Space News
ESA awards contracts for moon and Mars exploration
Space News - 15 Oct 2020 13:07
The European Space Agency has awarded contracts for work on elements of its moon and Mars exploration program, ranging from modules for the lunar Gateway to a mission to return Mars samples to Earth. SpaceNews
China's Mars-bound Tianwen-1 Takes a Selfie
Universe Today - 15 Oct 2020 00:19
The CNSA (Chinese National Space Agency) has released an image of its Tianwen-1 spacecraft to coincide with the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival. The spacecraft is on its way to Mars, and if the landing is successful...
Starman just made his closest approach to Mars
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 14:52
On February 6th, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, the most powerful launch vehicle in their rocket family, and in service today. Not only was this a major milestone for SpaceX, it was also the ...
All engines for Ariane 6 complete qualification tests
ESA - 15 Oct 2020 14:30
All three engines developed to power Europe's future Ariane 6 rocket have completed extensive tests - the P120C solid rocket motor for the boosters, the Vulcain 2.1 engine for the core stage and the Vinci for the upper s...
The recipe for powerful quasar jets
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 14:14
Some supermassive black holes launch powerful beams of material, or jets, while others do not. Astronomers may now have identified why.
2 big pieces of space junk could collide Thursday night
SPACE.com - 15 Oct 2020 00:27
Two big pieces of space junk are zooming toward a close approach that will occur Thursday (Oct. 15) at 8:56 p.m. EDT (0056 GMT on Oct. 16), according to California-based tracking company LeoLabs.
FAA cuts the red tape for commercial rocket launches (and landings, too)
SPACE.com - 15 Oct 2020 23:36
Commercial space is about to become more accessible than ever before.
Weekly Space Hangout: October 14, 2020, Drs. Jane Huang & Jonathan Williams, Protoplanetary Disks
Universe Today - 15 Oct 2020 23:17
This week we are joined by Dr. Jane Huang and Dr. Jonathan Willams from the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian (CfA). Dr. Huang, Dr. Williams, and their team recently discovered some surprising information ab...
SLS Green Run hotfire test set for mid-November
Space News - 15 Oct 2020 22:55
NASA is planning a hotfire test of the core stage of the Space Launch System in the middle of November, a schedule it says keeps it on track for its first launch late next year. SpaceNews
Astronomers Report They've Detected the Amino Acid Glycine in the Atmosphere of Venus
Universe Today - 15 Oct 2020 21:53
Does it feel like all eyes are on Venus these days? The discovery of the potential biomarker phosphine in the planet’s upper atmosphere last month garnered a lot of attention, as it should. There’s still some uncerta...
New M92 stellar stream discovered
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 19:58
A team of astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope discovered a new stellar stream emanating from the M92 globular cluster. This new stream suggests that M92 is actively being disrupted by tidal forces caused...
The 'Star Trek: Discovery' season 3 premiere is one of its best episodes yet
SPACE.com - 15 Oct 2020 18:49
"Star Trek: Discovery" Season 3 premieres with one of the best episodes yet and Michael Burnham discovers there is little left of what was once the United Federation of Planets in the 32nd century.
You can watch the International Mars Society's 2020 convention online this week for free
SPACE.com - 15 Oct 2020 17:59
The International Mars Society Convention 2020 goes virtual from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18 and here's how to watch live.
Op-ed | Commitment to space exploration should be on the ballot
Space News - 15 Oct 2020 17:53
With less than a month to go in this election cycle, the public is awash in big issues, COVID and healthcare to national defense and economic recovery. Lest we forget, an issue also on the ballot is space - with national...
Landing Coverage Set for NASA Astronaut Chris Cassidy, Space Station Crew
NASA Breaking news - 15 Oct 2020 17:41Orbital Sidekick wins $16 million U.S. Air Force contract
Space News - 15 Oct 2020 17:39
Orbital Sidekick is speeding up its campaign to build and launch a constellation of six hyperspectral imaging satellites thanks to a $16 million U.S. government contract announced Oct. 15. SpaceNews
Upgraded GMRT measures the mass of hydrogen in distant galaxies
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 17:19
A team of astronomers from the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA-TIFR) in Pune, and the Raman Research Institute (RRI), in Bengaluru, has used the upgraded Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) to measure the...
Venus setting
ESA - 15 Oct 2020 16:45
Image: Venus setting
Life on earth: Why we may have the moon's now defunct magnetic field to thank for it
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 16:30
The habitability of a planet depends on many factors. One is the existence of a strong and long-lived magnetic field. These fields are generated thousands of kilometers below the planet's surface in its liquid core and e...
The spin of the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 16:13
Once a black hole forms, its intense gravitational field produces a surface beyond which even light cannot escape, and it appears black to outsiders. All the details of the complex mix of matter and energy in its past ar...
Oxygen supply fails on Russian segment of ISS, crew not in danger
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 16:05
The oxygen supply system has failed in a module on the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) but the crew is in no danger, Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Astronomers discover metal-poor globular cluster by chance
Phys.org - 15 Oct 2020 16:00
An international team of astronomers led by Soren Larsen (Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands) has accidentally discovered a globular cluster that contains extremely few metals, those elements heavier than hydr...