Science

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Space Perspective has raised an additional $17 million to further development of its stratospheric passenger balloon system that simulates one aspect of spaceflight. The company announced May 19 it raised the funding from several new investors, including Silicon Valley Bank, Trinity Capital and Henry Kravis, co-founder of investment company KKR and Co.

A thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell mounted on a heat sink designed to measure the TPV cell efficiency. (Courtesy: A LaPotin) The first thermophotovoltaic cells with an efficiency of more than 40% – higher than any existing solid-state heat engine, and exceeding even the average efficiency of turbine-based power generation – have been fabricated by researchers at

TITUSVILLE, Fla. — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station May 20, a little more than 24 hours after its launch. The spacecraft docked with the forward docking port on the Harmony module of the station at 8:28 p.m. Eastern. Controllers reported a hard docking securing the spacecraft to the station

Throughout Russia’s invasion and offensive in Ukraine, some of the most compelling images of the war have come from satellites in space operated by private companies. “For many of us who have been tirelessly watching this conflict from our TVs or smartphones, some of the most iconic scenes which come to mind are those of

New twist: researchers in Japan have created a Möbius strip from carbon atoms. (Courtesy: Issey Takahashi) In 2017, Kenichiro Itami and colleagues made the first carbon nanobelts, which can be as little as three atoms thick. Based at Nagoya University in Japan, Itami’s team has managed to tweak the topology of their nanobelts to create

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station on a critical, long-delayed uncrewed test flight of the commercial crew vehicle. An Atlas 5 N22 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 6:54 p.m. Eastern May 19. The

WASHINGTON — NASA is seeking informal public input on a set of 50 objectives for its exploration efforts that agency leadership says will go into a broader effort to guide its activities for the next two decades. NASA released May 17 a set of high-level objectives for its lunar and Mars exploration campaign. The agency

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast, we meet Shep Doeleman, who is the founding director of the Event Horizon Telescope. He explains how he and his colleagues obtained that iconic image of the “shadow” of the supermassive at the centre of the Milky Way. Based in the US at the Harvard &

WASHINGTON — NASA is continuing to investigate water that leaked into a spacesuit helmet during a spacewalk earlier this year and is holding off on future spacewalks until engineers can resolve the problem. The leak took place during the most recent spacewalk from the U.S. segment of the station March 23, involving NASA astronaut Raja

Space Force Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein said commercial innovation today is “outpacing the demand signal from the government.” WASHINGTON — U.S. military buyers of space systems for decades have relied on a stable of aerospace and defense companies to develop technologies and launch them to orbit at the government’s request.  In the years since SpaceX

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