and multiple surveys using Earth-based instruments, scientists have managed to gain a pretty good understanding of Neptune’s structure and composition. In addition to knowing what makes upRead More →

We Have More Details on the Outermost Trappist-1 Planet! The announcement of a seven-planet system around the star TRAPPIST-1 earlier this year set off a flurry of scientific interest. Not only was this one of the largest batches of planets to be discovered around a single star, the fact that all seven were shown to be terrestrial (rocky) in nature was highly encouraging. Even more encouraging was the fact that three of these planets were found to be orbiting with the star’s habitable zone. Since that time, astronomers have been seeking to learn all they can about this system of planets. Aside from whether orRead More →

Here’s How We Can Detect Plants on Extrasolar Planets The past year has been an exciting time for those engaged in the hunt for extra-solar planets and potentially habitable worlds. In August of 2016, researchers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) confirmed the existence of the closest exoplanet to Earth (Proxima b) yet discovered. This was followed a few months later (February of 2017) with the announcement of a seven-planet system around TRAPPIST-1. The discovery of these and other extra-solar planets (and their potential to host life) was an overarching theme at this year’s Breakthrough Discuss conference. Taking place between April 20th and 21st, theRead More →

Do Gravitational Waves Permanently Alter the Nature of Spacetime? On February 11th, 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) announced the first detection of gravitational waves. This development, which confirmed a prediction made by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity a century prior, opened new avenues of research for cosmologists and astrophysicists. It was also a watershed for researchers at Monash University, who played an important role in the discovery. And now, a little over a year later, a team of researchers from the Monash Center for Astrophysics has announced another potential revelation. Based on their ongoing studies of gravitational waves, the team recentlyRead More →

Astronomy Cast Ep. 448: Prepping for the Eclipse On Monday, August 21, 2017, there’s going to be a total eclipse of the Sun, visible to path that goes right through the middle of the United States. You should be making plans to see this, and we’re here to help you know where to go and what to do. Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast! We usually record Astronomy Cast as a live Google+ Hangout on Air every Friday at 1:30 pm Pacific / 4:30 pm Eastern. You can watch here on Universe Today or from the Astronomy Cast Google+ page.Read More →

Carnival of Space #510 This week’s Carnival of Space is hosted by Allen Versfeld at his Urban Astronomer blog. Click here to read Carnival of Space #510. And if you’re interested in looking back, here’s an archive to the past Carnivals of Space. If you’ve got a space-related blog, you should really join the carnival. Just email an entry to carnivalofspace@gmail.com, and the next host will link to it. It will help get awareness out there about your writing, help you meet others in the space community – and community is what blogging is all about. And if you really want to help out, signRead More →

Two Veteran NASA Astronauts Michael Foale and Ellen Ochoa Inducted into U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame at KSC Two veteran retired NASA astronauts – Michael Foale and Ellen Ochoa – were inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 19, 2017 during induction ceremony held below Space Shuttle Atlantis in the display pavilion at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX, FL – In a moving ceremony, a pair of veteran NASA astronauts – Michael Foale and Ellen Ochoa – who once flew together on a space shuttle mission, were inducted into the U.Read More →

The Mars Project! Von Braun’s Ideas for a Mars Mission. Collaboration with Vintage Space Did you know that it’s been almost 45 years since humans walked on the surface of the Moon? Of course you do. Anyone who loves space exploration obsesses about the last Apollo landings, and counts the passing years of sadness. Sure, SpaceX, Blue Origins and the new NASA Space Launch Systems rocket offer a tantalizing future in space. But 45 years. Ouch, so much lost time. What would happen if we could go back in time? What amazing and insane plans did NASA have to continue exploring the Solar System? WhatRead More →

Messier 43 – the De Marian’s Nebula Welcome back to Messier Monday! In our ongoing tribute to the great Tammy Plotner, we take a look at Orion’s Nebula’s “little brother”, the De Marian’s Nebula! During the 18th century, famed French astronomer Charles Messier noted the presence of several “nebulous objects” in the night sky. Having originally mistaken them for comets, he began compiling a list of them so that others would not make the same mistake he did. In time, this list (known as the Messier Catalog) would come to include 100 of the most fabulous objects in the night sky. One of these ifRead More →

Astronomy Cast Ep. 447: Animals in Space Pt. 3: Dogs, Monkeys and More For the final episode in our 3-part episode about animals in space, we look at the largest animals to go to orbit. And I’ll just warn you now, this is going to be a really sad episode. Visit the Astronomy Cast Page to subscribe to the audio podcast! We usually record Astronomy Cast as a live Google+ Hangout on Air every Friday at 1:30 pm Pacific / 4:30 pm Eastern. You can watch here on Universe Today or from the Astronomy Cast Google+ page. The post Astronomy Cast Ep. 447: Animals inRead More →

Digital Society Boosted by Stunning SpaceX Launch Delivering Inmarsat Mobile Broadband Satellite to Orbit – Photo/Video Gallery SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying commercial Inmarsat 5 F4 broadband satellite blasts off to geostationary orbit at twilight at 7:20 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 39A on 15 May 2017 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/Kenkremer.com KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL – The worlds emerging ‘Digital Society’ gained a big boost following SpaceX’s stunningly beautiful twilight launch of a Falcon 9 that successfully delivered the huge 6.7 ton mobile Inmarsat-5 F4 broadband satellite to orbit for London-based Inmarsat on Monday, May 15. SpaceX blasted theRead More →

Are There Dark Matter Galaxies? ft. Sarah Pearson from Space with Sarah One of the things I love about astronomy is how it’s rapidly changing and evolving over time. Every day there are new discoveries, and advancements in theories that take us incrementally forward in our understanding of the Universe. One of the best examples of this is dark matter; mysterious and invisible but a significant part of the Universe and accounting for the vast majority of mass out there. It was first theorized almost 100 years ago when astronomers surveyed the total mass of distant galaxy clusters and found that the visible mass weRead More →

The Star That Probably Doesn’t Have an Alien Megastructure (But Maybe it Does) is Dimming Again In September of 2015, scientists announced that the star known as KIC 8462852 (aka. “Tabby’s Star” or “Boyajian’s Star”) was experiencing a strange dip in luminosity. At the time, astronomers indicated that this mysterious behavior could be the result of comets transiting in front of the star, but other (perhaps more hopeful) individuals claimed that it could also be the result of an alien megastructure. This led to a flurry of studies and articles that sought to offer entirely natural explanations for what has been observed. Even SETI weighedRead More →