Science

Austin has “communicated to Air Force leaders that he supports their decision-making process about the preferred location of Space Command headquarters.” WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has issued a statement in support of the U.S. Air Force’s handling of the basing decision for U.S. Space Command, his spokesman said. Austin’s statement follows an announcement

WASHINGTON — As NASA’s management of its human spaceflight programs evolves to incorporate greater roles for companies, the agency needs to take a strategic look at its workforce and infrastructure requirements, a safety panel advised. At the Feb. 18 meeting of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), members reiterated concerns cited in its annual report

Sunlight sensing: Artist’s impression of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) analysing the Martian atmosphere (Courtesy: ESA)”> Sunlight sensing: Artist’s impression of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) analysing the Martian atmosphere (Courtesy: ESA) Scientists in Russia have observed trace amounts of hydrogen chloride in Mars’ atmosphere for the first time. The detection, which was

Correction: This article was corrected on Feb. 19 at 5:26 pm Eastern time to note that the latest delivery order calls for GeoOptics alone to supply 1,300 daily radio occultations. SAN FRANCISCO – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans Feb. 19 to dramatically expand the number of daily radio occultation soundings it acquires

WASHINGTON — NASA remains cautiously optimistic that the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket can take place before the end of the year despite having to perform a second hotfire test of the rocket’s core stage. That test, the culmination of the Green Run test campaign for the core stage that started in

Thin polymer discs self-propel by repeated “snapping” motions. Credit: Yongjin Kim, UMass Amherst A polymer-based gel made by researchers in the US and inspired by the Venus flytrap plant can snap, jump and “reset” itself autonomously. The new self-propelled material might have applications in micron-sized robots and other devices that operate without batteries or motors.

By Allison Kubo Hutchison Elevation map of the Jezero Crater, landing site of the Perseverance Rover. NASA/Tim Goudge Located on the Northwest side of Isidis Basin, Jezero Crater’s lay undisturbed except for dust storms and meteorite impacts for countless eons. Jezero Crater is an uneven half-circle where the Northeast side is worn away. There are

WASHINGTON — A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launched a Cygnus spacecraft carrying supplies and experiments for the International Space Station Feb. 20. The Antares 230+ rocket lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 12:36 p.m. Eastern. The Cygnus spacecraft separated from the rocket’s upper stage nine minutes

Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said in a statement Feb. 19 that he requested the IG investigation a month ago. WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s inspector general will begin a probe into how the Air Force decided U.S. Space Command should move its headquarters from Colorado to Alabama.  “We plan to begin the subject evaluation in February

HELSINKI — Chinese private firm Landspace is working towards a potential first orbital launch attempt with a methane-fueled launch vehicle later this year.  Landspace completed assembly of the four Tianque-12 liquid methane-liquid oxygen engines which power the first stage of the Zhuque-2 rocket in early February. This was preceded by a payload fairing separation test

SAN FRANCISCO – The Quebec government will invest 400 million Canadian dollars ($315.5 million) in Telesat’s Lightspeed low-Earth orbit communications network. MDA will produce the constellation’s phased array antennas. And Thales Alenia Space will manufacture the satellites in Quebec, under a memorandum of understanding announced Feb. 18. “The Lightspeed program will create 600 high-paying STEM

Illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover firing its descent stage engines as it nears the Martian surface (Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech) NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed on Mars, completing its seven-month journey to the red planet. The Mars 2020 mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life and collect rock samples that will be returned to Earth

SAN FRANCISCO – German propulsion startup Morpheus Space has opened a Los Angeles office and named a retired U.S. Marine Corps officer and fighter pilot as its chief revenue officer. David Kalinske, who retired from the Marine Corps in 2013 after serving as commanding officer of a fighter squadron and an aide to Presidents George

WASHINGTON — On the eve of the landing of the rover Perseverance on Mars, scientists are looking ahead to the work it will do searching for evidence of past life on the planet and collecting samples for return to Earth. At a Feb. 17 briefing a little more than 24 hours before Mars 2020 arrives

Taken from the February 2021 issue of Physics World. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app.

By: Hannah Pell Physics  Physics tells us a lot about what we can do. We can use it to predict the motions of the stars to the most fundamental constituents of matter and nearly everything in between; physics can be a powerful tool for us to realize new possibilities beyond what we’ve known before. However,

The Space Force is buying advanced GPS receivers that can take advantage of a jam-resistant signal known as M-code. WASHINGTON — BAE Systems announced on Feb. 17 that it won the largest share of a $552 million deal the Space Force awarded to three companies in November to design and manufacture advanced GPS receivers that