WASHINGTON — NASA has selected four small astrophysics missions for further study, although the agency cautions that not all may ultimately be flown. NASA announced Jan. 7 it selected three smallsat missions and one high-altitude balloon mission as the first in its new Astrophysics Pioneers program. The program, established last year, is intended to support
Science
Stress and strain: artistic representation of the device used to stretch the diamond samples. In real life the clear pieces of diamond are about 5 micron tall. (Courtesy: City University of Hong Kong) Normally brittle diamond has been stretched by almost 10% by an international team of scientists in China. Modelling done by the team
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will allow SpaceX to launch 10 Starlink satellites into polar orbit on an upcoming mission, but deferred a decision on a much broader modification of SpaceX’s license. In an order published Jan. 8, the FCC granted SpaceX permission to launch 10 Starlink satellites into a 560-kilometer orbit with an
WASHINGTON — The outgoing director general of the European Space agency announced Jan. 8 that he will step down at the end of February, four months ahead of schedule. In a blog post, Jan Wörner announced that, after consultation with the chair of the ESA Council, Anna Rathsman, he will resign at the end of
Cool running: the new blue material absorbs sweat six times faster and holds 15 times more moisture than conventional materials, and it turns pink when saturated. (Courtesy: National University of Singapore) If you have resolved to get more exercise in 2021, researchers in Singapore have just the fabric for you. They have invented a new
Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond announced the service has stood up the U.S. Space Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Enterprise to support the intelligence community. WASHINGTON— The U.S. Space Force on Jan. 8 officially became the 18th member of the U.S. intelligence community. The addition of the Space Force to the intelligence community
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Turkish communications satellite Jan. 7 to start what may be the busiest year yet for the launch company. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m. Eastern, more than 45 minutes into a four-hour launch window.
Quantum light: a 2000::km fibre optic network enables quantum key cryptography between four cities in China. (Courtesy: iStock/MorePixels) A network for quantum key distribution (QKD) spanning thousands of kilometres has been built in China. It links four quantum metropolitan area networks (QMANs) in cities in eastern China with a remote location in the far west
SDA statement: “The reevaluation confirmed the original selection decision that the SpaceX and L3Harris Technologies’ proposals offered the best value to the government.” WASHINGTON — Following a series of contract protests, the Space Development Agency again awarded SpaceX a $149 million contract and L3Harris a $193.5 million contract to each build four satellites to detect
The ability to “characterize threats” is a major challenge for the U.S. Space Force, said Maj. Gen. Leah Lauderback. WASHINGTON — China is developing satellites with robotic arms that could be deployed as space weapons. To prepare for the possibility that U.S. satellites might be targeted, the Space Force needs tools to identify whether a
Phononic crystal: the barrier was created using two different lattices that comprised acrylic cylinders. (Courtesy: University of Hong Kong) A curious effect called “Klein tunnelling” has been observed for the first time in an experiment involving sound waves in a phononic crystal. As well as confirming the century-old prediction that relativistic particles (those travelling at
WASHINGTON — NASA plans to complete the Green Run test campaign for the Space Launch System core stage with a hotfire test scheduled for mid-January. NASA announced Jan. 5 that it has scheduled the static-fire test, where the core stage’s four RS-25 engines are fired for a full-duration burn of 493 seconds, for no earlier
WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit has rescheduled its second orbital launch attempt for Jan. 10 as another small launch vehicle company, Rocket Lab, announces plans for its first launch of 2021. Virgin Orbit announced Jan. 5 that the second flight of its LauncherOne air-launch rocket is now scheduled for Jan. 10 between 1 and 5 p.m.
Cosmic time machine: the EDGES radio telescope sheds light on primordial gravitational waves. (Courtesy: Suzyj/CC BY-SA 4.0) The cosmic microwave background (CMB) is a rich source of information about the early universe, and now physicists in Switzerland and Germany reckon it could also serve as a detector of high-frequency gravitational waves, which are ripples in
SAN FRANCISCO – Delta Air Lines announced plans Jan. 5 to turn to Viasat for in-flight Ka-band connectivity for passengers flying in more than 300 of the carrier’s mainline narrow-body aircraft. The announcement, which Delta says will lay the groundwork to make in-flight internet fast and free, covers new deliveries and retrofits of Airbus A321ceo,
SAN FRANCISCO – Chinese startup Spacety released the first images from Hisea-1, a C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite, launched Dec. 22 on China’s new Long March 8 medium-lift rocket. Three days after launch, Spacety began receiving data from Hisea-1’s SAR payload built by the China Electronics Technology Group. On Dec. 27, Spacety acquired its
The Space Force says it plans to evaluate as many emerging small launch providers as possible and figure out how to contract for their services. WASHINGTON — Small satellite launches by the U.S. Space Force slowed considerably in 2020 due to the pandemic and technical setbacks. Small rocket missions that slipped to 2021 include launches