Astronomers have used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to take a look, for the first time in infrared light, at an asteroid belt outside our own solar system. It’s a huge asteroid belt that lies around the relatively young star Fomalhaut, located about 25 light-years from the sun in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. The […]
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Four of Uranus’ moons may have liquid water
Researchers studying Uranus’ moons a bit closer suggest that the four largest of the planet’s 27 moons likely have liquid oceans beneath their icy surface. These are the moons Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon, which researchers believe generate enough internal heat that some of the water on the moons is still in liquid form under […]
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NASA showcases supermassive black holes
NASA has released a new animation showing some of the billions of supermassive black holes in the universe, the black holes that are at the center of most, if not all, galaxies. In the clip, which can be found below, they begin by showing the supermassive black hole in the “small” dwarf galaxy J1601+3113, which […]
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European satellite companies to build Starlink competitor
Several European space and satellite companies have now agreed to build a satellite-based network that can provide the Earth with internet connectivity, similar to SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Project Kuiper, and the UK’s OneWeb. IRIS² consortium formed by five space and satellite companies The EU has been interested in building a Starlink competitor since 2020, and […]
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James Webb has discovered water vapor around an exoplanet
Astronomers have observed water vapor around the exoplanet GJ 486 b, a so-called “super-Earth” that orbits a red dwarf star in the constellation Virgo, located 26 light-years away from us, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). GJ 486 b is approximately 30 percent larger than Earth and has three times the mass of Earth. […]
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Russia will remain on the ISS until 2028
The US space agency NASA announced yesterday that their partners on the International Space Station will continue to support work on the ISS for at least five more years. Among other things, Russia will stay on the ISS until at least 2028. Previously, the head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos stated that Russia would […]
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Hackers managed to take control of an ESA satellite in a test
The European Space Agency (ESA) allowed hackers to attempt to gain control of one of their satellites, and unfortunately it seems that this was possible. Thales group takes control of OPS-SAT Several groups of security experts were given the opportunity to try to take control of ESA’s small CubeSat satellite, OPS-SAT, during the test. A […]
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NASA extends the lifetime of Voyager 2
NASA has done what can be called a “lifehack” on its spacecraft Voyager 2, which has enabled all of the instruments on board to be in operation for a few more years. Voyager 2 left Earth over 45 years ago, and previously NASA stated that Voyager would likely stop using all five instruments and sending […]
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China’s rover on Mars may have fallen asleep for good
China’s Mars rover Zhurong may have possibly fallen asleep for good after being put into hibernation mode in May of last year. The plan was for it to rest during the Martian winter and then be reactivated in December of last year. It doesn’t seem like that has happened, and China’s space agency CSNA has […]
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Japanese moon landing mission failed
Yesterday, Japanese company Ispace was set to perform its first moon landing, but unfortunately, it did not go as planned. At first, the descent of Ispace’s lunar spacecraft, Hakuto-R, went as intended, but when the spacecraft was about 90 meters from the moon’s surface, contact with it was lost. Ispace later stated in a comment […]
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Space telescope Euclid will soon be sent to space
This summer, the European Space Agency (ESA) is planning to launch its new space telescope, Euclid, into space. ESA hopes that through Euclid’s observations, they will be able to learn more about the relationship between dark energy, dark matter, and gravity, and how these forces affect the expansion of the universe. ESA writes: While dark […]
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Mobile call via satellite with regular mobile phone conducted
The American company AST SpaceMobile has carried out the first mobile call with traditional mobile phones via its satellite BlueWalker 3 (BW3), according to a press release from the company. During the call, AST Mobile’s CEO Abel Avellan used a Samsung Galaxy S22 phone when he called a team at the Japanese company Rakuten in […]
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Today, Hakuto-R lands on the moon
Today is the day for the Japanese space company, Ispace, to carry out what could be the first successful moon landing by a private company. Ispace Hakuto-R is planned to land at the Atlas crater on the moon today. M1 program: Ispace and their moon exploration The unmanned Hakuto-R left Earth in December last year […]
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Hope checks out Mars moon Deimos
It has been just over two years since the United Arab Emirates’ Mars probe, Hope (Amal), arrived on the red planet and it has now sent back some new images from there. The latest images show detailed images of Deimos, the smaller of Mars’ two moons. The irregularly shaped Deimos is about 15x12x12 km in […]
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Control your computer with your tongue
Augumental is a new Bluetooth control device that is controlled by nothing less than the tongue. Previously, people who cannot use their arms for interaction have had to rely on things like voice control, but this startup from MIT Media Lab hopes that the tongue can be a better alternative. The device sits over the […]
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SpaceX’s launch pad took quite a beating during the Starship test
Last week, it was finally time for SpaceX to test its massive rocket, Starship, which ended up reaching around 40 km above Earth before exploding. The Starship test provided SpaceX with a vast amount of data on what needs to be done to improve the spacecraft and its accompanying Super Heavy launch rocket. It also […]
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Airbus unveils Loop space station with simulated gravity
Airbus has presented some sketches of what a future space station might look like. Airbus calls its concept “Loop” and one section of the space station is equipped with a centrifuge that would simulate gravity similar to Earth’s gravity, which would allow astronauts to spend their time on the space station in a state of […]
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Hyundai to build a lunar vehicle
Hyundai Motor Group, together with six South Korean research institutes, will develop a vehicle intended for moon exploration. It’s a 70 kg solar-powered rover that Hyundai will build using technology from Hyundai and Hyundai-owned KIA. This includes equipping the vehicle with cameras, lidar, motors, solar panels, and batteries that Hyundai and KIA have developed for […]
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Sateliot has launched its first 5G satellite
The Spanish satellite company Sateliot recently launched the first 5G satellite in what will become a global 5G network built with satellites in orbit around the Earth. Sateliot calls its first satellite “Groundbreaker” and it is said to be the first satellite in space that can communicate via the 5G standard. However, Groundbreaker and the […]
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Starship exploded before reaching space
SpaceX tested for the first time to send its Starship spacecraft into space with the help of the Super Heavy rocket. Even before the test, SpaceX founder Elon Musk warned that things might not go exactly as planned, which turned out to be the case. Starship and Super Heavy lifted off from SpaceX’s Starbase in […]
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Check out robo-dog Spot at work
Boston Dynamics has released a new advertisement for its robo-dog Spot, showcasing a bit of what it looks like when Spot performs various tasks. The video does not contain any new information about Spot, and I have mainly posted it because I find it fascinating how we have gone from viewing robot dogs as something […]
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Check out when Starship goes to space
Today, SpaceX will make another attempt to send its giant Starship rocket into orbit around the Earth. SpaceX had originally planned to carry out Starship’s space test on Monday but canceled it because there was a little trouble with one of the spacecraft’s valves. If everything goes as planned today, the 70-meter-tall Super Heavy star […]
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SpaceX may be able to launch Europe’s Galileo satellites
It looks like the expansion of the EU’s positioning system Galileo could suffer delays if the EU cannot find a way to launch positioning satellites into space soon. The previous plan was to launch the 700 kg Galileo satellites with ArianeSpace’s Ariane 6 rocket. Ariane 6 began development in 2014 as a competitor to SpaceX’s […]
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Watch when SpaceX launches its new rocket
Today, it’s finally time for SpaceX to, for the first time, send its giant rocket, the SpaceX, into orbit around the Earth. The so-called launch window for the Starship opens during 7am local time, and SpaceX will broadcast the launch live. The idea is that the Starship, with the help of the accompanying Super Heavy […]
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Now Juice is on its way to Jupiter
Earlier today, ESA launched its Juice spacecraft from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The plan was for Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) to leave Earth yesterday, but the launch had to be canceled due to bad weather. Today, however, things went better, and Juice took off from Europe’s Spaceport on board an Ariane 5 rocket. […]
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Launch of Juice mission cancelled
The European Space Agency (ESA) just cancelled the launch of the Jupiter mission Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer), which was scheduled for today. Arianespace, the company that built the rocket that would launch Juice, wrote on Twitter that weather conditions with a risk of lightning strikes led to the cancellation of the Ariane 5 rocket […]
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Check out when Juice takes off towards Jupiter
Later today, it’s time for the ESA’s Jupiter mission, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice), to leave Earth and you can watch it live. At 14:15, the Juice spacecraft is scheduled to be launched from the Europe Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana with the help of an Ariane 5 rocket. The journey to Jupiter […]
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China plans to collide spacecraft with asteroid
Last week, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) held its eighth planetary defense conference, during which China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory revealed more about its plans to slow down an asteroid using a spacecraft. China has now decided to send two spacecraft to the approximately 30-meter asteroid 2019 VL5 to try to slow it down. […]
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Hubble discovers runaway black hole in space
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has observed a supermassive black hole that is believed to have broken away from its galaxy and is now moving through the universe, creating new stars in its wake. NASA researchers believe that the black hole is the result of two galaxies merging about 50 million years ago, and then colliding […]
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Starship is ready to go to space
SpaceX founder Elon Musk stated over the weekend that the company’s new spacecraft, Starship, and its super-heavy rocket, Super Heavy, are now ready for their first unmanned space mission. However, before that can happen, SpaceX needs permission from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US aviation authority, to launch the 120-meter-high vehicle from the ground. […]