ESA, NASA Solar Observatory discovers its 5,000th comet
On March 25, 2024, a citizen scientist in the Czech Republic spotted a comet in an image from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, which has now been confirmed to be the 5,000th comet discovered using SOHO data. SOHO has achieved.....»»
NASA gives Starliner’s first crewed launch the go-ahead
With the first crewed test flight of the new Boeing Starliner spacecraft less than two weeks away, NASA has given the go-ahead for the launch......»»
NASA astronauts arrive for Boeing"s first human spaceflight
The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing's first human spaceflight arrived at their launch site Thursday, just over a week before their scheduled liftoff......»»
NASA"s Deep Space Optical Communications demonstration transmits data over 140 million miles
Riding aboard NASA's Psyche spacecraft, the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration continues to break records. While the asteroid-bound spacecraft doesn't rely on optical communications to send data, the new technology ha.....»»
Psyche spacecraft sends data back to Earth using lasers for the first time
NASA's experimental laser communication system, riding along with the Psyche spacecraft, has transmitted Psyche data from over 140 million miles away......»»
Solar geoengineering to cool the planet: Is it worth the risks?
When I first wrote about geoengineering in 2012 , it was considered far-fetched at best, and crazy by most. But 12 years later, while there is still controversy and considerable resistance to deploying it, respectable scientists and institutions are.....»»
The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup
A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this decade to 2040......»»
We may have spotted the first magnetar flare outside our galaxy
Not all gamma-ray bursts come from supernovae. Enlarge / M82, the site of what's likely to be a giant flare from a magnetar. (credit: NASA, ESA and the Hubble Heritage Team) Gamma rays are a broad category of high-energy.....»»
See incredible time lapses of two of space’s most famous objects
Two striking timelapses from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show how two famous objects have changed over the last two decades......»»
Pushing the limits of sub-kilowatt electric propulsion technology for space mission concepts
NASA has developed an advanced propulsion technology to facilitate future planetary exploration missions using small spacecraft. Not only will this technology enable new types of planetary science missions, one of NASA's commercial partners is alread.....»»
NASA"s Chandra releases timelapse movies of Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A
New movies of two of the most famous objects in the sky—the Crab Nebula and Cassiopeia A—are being released from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Each includes X-ray data collected by Chandra over about two decades. They show dramatic changes in.....»»
A NASA rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilized life on Mars
While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, NASA's Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to "search for potential evid.....»»
How NASA Repaired Voyager 1 From 15 Billion Miles Away
The far-traveled space probe is once again transmitting usable data, after a glitch caused months of gibberish......»»
A shade closer to more efficient organic photovoltaics
Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels. Now, materials called non-fullerene acceptors that can intrinsically generate charges when exposed to sunlight could make semitra.....»»
Updating California’s grid for EVs may cost up to $20 billion
Charging electric vehicles at home will exceed most power lines' capacity. Enlarge (credit: boonchai wedmakawand) California's electric grid, with its massive solar production and booming battery installations, is alread.....»»
Recoding Voyager 1—NASA’s interstellar explorer is finally making sense again
"We're pretty much seeing everything we had hoped for, and that's always good news.” Engineers have partially restored a 1970s-era computer on NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft after five months of long-distance troubleshooting, building.....»»
Light-activated materials perform well in treatment of textile effluent
Photoelectrochemical processes have been considered sustainable alternatives for the remediation of water contaminated by domestic or industrial effluents. Simply put, the strategy consists of using solar energy to degrade organic pollutants......»»
NASA to overhaul mission returning samples from Mars—here"s why it must and will go ahead
NASA recently announced that it is seeking new ways to complete the return to Earth of rock cores drilled by the Perseverance Rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars. This has led to some anxiety among space scientists, who view the Mars Sample Return (MS.....»»
Hunting for the elusive: IceCube observes seven potential tau neutrinos
Researchers at the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica have found seven signals that could potentially indicate tau neutrinos—which are famously hard to detect—from astrophysical objects......»»
Daily Telescope: The ambiguously galactic duo
Hubble continues to deliver the goods. Enlarge / This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope features NGC 3783, a bright barred spiral galaxy about 130 million light-years from Earth. (credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, M. C. Ben.....»»
Astronauts take major step toward Starliner’s first crewed flight
After numerous delays across many years, NASA is closer than ever to launching its first astronauts aboard the Boeing-made CST-100 Starliner spacecraft......»»