Science

WASHINGTON — ABL Space Systems said the second stage of the small launch vehicle they are developing was destroyed in an accident during testing Jan. 19. Observers at Mojave Air and Space Port in California reported hearing a boom around 4:30 p.m. Eastern, followed by a plume of black smoke. The plume, visible throughout the

Straight on through: atoms can be excited by photons that do not appear to interact with the medium (Courtesy: iStock/MickeyCZ) A surprising property of how resonant photons interact with an absorbing medium has been uncovered by physicists in Canada. They say they have found that even photons passing straight through the medium energize atoms within

WASHINGTON — A fund led by Steven Mnuchin, former treasury secretary, will invest $150 million into Earth imaging company Satellogic, helping close a delayed merger with a special purpose acquisition corporation (SPAC). Satellogic announced Jan. 18 that Liberty Strategic Capital, a private equity fund established last year by Mnuchin, would invest $150 million into the

WASHINGTON —  Col. Eric Felt, director of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate, will be moving to a new post this summer as deputy executive director of the Space Force’s architecture, science and technology directorate at the Pentagon. AFRL announced the move Jan. 18. In his new post, Felt will work under the

Scanner comparisons: Both 0.055 T and 3 T images visualized a brain tumour mass. (Courtesy: CC BY 4.0/Nat. Commun. 10.1038/s41467-021-27317-1) A senior clinical radiologist evaluated the patient scans to determine which specific lesions could be observed in the 0.055 T images. The prototype scanner detected most key pathologies in the exams of all 25 patients,

WASHINGTON — NASA’s safety advisers are calling on the agency to reexamine how it manages human spaceflight programs to reflect the changing relationship with industry and to better run its core exploration effort. The central theme of the annual report of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), released Jan. 11, was a need to reexamine

U.S. military needs for data such as cloud coverage and theater weather imagery currently cannot be met by the commercial industry and likely will require significant new investment WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is considering buying weather data services from commercial satellite operators. The military specifically wants cloud characterization data and theater weather imagery

HELSINKI — A Long March 2D carried the classified Shiyan-13 test satellite into orbit late Sunday, marking the start of what is planned to be a busy year of launches for China. A two-stage, hypergolic Long March 2D climbed into clear blue skies above the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China at 9:35 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Lisa Costa, chief technology and innovation officer of the U.S. Space Force, said the service is eyeing investments in edge computing, data centers in space and other technologies needed to build a digital infrastructure.   “Clearly, the imperative for data driven, threat informed decisions is number one, and that means that we need

WASHINGTON — NASA’s ability to lease property at its facilities to companies or other organizations remains in limbo after a bill meant to reauthorize it was transformed in the House into voting rights legislation. H.R. 5746 was introduced in October by Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), chair of the House Science Committee’s space subcommittee. The bill

WASHINGTON — The size of NASA’s astronaut corps may soon fall below the minimum level the agency needs to support space station and Artemis missions and other activities, the agency’s inspector general warns. A Jan. 11 report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General found that the agency’s astronaut corps, with 44 active astronauts, could fall

Plasma slinger: Artist’s impression of J0240+1952, which contains the fastest spinning confirmed white dwarf (centre) and only second ever magnetic propeller to be observed. Material is being pulled from the companion (right) and flung into space at high speed. A small fraction of it is accreted, gathering in bright spots that rotate in and out

TAMPA, Fla. — Condosat operator Loft Orbital has ordered more than 15 satellite buses from Airbus in a deal announced Jan. 14 that calls for building the initial OneWeb-derived platforms in France before shifting serial production to Florida. Loft Orbital expects to receive the buses in 2023, leveraging the automated production line that Airbus is

DARPA has watched NASA’s work in nuclear propulsion systems for space exploration and believes the technology can be applied to military satellites. WASHINGTON — An experiment planned by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency will send to orbit a spacecraft powered by a nuclear propulsion system.  Michael Leahy, director of DARPA’s Tactical Technology Office, said

Nano mask: even though the mask is extremely thin, the filtration efficiency is not inferior to that of respirators, say KTU researchers. (Courtesy: KTU) One thing that I have learned during the pandemic is that reading lips and other facial expressions plays an important role in how many of us communicate. I have reasonably good

WASHINGTON — Indian hyperspectral imaging startup Pixxel has announced a partnership with mining company Rio Tinto, giving that company early access to data from satellites scheduled to launch early this year. Pixxel announced Jan. 13 an “early adoption partnership” with Rio Tinto, under which Rio Tinto will have access to hyperspectral imagery at a resolution