[Project Topics] AKATSUKI successfully inserted into Venus' orbit
One of the five cameras aboard the Venus Climate Orbiter “PLANET-C” is the “IR2,” whose observation target is infrared rays that are about two micron in wavelength. It aims to measure the high-temperature atmosphere of Venus under thick clouds, its movement, and distribution of its trace components. In other words, the IR2 is a camera […]
CubeSat calling
Technology image of the week: radio testing of the world’s first CubeSat designed for atmospheric reentry To source
EDRS-A and its laser are ready to fly
After a year-long wait in storage for a Proton rocket to become available, the EDRS-A laser communications payload and its Eutelsat host satellite are finally at the Baikonur cosmodrome and being prepared for launch in late January. To source
Comet's Death-Dive Into Sun Captured By Spacecraft | Video
The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) captured the icy space rock meeting its fiery demise on Dec. 8th, 2015. According to Spaceweather.com, it belonged to the Kreutz-family of comets that stems from a “breakup of a single giant comet many centuries ago.” [Revisit Comet ISON’s Death Dive Into The Sun] Credit: ESA/NASA/SOHO/LASCO/mash mix: Space.com To […]
Secrets of Vampire Stars Revealed in Hubble Telescope Data
This artist’s illustration depicts the birth of a blue straggler star as it siphons off material from a companion red giant star.Credit: NASA/ESA, A. Feild (STScI) New observations from the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed the hidden hosts feeding vampirelike blue straggler stars, strange objects that appear to stay uncannily young-looking instead of growing into […]
Comet Watchers' Delight: Slooh Webcasts Begin
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as seen by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft.Credit: ESA/Rosetta/NAVCAM – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0 The online Slooh Community Observatory has kicked off “Comet Week,” a series of webcasts designed to give viewers good looks at the solar system’s icy wanderers. Comet Week began Monday (Dec. 7) with a show about Comet Catalina, […]
The Future of Commercial Space Travel According to Jeff Greason: Interview
XCOR Aerospace’s Lynx space plane under construction in late 2014 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. One of XCOR’s founders, Jeff Greason, talked with Space.com about the status of the spaceflight industry.Credit: Mike Massee/XCOR The future of private spaceflight looks bright to Jeff Greason, co-founder of the private spaceflight company XCOR Aerospace. […]
Talking climate
Discover more about the importance of soil moisture as an Essential Climate Variable to understand our changing world To source
Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle Follows OLYMPEX Science Mission
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle #897, flown by pilot Troy Asher with videographer Lori Losey in the back seat, serves as a chase vehicle for NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory on the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) science mission, Nov. 10, 2015. To source
Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle Follows OLYMPEX Science Mission
NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s F-15D Eagle #897, flown by pilot Troy Asher with videographer Lori Losey in the back seat, serves as a chase vehicle for NASA’s DC-8 flying laboratory on the Olympic Mountain Experiment (OLYMPEX) science mission, Nov. 10, 2015. To source
Launch positions
Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: ESA astronaut Tim Peake tries out his pressure suit and seat for 15 December launch To source
US Air Force's X-37B Space Plane Wings Past 200 Days in Orbit
Mum’s the word: The U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane has winged its way past the 200 day mark, carrying out a classified agenda for the American military. The unmanned X-37B space plane rocketed into orbit on May 20 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launching from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force […]
Meet Tayna, the Faintest Ancient Galaxy Ever Found
Researchers using the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes have caught sight of the faintest object ever seen from the early universe, dating back to just 400 million years after the Big Bang. This Hubble image specifies the location of that early, young galaxy.Credit: NASA, ESA, and L. Infante (Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile) A newly […]