Science

Lift off A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket safely carried the Mars 2020 mission with the Perseverance rover. (Courtesy: ULA) The risk to people on the ground of being killed by the uncontrolled descent of a rocket stage is increasing, with legislation urgently needed to prevent potential tragedies, says a team of political scientists

WASHINGTON — NASA is changing rules for future private astronaut missions to the International Space Station, including requiring such missions to be led by a former NASA astronaut. In an Aug. 1 procurement notice, NASA announced changes in requirements for future solicitations for private astronaut missions, or PAMs, to the station. The changes, the agency

Catching a reader’s attention is a fine art when it comes to popular-science books, finds Matin Durrani (Courtesy: iStock/blackred) I’m having trouble knowing how to start this article. That’s because we’ve been busy compiling a Physics World book quiz for you to enjoy on your summer holidays (or winter holidays for readers in the southern

WASHINGTON — The privately funded Polaris Program is planning its first crewed launch on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in December, a mission that will include the first spacewalk on a private mission. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire who organized the Inspiration4 private astronaut mission that spent three days in orbit in September 2021, announced the

The Pentagon assigned the Space Force responsibilities as “integrator for joint space requirements” WASHINGTON – The Space Force, the military branch responsible for providing satellite-based services to the U.S. armed forces, was also recently assigned the role of “integrator for joint space requirements,” which means the Space Force will have to coordinate the wish lists

Life-like laser: Titanium dioxide microparticles clustering around a Janus particle. The dashed line delineates the lasing area, and the pink/yellow lines show the 275 s-long tracks of several microparticles. (Courtesy: Imperial College London) Physicists in the UK have designed a self-assembling photonic system, which can actively adapt the laser beams it produces in response to

WASHINGTON — Both NASA and the companies selected by the agency to begin development of commercial space stations say they don’t share concerns raised by watchdogs that such stations may not be ready by the time the International Space Station is retired. NASA’s effort, called Commercial Low Earth Orbit Destinations, or CLD, seeks to support

HELSINKI — Wreckage from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket first stage made a fiery reentry into Earth’s atmosphere over Southeast Asia Saturday, six days after launching a space station module into orbit. Debris from the roughly 30-meter-long, five-meter-wide empty and roughly 22 metric ton core stage of the Long March 5B at 12:45 p.m.

Lucky escape: A still from a video of snowboarder Mathieu Schaer narrowly escaping a slab avalanche on the Col du Cou in the Swiss Alps. (Courtesy: Ruedi Flück) Researchers in Switzerland and the US have gleaned new insights into how slab avalanches begin on snowy mountainsides, reconciling the predictions of two competing theories. Led by

WASHINGTON — Faced within increasing costs, the European Space Agency is looking for ways to revise the design of a large X-ray space telescope, an effort that could have implications for NASA’s own astrophysics programs. ESA selected the Athena mission in 2014 as one of two flagship astrophysics missions, along with the Laser Interferometer Space

Updated 2:25 p.m. Eastern with NASA statement. WASHINGTON — Masten Space Systems, a company developing a lunar lander for a NASA mission, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy July 28 with plans to sell one of its major assets to a competitor. Masten filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of

You have been warned: diving head first from a height of more than 8 metres will probably injure you, research suggests (Courtesy: istock/180276731) With the 2022 Commonwealth Games underway in Birmingham, UK, athletes from 73 nations are competing in more than 20 different sports, including track and field, gymnastics and, of course, swimming and diving.

TAMPA, Fla. — Washington-based Hydrosat, a geospatial data and analytics startup, announced July 29 it has secured U.S. regulatory approval to provide global services from its upcoming thermal imaging system.  Hydrosat was awarded a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration license at Tier 1, which has the fewest conditions under a streamlined regulatory regime that came

WASHINGTON — Congress has passed the first NASA authorization bill in more than five years, formally extending operations of the International Space Station and backing NASA’s Artemis exploration effort. The House passed on a 243–187 vote July 28 the “Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) and Science Act,” a day after the Senate passed

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we explore the life and scientific legacy of Gertrude Goldhaber, who overcame great adversity to become a pioneering nuclear physicist and advocate for women in science. Born in 1911 into a Jewish family, Goldhaber fled Nazi Germany in 1935, eventually settling in the US where she

The launch of NROL-199 was rescheduled to Aug. 2 to allow the NRO to perform required payload software upgrades WASHINGTON — Rocket Lab and the National Reconnaissance Office had hoped to launch two missions within 10 days. The first one, NROL-162, lifted off July 12 but the second one, NROL-199, required payload software upgrades and

WASHINGTON — Boeing said July 27 it will take another charge against its earnings because of the CST-100 Starliner commercial crew program as the company and NASA get closer to a first flight of the vehicle with astronauts on board. Boeing, in its second quarter financial results release, said it recorded a $93 million charge

Taken from the July 2022 issue of Physics World, where it appeared under the headline “Green-sky thinking”. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. The airline industry is emerging from COVID-19 with progress on de-carbonizing air travel, as James McKenzie discovers