By: Hannah Pell Neutrinos are ubiquitous and notorious. Billions are passing through you at this moment. Occasionally described as a “ghost of a particle,” neutrinos are nearly massless, thereby making them extremely difficult to detect experimentally (“Neutrino,” meaning “little neutral one” in Italian, was first used by Enrico Fermi in the early 1930s). Neutrinos were
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Taken from the May 2021 issue of Physics World, where it appeared under the headline “Combat robotics”. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. TV robot fights are not just entertainment – they can also help turn students on to physics and engineering, as Robert P
WASHINGTON — NASA announced May 17 it has assigned another astronaut to the next commercial crew mission to the International Space Station, a sign that NASA no longer expects to complete a seat barter agreement with Roscosmos in time for that flight. NASA said that Kayla Barron will join the Crew-3 mission, launching on a
Operators who monitor and track objects in orbit, for example, currently have to go to separate datasets for information and manually organize it in Excel spreadsheets WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force plans to spend billions of dollars over the next decade to convert huge amounts of data that resides in separate systems into a
Scientists and engineers cheer the succesful landing of Zhurong — a six-wheel rover — on Mars. (Courtesy: China National Space Administration) China has become the second country after the US to successfully land a spacecraft on the surface of Mars. According to the state media, the controlled touchdown of Zhurong — a six-wheel rover named
TAMPA, Fla. — Telesat could start a spectrum auction to help fund its $5 billion Lightspeed low Earth orbit constellation “in a couple of months” if Canada’s government approves its proposal, according to CEO Dan Goldberg. Canada is considering proposals on how to release satellite C-band spectrum in the country for terrestrial 5G wireless networks,
Sen. Angus King: This is not necessarily a Sputnik moment but it is a reminder to the United States that a strong competitor is emerging in space WASHINGTON — Just hours after a Chinese rover successfully touched down on the surface of Mars Friday evening, Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) said the achievement puts to rest
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched another group of Starlink satellites May 15 on a mission that included two rideshare payloads. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 6:56 p.m. Eastern. The rocket’s first stage, making its eighth launch dating back to the Demo-2 commercial mission nearly a
WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket failed to reach orbit May 15 when its second stage engine shut down seconds after ignition, the second launch failure in less than a year for the company. The Electron lifted off from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 7:11 a.m. Eastern. The liftoff was
Taken from the May 2021 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. A short story by Kevlin Henney “Hmm, that seems a bit convenient.” Mel’s image appears, along with Ashley’s and Taylor’s. “So, we’re identifying Lou as the bot?” Taylor grins. “Steady
Chinese Mars rover makes it down to surface after months of preparation in orbit. HELSINKI — China succeeded with its first planetary landing attempt Friday, safely setting down the solar powered Zhurong rover on the surface of Mars. The 240-kilogram Zhurong rover touched down on the dunes of southern Utopia Planitia just after 7:00 p.m.
WASHINGTON — The next launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will be the second mission where the company attempts to recover the vehicle’s first stage as part of its efforts to reuse the booster. An Electron rocket is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6 a.m. Eastern May 15 from Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1
By Allison Kubo Hutchison Although today it may be easy to buy your maternal figure an orchid for Mother’s Day from the grocery store, in the 1800s, the acquisition of orchids was a dangerous, competitive and lucrative business. Orchids, which are generally tropical plants, grow across the globe and their family makes up 6-11% of
SAN FRANCISCO – Axelspace, the Japanese firm planning to offer daily global optical imagery, raised 2.58 billion Japanese yen ($23.8 million) in a Series C investment round announced May 14 in Tokyo, May 13 in the United States. The Space Frontier Fund managed by Sparx Innovation for Future Co. provided funding alongside other venture capital
TAMPA, Fla. — Japanese internet giant SoftBank has agreed an alliance with OneWeb to expand its low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband services in Japan and worldwide. The collaboration with SoftBank, which has invested in OneWeb, is an important step toward getting regulatory approvals and setting up ground stations in Japan for the startup’s growing constellation.