Science

WASHINGTON — A NASA competition to launch a cluster of cubesats attracted a bid from SpaceX, who appeared to offer a vehicle other than its current Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy. NASA released March 11 the source selection statement from the competition to launch the Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation Structure and Storm Intensity with a

Hot stuff: a polished cross section of one of the particles studied. (Courtesy: Satoshi Utsunomiya) New, large and highly radioactive particles have been identified from among the fallout of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan. An international team of researchers has characterized the particles using nuclear forensic techniques and their results shine further

WASHINGTON — A NASA astronaut flying to the International Space Station in April could spend up to a year on the station, an extended stay that he said he was “enthusiastic” about. NASA announced March 9 that Mark Vande Hei would fly on the Soyuz MS-18 mission to the space station, launching April 9. He

For many companies in the industry, filling job openings can seem as difficult as rocket science. For others, it simply involves rockets. SpaceX often uses its launch webcasts as recruiting tools, taking advantage of an audience of thousands who will tune in at all hours to see a rocket launch and landing. Webcasts hosts will

Up or down: the new Floquet maser relies on the relative alignments of nuclear spins and an applied magnetic field (Courtesy: Shutterstock/SIM VA) A new type of maser made from periodically driven xenon atoms can detect low frequency magnetic fields far better than any previous magnetometer, according to scientists in China and Germany. The researchers

TAMPA, Fla. — Satellite communications provider Speedcast emerged Thursday from nearly a year in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection under private equity ownership. Centerbridge Partners, which manages about $28 billion of assets, has officially taken ownership of the company after completing all necessary regulatory and administrative requirements. The private equity firm invested $500 million into Speedcast

WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 launched another set of Starlink satellites March 14, with the rocket’s first stage setting a record with its ninth launch and landing. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 6:01 a.m. Eastern. The upper stage deployed its payload of 60 Starlink satellites

HELSINKI — China launched a new-generation Long March 7A rocket Thursday, sending a classified, experimental payload into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Liftoff from the coastal Wenchang Satellite Launch Center occurred at 12:51 p.m. Eastern March 11. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC), the country’s main space contractor, confirmed launch success 40 minutes later (Chinese).

By Allison Kubo Hutchison Reproduced Wootz Damascus blade showing both a ladder and rose pattern made by Alfred Pendray. Photo by JD Verhoeven, AH Pendray and WE Dauksh. Material science and nanoengineering are emerging fields promising to revolutionize the industry, medicine, and energy technologies. But our understanding of both is rooted in ancient knowledge. Would

SEAKR, based in Centennial, Colorado, is developing the artificial brain of DARPA’s Blackjack satellite network. WASHINGTON — The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced March 12 it awarded SEAKR Engineering a $60.4 million contract to develop a data processing system for satellites to operate autonomously.   SEAKR, based in Centennial, Colorado, was selected by DARPA

Rainbow capital: a spectacular show over Honolulu. (Courtesy: Minghue Chen) For several years, Physics World headquarters had large windows with a northern exposure, and that coupled with showery weather in Bristol meant that we often saw spectacular rainbows. It turns out, however, that Hawaii not Bristol is the best place in the world to view

SAN FRANCISCO – Radar satellite startup Umbra plans to capture imagery with a resolution as high as 15 centimeters per pixel thanks to a Federal Communications Commission license. The FCC granted Umbra, a Santa Barbara, California, startup preparing to launch its first X-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) microsatellite this year, an experimental license in February

WASHINGTON — NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope resumed observations March 11 after a software error placed it in a protective safe mode several days earlier, but the incident is a reminder of the telescope’s mortality. NASA said Hubble resumed observations at 8 p.m. Eastern March 11, more than four and a half days after a software

In this podcast episode we talk to Áine O’Brien of the University of Glasgow who is part of a team of meteorite experts who have gathered up remnants of a 100 kg carbonaceous chondrite meteoroid that exploded over southern England on the last day of February. She explains how a network of cameras and clever

‘We’re trying to figure out how to monetize and operationalize all of this data,’ said Matthew Tirman, head of Satellogic North America. WASHINGTON — Earth observation company Satellogic is expanding its presence in the United States to compete in the government market. It is standing up a U.S. subsidiary specifically to work with national security

WASHINGTON — Three space industry groups are asking the Commerce Department to commit to continued support and funding for the Office of Space Commerce. In a March 9 letter to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Aerospace Industries Association, Commercial Spaceflight Federation and Satellite Industry Association called for the department to fund the small office at

Bose-Einstein condensate: artist’s impression of a quantum state of matter that could soon reveal hints of quantum gravity. Courtesy: iStock/vitacopS Quantum gravity might soon be tested in the lab, thanks to a new analysis from physicists in the UK, France and Hong Kong. Drawing on advances in quantum information science, the researchers have found that