In December 2010, Japan’s Venus Climate Orbiter spacecraft “Akatsuki” (aka Planet-C), after five and a half months traveling through space, failed to enter orbit around Venus due to a faulty thruster nozzle. Lacking the ability to reduce its velocity Akatsuki sailed right past the cloud-covered planet , eventually entering orbit around the sun. Shortly afterward JAXA mission engineers were […]
Screenshot of the turbulent conditions inside a core-collapse supernova simulation carried out by the Blue Waters supercomputer.Credit: Robert R. Sisneros (NCSA) and Philipp Mösta Although intense magnetic fields have long been assumed as the driving force behind the most powerful supernovas, astrophysicists have now created a computer model that simulates a dying stars’ magnetic guts before […]
This image shows the main timeline section of the Integrated Space Plan, 2015 Edition.Credit: Integrated Space Analytics Here’s a way to take part in shaping humankind’s up and going trajectory into space. The crowdsourced Integrated Space Plan – an evolutionary matrix of capabilities — is billed as “the most comprehensive vision of the next 100 […]
Johns Hopkins University will use its Air Force award to research 3-D printing of rocket engine cooling chambers.Credit: JHU WASHINGTON — The U.S. Air Force awarded the Johns Hopkins University’s Whiting School of Engineering a $545,000 contract to study additive manufacturing techniques to make cooling chambers for liquid rocket engines, according to a Nov. 4 […]
Monday–Tuesday, Dec. 14–15, midnight to dawn. The Geminid meteor shower, one of the most reliable in the year, peaks near midday on Dec. 14, so the best…Read More » times to observe will be between midnight and dawn on the mornings of the 14th and 15th. Less « To source
Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard rocket is seen after its successful landing during an unmanned test flight to suborbital space on Nov. 23, 2015.Credit: Blue Origin The Holy Grail of rocketry looks more and more achievable. Last Monday (Nov. 23), the private spaceflight company Blue Origin sent a rocket to suborbital space and brought it back […]
After 20 years in space, ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, is still going strong. Originally launched in 1995 to study the sun and its influence out to the very edges of the solar system, SOHO revolutionized this field of science, known as heliophysics, providing the basis for nearly 5,000 scientific papers. […]
After 20 years in space, ESA and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, or SOHO, is still going strong. Originally launched in 1995 to study the sun and its influence out to the very edges of the solar system, SOHO revolutionized this field of science, known as heliophysics, providing the basis for nearly 5,000 scientific papers. […]
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The launch of LISA Pathfinder has been postponed To source
NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station have planted zinnia seeds to learn about how flowering plants bloom in space.Credit: Swaminathan via Flickr The International Space Station is about to get a little homier, thanks to a flower garden that should bloom in early 2016. On Monday, Nov. 16, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren activated an […]
The structural test article of the European service module for Orion is being assembled at Airbus Defence and Space. Airbus is building the module, which will supply the spacecraft’s power, in-space propulsion and air and water for the crew, on behalf of ESA (European Space Agency) for Orion. The STA is being transported to Glenn […]
New observations depict a supermassive black hole devouring a star and then emitting jets of high-energy plasma from the star’s debris — the first time scientists have observed these phenomena at the same time.Credit: Johns Hopkins University/Modified from an original image by Amadeo Bachar A supermassive black hole anchoring the center of a nearby galaxy […]