Science

Tiny explosion: artist’s impression of a white dwarf accreting material at its poles, where localized thermonuclear explosions are occurring. (Courtesy: ESO/M Kornmesser/L Calçada) The mystery why of small explosive bursts occur on some accreting white dwarf stars appears to have been solved by a team of astronomers led by Simone Scaringi at the UK’s Durham

WASHINGTON — NASA’s InSight Mars lander mission will likely conclude by the end of the year as power levels for the spacecraft continue to decline, project officials confirmed May 17. At a briefing about the mission, which has been on the surface of Mars since November 2018, project leaders said science operations will likely end

TAMPA, Fla. — AST SpaceMobile will start deploying operational satellites in 2023 “even in the event of any complication” with the BlueWalker 3 prototype slated to launch this summer, an executive for the cellphone-compatible broadband constellation said. The startup’s operational BlueBird satellite program has been “advancing alongside” more than 700 ground tests performed on BlueWalker

WASHINGTON — ABL Space Systems has completed testing of the second stage of its small launch vehicle, four months after a previous version of the stage was destroyed in a test accident. In a video posted May 16, the company said it completed acceptance testing of the second stage of its RS1 vehicle at its

TAMPA, Fla. — Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is adjusting its business to serve maritime customers as the market shows signs of recovering from the pandemic. Spacecom said May 12 it has redirected a Ku-band beam on its AMOS-17 satellite to the Indian Ocean for future growth opportunities after securing its first maritime customer. This customer

Selective process: deuterium molecules (shown in grey) can change the structures of the DUT-8 pores and pass through the material. The orange molecules of normal hydrogen cannot pass through. (Courtesy: Volodymyr Bon/TU Dresden) A recently discovered metal organic framework can act as a “quantum sieve”, with pores that selectively open for deuterium molecules at the

WASHINGTON — While operations of the International Space Station continue without “serious interruptions,” sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine are starting to have an effect on some activities, NASA’s safety advisers said. At a May 12 meeting of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), members reiterated past comments by agency officials that the

HELSINKI — An orbital launch attempt by Chinese startup iSpace suffered failure early Friday, following on from two failures last year. The fourth Hyperbola-1, a four-stage solid rocket, lifted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 3:09 a.m. Eastern May 13.  Apparent launch footage appeared on a Chinese social media

Observed changes in Neptune’s thermal-infrared brightness, a measure of temperature in Neptune’s atmosphere. Credit: Michael Roman/NASA/JPL/Voyager-ISS/Justin Cowart The atmosphere of the planet Neptune has undergone significant and “frankly unexpected” changes to its atmospheric temperature over the past two decades, say scientists at the University of Leicester, UK. The team drew this conclusion by analysing images

WASHINGTON — Space technology company Redwire said that while it still sees the commercial sector as its biggest prospect for long-term growth, volatility among its customers may cause delays. Redwire, which went public through a SPAC merger last year, reported revenue of $32.9 million in its first quarter earnings release May 12. The company had

“We’re all hoping to move forward with a final decision as quickly as we can,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall with regard to the relocation of U.S. Space Command WASHINGTON – During a hearing May 13 of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) asked Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall to lay

Up-conversion: The new scheme converts single photons from a lower frequency to a higher one by scattering them off a moving refractive index grating created by molecular vibrations in an optical fibre filled with hydrogen gas. (Courtesy: Nicholas Joly) A new technique that keeps two photons entangled while greatly increasing the frequency of one of

WASHINGTON — The private astronauts who spent two weeks on the International Space Station in April said they tried to pack too much into their schedules while on the station, putting a strain on both themselves and the professional astronauts there. At a May 13 news conference, the four people who flew on Axiom Space’s

TAMPA, Fla. — Inmarsat is seeking permission from Greece to move a ground station there from the Netherlands, which wants to sell the C-band spectrum the site uses for maritime safety services to 5G wireless operators. The British satellite operator previously argued that moving out of the northern Netherlands village of Burum was unnecessary because

[embedded content] Have you ever wondered what would happen to a deflated ball if you put it in a vacuum chamber? I think most of us would guess that the remaining air inside the ball would cause the ball to inflate as the pressure dropped around it. And that is exactly what happened in the

WASHINGTON — Astra disclosed details about its new launch vehicle that will be capable of carrying heavier payloads and flying more frequently. At its “Spacetech Day” event at its Alameda, California, headquarters May 12, company executives offered some details about what it calls Launch System 2.0, a system that includes a new rocket called Rocket