Two of the German military’s new spy satellites appear to have failed in orbit
Did OHB really not test the satellite antennas on the ground? Enlarge / The SARah-1 mission is seen on the launch pad in June 2022. (credit: SpaceX) On the day before Christmas last year, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from.....»»
This Gargantuan Lab Simulates Blasting Satellites Into Space
If you spend millions of dollars developing a satellite, you need to know it can handle the rigors of hurtling around the Earth at 17,000 mph. The UK's National Satellite Test Facility is here to help......»»
NASA just shut down a planetary defense mission that tracks asteroids. Now what?
Launched in 2011, NASA's NEOWISE mission operated in Earth's orbit until late last week. It detected more than 3,000 near-Earth objects or NEOs—asteroids or comets whose orbits can bring them close to Earth, even with the possibility of a collision.....»»
SpaceX announces new private mission on 1st human polar orbit spaceflight
SpaceX has lined up more business for its human spaceflight program with a private launch from Florida that will take its passengers on a polar orbit for the first time......»»
International investigation shuts down Radar/Dispossessor ransomware group
FBI Cleveland announced the disruption of “Radar/Dispossessor”—the criminal ransomware group led by the online moniker “Brain”—and the dismantling of three U.S. servers, three United Kingdom servers, 18 German servers, eight U.....»»
New forest condition monitor shows dynamic changes in forests resulting from extreme climate change events
According to the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), large parts of the German forest show an increase in damage as a result of the extreme drought period in Germany during recent years. However, hardly any data is available captu.....»»
Forensic science cracks the "unsolvable" case of a World War I soldier"s identity, enabling his re-burial
In the early hours of July 18, 1918, the Franco-American counter-offensive against German positions began at Aisne-Marne in northern France. The first division of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) drove the German forces back, but not without si.....»»
China’s Long March 6A rocket is making a mess in low-Earth orbit
After nearly every flight, the upper stage of this rocket breaks apart in orbit. Enlarge / Debris from the upper stage of China's Long March 6A rocket captured from the ground by Slingshot Aerospace. (credit: Slingshot Aerospace.....»»
Landslide triggers megatsunami in narrow fjord
It was a monster wave that hit a fjord on Greenland's east coast on 16 September 2023. In certain places, the traces of the flooding reached 200 meters high. Researchers led by Angela Carrillo Ponce from the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GF.....»»
Ultrasmall Space Junk Can Be an Invisible Satellite Killer. Scientists Are Learning How to Track It
An ambitious U.S. government program is working to detect and track millions of tiny space junk pieces—down to the size of a sand grain—throughout low-Earth orbit and beyond.....»»
Using historical radar data to map changes in urban environments
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is a type of remote sensing from satellites that uses the reflection of radio waves to relay information about the surface of the earth. This reflection, or backscatter, is responsive to physical properties, such as rou.....»»
China begins launching a megaconstellation, and it sounds a lot like Starlink
Like Starlink, China's Qianfan satellites have an easy-to-pack flat-panel design. Enlarge / A Long March 6A rocket launches the first 18 Internet satellites for China's Qianfan, or Thousand Sails, broadband network. (credit: VCG.....»»
New computer vision-based system monitors seasonal dynamics of tropical water
Understanding how water moves and changes around the world is more important than ever due to climate change, but monitoring inland water in the tropics is not easy. Most satellites are optical and simply take photos of surfaces. They cannot see thro.....»»
China launches rocket carrying new constellation of satellites
China says it launched a rocket Tuesday carrying a constellation of a reported 18 satellites as part of efforts to assert its presence in space......»»
California dealership to pay $290,000 to settle environmental violations complaint
Del Grande Dealer Group, in California's Bay Area, improperly disposed of automotive waste and failed to shred documents with customer information, authorities said......»»
Deep sea mining opponents suffer major setback
Opponents of deep sea mining suffered a serious setback Friday when they failed to take a first step toward an international moratorium on the controversial practice......»»
How solar panels went from ’50s satellites to your backyard
From Einstein's theories of light to Bell Lab's revelations about doping silicon, solar power has been inching toward its current craze for more than a century. Here's how we got here......»»
There are 2,000-plus dead rockets in orbit—here’s a rare view of one
A Japanese company becomes the first to approach a piece of space junk in low-Earth orbit. Enlarge / Astroscale's ADRAS-J spacecraft captured these views of the H-IIA rocket upper stage on July 15. (credit: Astroscale) T.....»»
Astronomers use AI to find elusive stars "gobbling up" planets
Astronomers have recently found hundreds of "polluted" white dwarf stars in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. These are white dwarfs caught actively consuming planets in their orbit. They are a valuable resource for studying the interiors of these dist.....»»
New DNA analysis helps bust 200-year-old royal conspiracy theory
A new genetic analysis by an international team of scientists has helped bust a popular 200-year-old myth surrounding Kaspar Hauser, whose identity became one of the most mysterious riddles in German history. The study is published in iScience as a p.....»»
The Audi A6 e-tron blends in with combustion models, but that’s by design
The 2025 Audi A6 e-tron is the latest EV from the German luxury brand, and previews a new design direction for an uncertain future......»»