Sounds good: a healthy coral reef in Sulawesi, Indonesia. (Courtesy: Tim Lamont) Many people around the world enjoy doing crosswords, taking a few moments out of their day to test their knowledge and wordplay by answering clues to find words that complete the crossword grid. Crosswords are a puzzle that humans particularly excel at, so
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WASHINGTON — SpaceX will replace the heat shield on the next Crew Dragon spacecraft flying to the International Space Station after it failed inspections, but NASA says there is no risk of a similar problem for the spacecraft currently at the station. In a May 24 statement to reporters, NASA said that a heat shield
General Dynamics’ partners in this contract include Iridium, KSAT and Raytheon WASHINGTON — General Dynamics Mission Systems won a $324.5 million contract to operate the ground systems and manage network operations of the Space Development Agency’s low Earth orbit constellation, the agency announced May 26. The seven-year contract is for $162.9 million, with $161.5 million
Russia’s war on Ukraine has demonstrated how a major energy exporter can achieve a choke-hold over its customers, leaving them very little way to get out of it. NATO has been limited in its response to the Ukrainian invasion by Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and oil. We need energy independence to break the grip
Exploring cause and effect: A photo of the Sagnac interferometer used to generate polarization-entangled photon pairs during a basis measurement. (Courtesy: Davide Poderini/Sapienza University of Rome) Cause-and-effect explanations like “catnip causes cats to be happy”, “jokes cause laughter” and “exciting research causes Physics World articles” are a useful way to organize knowledge about the world.
LONG BEACH, Calif. – A panel of space logistics experts underscored the importance of open standards to encourage the growth of the market. Over the long term, open standards are necessary “if we really want to build infrastructure in space,” Karol Janik, technology manager for the Manufacturing Technology Centre, an independent U.K. research and technology
TAMPA, Fla. — Gogo is planning to use OneWeb satellites in a partnership that could see it take on Starlink in an emerging business aviation market for low Earth orbit services. Gogo announced plans May 22 to use OneWeb’s LEO network to connect business jets that are currently too small to use commercial high-speed satellite
Teleportation in progress Researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands with their quantum teleportation experiment. (Courtesy: QuTech)”> Teleportation in progress Researchers at QuTech in the Netherlands with their quantum teleportation experiment. (Courtesy: QuTech) Physicists in the Netherlands have shown for the first time that quantum information can be reliably teleported between network nodes that are not
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Supply chain disruptions continue to pose a challenge for the space industry, but some see those disruptions as an opportunity for new approaches and innovation. During a panel discussion on supply chain issues at Space Tech Expo here May 24, government and industry officials said the industry continued to feel the
TAMPA, Fla. — Amazon Web Services announced May 24 it has picked 10 startups to join its second annual space accelerator program, which helps early-stage companies learn how to grow their businesses with cloud and analytic technologies. The startups come from across the Earth observation, space situational awareness (SSA), launch, propulsion and space exploration markets.
Andromeda: this image of the galaxy was taken with a small telescope and includes two dwarf galaxies. (Courtesy: David (Deddy) Dayag/CC BY-SA 4.0) New physics, in the form of a “fifth force”, could be responsible for the odd and unexplained arrangement of dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way and other large galaxies – according to
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Benchmark Space Systems announced plans May 24 to produce engines in the United Kingdom and to work with U.K. startup Space Forge to develop reusable chemical propulsion systems. Space Forge of Cardiff, Wales, intends to produce high-value materials in orbit to bring to Earth. Under the contract announced May 24, Benchmark
SEOUL, South Korea —U.S. President Joe Biden promised to expand space cooperation with Japan and South Korea during back-to-back summits with the leaders of two East Asian allies. During a May 23 summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo, Biden agreed to work to put the first Japanese astronaut on the moon as
Space Systems Command is trying to figure out how to exploit traditional and new types of commercial space data WASHINGTON — Over a two-day conference last week, U.S. military and intelligence officials were briefed on the capabilities of commercial spy satellites and how data from these satellites could be used in military operations. Defense and
HELSINKI — Chinese launch vehicle developer Orienspace has raised $59.9 million in a Series A funding round, which the company says it will use for a first rocket launch and new engine development. The new round was led by HikeCapital, followed by CMBC Int’l Holdings and others, including previous investors, according to a company press
Atomic pioneer: Ben Roy Mottelson challenged the widely accepted theory that all nuclei are perfectly spherical (courtesy: Nobel Foundation) The American-Danish physicist and Nobel laureate Ben Roy Mottelson died on 13 May at the age of 95. Mottelson made critical contributions to determining and understanding that certain nuclei could have asymmetrical shapes. The work earned
WASHINGTON — NASA is gearing up to perform another practice countdown of the Space Launch System in mid-June as it completes repairs to the vehicle from previous tests. NASA said May 20 it expects to roll out the SLS from the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center to Launch Complex 39B in early