Science

AFRL: ‘While the fundamental processes forming the ionosphere are generally known, it is a very complex system and there are many details yet to be understood.’ WASHINGTON — A three-stage suborbital sounding rocket on March 3 launched an Air Force Research Laboratory experiment from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.  This was the first sounding

Exciting nuclei of iron atoms with a flash of X-ray light. (Courtesy: MPI for Nuclear Physics) Scientists routinely use laser light to control how an atom’s electrons move from one electronic state to another, but controlling an atom’s nuclear state is far more challenging. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg,

Nuclear science first penetrated American consciousness with the building of the atomic bomb. It has become both a beneficial and destructive force that influences many aspects of human life from energy, to the environment, to medicine. Yet this field of study —that peers into the atomic nuclei — is something people generally don’t teach or

The Space Development Agency expects Tranche 1 satellites to cost “significantly less” than the $14 million average price it paid for Tranche 0 satellites. WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency will solicit bids for an upcoming procurement of up to 150 satellites to be launched in late 2024, agency director Derek Tournear said March

WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a new set of Starlink satellites and landed the booster March 4, two and a half weeks after the landing failed on the previous launch. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center at 3:24 a.m. Eastern. The rocket deployed its payload

One thousand microchannels, each the width of a human hair, can be printed for as little as £0.20. (Courtesy: CC BY 4.0/PLoS ONE 10.1371/journal.pone.0245206) Researchers at the University of Bristol have combined low-cost 3D printing with soft lithography to streamline production of complex microfluidic devices. The technique represents an important step towards universally accessible lab-on-a-chip

TAMPA, Fla. — Indonesia’s government has secured financing to continue manufacturing the SATRIA broadband satellite, although its intended orbital slot remains up in the air. Thales Alenia Space started developing the Ka-band spacecraft in September after receiving partial financing, which spokesperson Sandrine Bielecki told SpaceNews covered work up until this point. Bielecki said the program

NGA is pushing for innovation and agility as China continues to advance its space-based remote sensing capabilities. WASHINGTON — The United States is in a “great power competition” and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency is being challenged to provide faster and better products and services, the agency’s deputy director Stacey Dixon said March 2. To

Using ancient pots to predict the Earth’s magnetic field, plus the strange DNA/soap link, and challenging Einstein’s “biggest blunder” Pots of potential: fired clay objects can shed light on the Earth’s magnetic field The idea that a record of the Earth’s magnetic pastmight be stored in objects made from fired clay dates back to the

By: Hannah Pell On March 7, 1995, Gary Mansfield, a health physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, sent out an email to members of the RadSafe nuclear safety mailing list. The subject line read: “Banana Equivalent Dose.” “Some time ago (when I almost had time to do such things), I calculated the [radiation] dose

KVH Industries, the U.S. maritime satellite-connectivity specialist, expects clear sailing ahead after growing quarterly revenues despite shaky seas for cruise ships. TAMPA, Fla. — KVH Industries, the U.S. maritime satellite-connectivity specialist, expects clear sailing ahead after growing quarterly revenues despite shaky seas for cruise ships. KVH said cost-containment measures, and strong sales of its TACNAV

WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 first stage failed to land after a launch last month because one of its engines shut down during flight after hot gas breached a worn-out cover. During a NASA press conference March 1 about the upcoming Crew-2 commercial crew flight, Benji Reed, senior director for human spaceflight programs at SpaceX,

Illustration of the electron interacting with a nuclear spin wave. Credit: Daniel Jackson Researchers at Cambridge University in the UK have found a new way to detect a single quantum bit (qubit) hidden in a dense cloud of 100 000 qubits made from the nuclear spins of quantum dots. The feat, which involves laser light and

TAMPA, Florida — Satellite operator Spire Global has unveiled the space-powered Big Data market’s second SPAC deal in just over a week, as the rush to public markets accelerates across commercial space sectors. Spire’s merger with special-purpose acquisition company NavSight values the company at $1.6 billion. The deal gives Spire about $475 million in cash

WASHINGTON — It is increasingly likely that a NASA astronaut will fly on a Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station in April as the agency finalizes an agreement with its Russian counterpart. In a Feb. 25 statement, Roscosmos said that its director general Dmitry Rogozin, spoke that day with NASA Acting Administrator Steve

Decoder ring: illustration of the Perseverance Rover parachute showing the decoded message. (Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech) “Dare mighty things” was the message surreptitiously encoded into the parachute of NASA’s Perseverance Rover, which landed on Mars last week. Now, designers at Svaha Apparel have created a dress based on the pattern of red, white and black segments that

SAN FRANCISCO – After 14 years at satellite communications fleet operator SES, Nicole Robinson is taking on a new role: president of Ursa Space Systems, a geospatial analytics firm based in Ithaca, New York. Robinson was SES senior vice president of global government when she began talking in 2020 with Adam Maher, Ursa Space CEO

HELSINKI — India launched its first mission of the year late Saturday, sending Brazil’s Amazonia-1 Earth observation satellite and 18 smaller payloads into orbit. The 44-meter-high PSLV-C51 rocket with two solid side boosters lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the Indian island of Sriharikota at 11:54 p.m. Eastern Feb. 28. The  PSLV