Science

WASHINGTON — NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will make one final close approach to the asteroid it collected samples from next week before heading back to Earth. On April 7, the spacecraft will pass 3.7 kilometers above the location on the asteroid Bennu called Nightingale where, in October, the spacecraft briefly touched down and collected as much

Space Command: “This arrangement codifies the relationship by placing a Japanese liaison officer directly into the conversations we are having on space operations.” WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Command announced April 1 it has signed an agreement with Japan that will increase collaboration on space security. Under the agreement, an officer from the Japan Air Self-Defense

By: Hannah Pell “Go out and make the world a better place.” So ends the foreword to CDR Primer, an online, freely available digital booklet co-authored by more than a dozen climate scientists, social scientists, engineers, and writers in dialogue about carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technology and its important role in addressing our climate crisis.

Zooming in: Google’s Sycamore processor. (Courtesy: Erik Lucero/Google) An international team of researchers has used Google’s Sycamore quantum computer to power an online Zoom meeting for the first time. The US tech giant’s device, which consists of 53 programmable superconducting quantum bits, has already been shown to outperform classical computers at certain tasks. The new

WASHINGTON — A NASA audit concluded that costs imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the agency could reach $3 billion, with several major science and exploration programs announcing for much of that cost. A March 31 report by the NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) stated that the agency expects that the pandemic’s effects on

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s decision to continue the National Space Council has won approval, and relief, from the space industry, who see it as the latest sign that the White House is not contemplating major changes to space policy. A National Security Council spokesman said March 29 that the council would continue in the

WASHINGTON — The private venture that purchased a SpaceX Crew Dragon flight to low Earth orbit has finalized the crew for that mission, scheduled to launch as soon as September. The Inspiration4 mission, which describes itself as the “world’s first all-civilian mission to space,” revealed the crew that will accompany its sponsor, entrepreneur Jared Isaacman,

SEOUL, South Korea — Hanwha Systems, the South Korean conglomerate that added a bankrupt phased-array antenna maker to its growing portfolio last year, is planning to build and deploy a constellation of 2,000 satellites in low Earth orbit by 2030 to provide connectivity to urban cargo-delivery drones and passenger airplanes.   To that end, the defense

By Allison Kubo Hutchison Noah Friedlander, San Francisco from the Marin Headlands in March 2019, CC BY-SA 4.0  As you walk the pavement of your city, the buildings rising around you, the impact of a city on the landscape is clear. It changes the skyline and the view. But how does it change the ground

Dreamland: artistic impression of the surface of Gliese 486b. The exoplanet could have glowing rivers of lava. (Courtesy: RenderArea) A newly discovered exoplanet called Gliese 486b could offer the best opportunity yet for studying the atmosphere of a terrestrial planet beyond the solar system. An international team, made up of astronomers at the CARMENES project

TAMPA, Fla. — Inmarsat is launching legal action over the Dutch government’s plan to auction 3.5 GHz spectrum, which the British satellite operator uses for maritime safety services. The London-based company said it will seek a judge’s ruling on the potential illegality of the plan to sell the spectrum to terrestrial 5G providers next year. 

DoD spokesman John Kirby: “Secretary Austin was pleased to receive a briefing about the space domain.” WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last week received a detailed briefing on DoD space programs and national security threats in the space domain. This was Austin’s first high-level briefing on space issues since taking office.  “Secretary Austin was

By: Hannah Pell Social Media Summary: What does a tiny, pokey animal have to do with condensed matter physics? The answer has to do with magnetism, thin films, and a very interesting particle called the skyrmion. Pictures are a helpful way to express abstract ideas. Whether through Gedanken experiments like the famous Schroedinger’s Cat or

Time triangle: illustration of how the ytterbium (Yb), strontium (Sr) and aluminium-magnesium (Al+/Mg+) atomic clocks were connected. (Courtesy: N Hanacek/NIST) The time kept by three of the world’s best atomic clocks has been compared by connecting them using optical fibres and an over-air link. The comparisons were done by the Boulder Atomic Clock Optical Network

WASHINGTON — NASA officials say the agency is still planning to make selections as part of its Human Landing System (HLS) program by the end of next month as it takes into account the reduced funding for the program. The “base period” awards made in April 2020 to teams led by Blue Origin, Dynetics and

TAMPA, Fla. — Inaugural satellites for two startups that launched this week on separate rockets aim to disrupt the burgeoning internet-of-things (IoT) market.  Australia-based Myriota has started offering its IoT services in the U.S. and Canada, after Rocket Lab launched March 22 the first operational nanosatellite Myriota has ordered from scratch.  On the same day,

Polymath on polymer: Alan Turing is on the new £50 note. (Courtesy: Bank of England) The Bank of England has unveiled the final design of its new £50 polymer banknote that features the mathematician and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing. The new £50 – the last of the bank’s notes to go from paper to polymer