Friday, February 21

NASA

NASA — 5 Unpredictable Things Swift Has Studied (and 1…
NASA

NASA — 5 Unpredictable Things Swift Has Studied (and 1…

This second, as you’re reading these words, trillions of tiny particles are hurtling toward you! No, you don’t need to brace yourself. They’re passing through you right now. And now. And now. These particles are called neutrinos, and they’re both everywhere in the cosmos and also extremely hard to find.Neutrinos are fundamental particles, like electrons, so they can’t be broken down into smaller parts. They also outnumber all the atoms in the universe. (Atoms are made up of electrons, protons, and neutrons. Protons and neutrons are made of quarks … which maybe we’ll talk about another time.) The only thing that outnumbers neutrinos are all the light waves left over from the birth of the universe! Credit: Photo courtesy of the Pauli Archive, CERNPhysicist Wolfgang Pauli proposed the existen...
NASA

Ursa Major eyes ‘Iron Dome’ applications for its mid-size rocket engine 

WASHINGTON — Rocket propulsion startup Ursa Major is accelerating development and testing of its Draper liquid rocket engine in collaboration with U.S. defense agencies and military contractors. The goal: to position the engine for potential use in next-generation missiles that would be part of the Trump administration’s Iron Dome missile-defense initiative.Ursa Major last year completed ground tests of the Draper engine, developed with U.S. Air Force funding. These hot-fire tests took place at the company’s facilities in Berthoud, Colorado. Now, the company is planning a flight-testing campaign to further mature the design and explore military applications as well as commercial uses in space tugs and in-space transportation. “We believe Draper fills a gap that the United Stat...
NASA — Love Letters from Space
NASA

NASA — Love Letters from Space

ALTLove is in the air, and it’s out in space too! The universe is full of amazing chemistry, cosmic couples held together by gravitational attraction, and stars pulsing like beating hearts.Celestial objects send out messages we can detect if we know how to listen for them. Our upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will help us scour the skies for all kinds of star-crossed signals.ALTCelestial Conversation HeartsCommunication is key for any relationship – including our relationship with space. Different telescopes are tuned to pick up different messages from across the universe, and combining them helps us learn even more. Roman is designed to see some visible light – the type of light our eyes can see, featured in the photo above from a ground-based telescope – in addition to longer w...
NASA

Rocket Lab launches fourth set of Kinéis satellites

WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab launched a fourth set of satellites for French company Kinéis Feb. 8 as it extends its lead in the small launch sector.A Rocket Lab Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1, Pad A, at 3:43 p.m. Eastern. The vehicle’s kick stage deployed its payload of five satellites a little more than an hour after liftoff in orbits with planned altitudes of 646 kilometers and inclinations of 97 degrees.The launch was the four of five Rocket Lab is performing for Kinéis, a French company developing a constellation for Internet of Things services, after launches in June, September and November of 2024. The companies signed a contract for five Electron launches in 2021 to deploy the full Kinéis constellation.Kinéis executives said last fall that they expected to...
NASA

Japan launches Michibiki 6 navigation satellite with fifth H3 rocket

HELSINKI — Japan’s flagship H3 rocket successfully launched the Michibiki 6 navigation satellite early Sunday, enhancing the country’s regional GPS capabilities.The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H3 rocket lifted off at 3:30 a.m. Eastern (0830 UTC) Feb. 2 from Tanegashima Space Center. Aboard was the 1,900-kilogram Michibiki 6 satellite, also known as the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZS-6), for Japan’s navigation satellite system. The system aims to provide Japan with positioning, navigation and timing services, while increasing the accuracy and reliability of GPS services in the region. Michibiki 6 will be placed at 90.5 degrees East in the geostationary belt, 35,786 kilometers above the equator.The first Michibiki spacecraft for a four-satellite system was launched in 2010. ...