Starship Prototype Catches Fire After a Recent Test, But Appears Undamaged Despite the fireball that engulfed the Starshopper this past week, both the vehicle and its Draco engine appear to be unscathed. The post Starship Prototype Catches Fire After a Recent Test, But Appears Undamaged appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit” After months of discussion, the space agencies behind the Lunar Gateway have decided how the space station will orbit the Moon. NASA and the ESA are developing the Lunar Gateway jointly, and the orbital path that it will follow around the Moon is a key part of mission design. It’ll affect all the vital aspects … Continue reading “The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit”” The post The Lunar Gateway Will be in a “Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit” appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan Some lakes on Titan have ring-like shapes around them, and scientists are trying to find out how they formed. Understanding how they formed may tell us something about how the entire region they’re in, including the lakes, formed. The ring-shaped features are found around pools and lakes at Titan’s polar regions. Thanks to the Cassini … Continue reading “There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan” The post There are Ring-Like Formations Around the Lakes on Titan appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth LightSail 2, the brainchild of The Planetary Society, has gifted us two new gorgeous images of Earth. The small spacecraft is currently in orbit at about 720 km, and the LightSail 2 mission team is putting it through its paces in preparation for solar sail deployment sometime on or after Sunday, July 21st. LightSail 2 … Continue reading “LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth” The post LightSail 2 is Sending Home New Pictures of Earth appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Giant Hawaii telescope to focus on big unknowns of universe Is there life on planets outside our solar system? How did stars and galaxies form in the earliest years of the universe? How do black holes shape galaxies? phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1 Dick Battin stood on his driveway in the New England frosty pre-dawn back in October 1957, straining his eyes to see Sputnik fly overhead. It was amazing. Watching that little point of light scoot silently across the sky made Battin’s heart pound. A human-made hunk of metal was actually orbiting Earth! Walking back to his … Continue reading “The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1” The post The Story of the Apollo Guidance Computer, Part 1 appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Image: Hubble spots a stunning spiral Galaxies come in many shapes and sizes. One of the key galaxy types we see in the universe is the spiral galaxy, as demonstrated in an especially beautiful way by the subject of this Hubble Space Telescope image, NGC 2985. NGC 2985 lies over 70 million light-years from the solar system in the constellation of Ursa Major (the Great Bear). phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
New measurements imply dramatically higher abundance of helium hydride ions in the early universe Physicists report the first laboratory measurements of electron reactions with helium hydride ions in the cryogenic storage ring CSR at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg. At temperatures down to 6 K, the reaction rates destroying the molecule were found to be significantly lower compared to previous measurements at room temperature. This translates into a strongly enhanced abundance of this primordial molecule acting as a coolant for first star and galaxy formation in the early universe. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September Why report on an asteroid that has no chance of hitting Earth? Because this asteroid, known as 2006 QV89, has a history. A history of being kind of hard to track. As the name says, this asteroid was discovered in 2006. It’s a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA, or NEO, for Near-Earth Object.) An object is classified … Continue reading “Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September” The post Asteroid 2006 QV89 Now Has a 0% Chance of Hitting Earth in September appeared first on Universe Today. UniverseRead More →
Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable The idea of somehow terra-forming Mars to make it more habitable is a visionary, sci-fi dream. But though global terra-forming of Mars is out of reach, the idea persists. But now, a material called silica aerogel might make make the whole idea of terra-forming Mars slightly less impossible. Notable people from Carl Sagan to Elon … Continue reading “Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable” The post Blankets of Silica Aerogel Could Make Parts of Mars Habitable appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Mass estimated for two binary pulsars By performing timing observations, an international group of astronomers has measured the mass of two binary millisecond pulsars designated PSR J1949+3106 and PSR J1950+2414. The results could be essential in order to unveil the evolutionary status of these two objects. The research is detailed in a paper published July 11 on arXiv.org. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Breakthrough Listen launches new optical search with Arizona’s VERITAS telescope array Breakthrough Listen—the initiative to find signs of intelligent life in the universe—announced today a new collaboration between Breakthrough Listen and the VERITAS Collaboration in the search for technosignatures, signs of technology developed by intelligent life beyond the Earth. Joining Listen’s ongoing radio frequency survey and spectroscopic optical laser survey, VERITAS (the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System) will search for pulsed optical beacons with its array of four 12-meter telescopes at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Amado, Arizona. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Gaia Mission is Mapping Out the Bar at the Center of the Milky Way The latest discovery to come from Gaia’s years of observing the Milky Way is the first 3D measurements of our galaxy’s central bar structure. The post Gaia Mission is Mapping Out the Bar at the Center of the Milky Way appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, Confirming That… “In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream” A unique, low-cost, and crowd-scream-sourced experiment has proven what all sci-fi movie fans know is true: In space, no one can hear you scream.” That line is the tag line from the famous 1979 movie Alien, of course. And now an innovative experiment in Britain has shown that the writer of that movie was correct. … Continue reading “Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, Confirming That… “In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream”” The post Screaming Sounds Sent to the Edge of Space, ConfirmingRead More →
Police arrest Hawaiian protesters trying to block telescope Police arrested elderly protesters, some using wheelchairs and canes, as they blocked a road Wednesday to Hawaii’s highest peak to try to stop construction of a giant telescope on land some Native Hawaiians consider sacred. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Crew Dragon Exploded Back in April Because of a Nitrogen Tetroxide Leak SpaceX has revealed the cause of the accident that took place back in April, attributing it to a leak that took place just prior to the final tactic engine fire test. The post Crew Dragon Exploded Back in April Because of a Nitrogen Tetroxide Leak appeared first on Universe Today. Universe Today Go to SourceRead More →
New measurement of universe’s expansion rate is ‘stuck in the middle’ A team of collaborators from Carnegie and the University of Chicago used red giant stars that were observed by the Hubble Space Telescope to make an entirely new measurement of how fast the universe is expanding, throwing their hats into the ring of a hotly contested debate. Their result—which falls squarely between the two previous, competing values—will be published in the Astrophysical Journal. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
ESA confirms asteroid will miss Earth in 2019 Asteroid 2006 QV89, a small object 20 to 50 metres in diameter, was in the news lately because of a very small, one-in-7000 chance of impact with Earth on 9 September 2019. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
ESA identifies demand for satellites around the moon Dozens of very different commercial and institutional missions to the moon are planned for the coming decades. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
Fundamental parameters, evolutionary status determined for three chemically peculiar stars Astronomers have conducted spectroscopic observations of three magnetic chemically peculiar (CP) stars, HD 188041, HD 111133 and HD 204411. Results of these observations, presented in a paper published July 8 on arXiv.org, reveal fundamental parameters and the evolutionary status of the trio, also proving the usefulness of spectroscopy for studying faint CP stars. phys.org Go to SourceRead More →
