Science

Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab, Space Vector and VOX Space each will receive contracts to launch two rideshare missions. WASHINGTON — Six space launch companies were selected to receive Defense Department contracts funded under the Defense Production Act to shore up domestic industries financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Aevum, Astra, X-Bow, Rocket Lab, Space
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In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast Giovanna Fragneto explains why neutrons are an ideal probe for studying the SARS coronavirus that is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Fragneto is leader of the Large Scale Structures group at the Institut Laue-Langevin, which is a world-leading centre for neutron science in Grenoble, France. In
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WASHINGTON — NASA officials say they’re confident that the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission will launch this summer amid the special measures the agency had to take to keep the mission on track during the coronavirus pandemic. The mission is currently scheduled for launch July 20 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 from Cape
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et al./Advanced Functional Materials)”> Taking the strain: this highly elastic film contains large quantities of conductive graphene nanosheets (Courtesy: MA O’Mara et al./Advanced Functional Materials) A strain sensor capable of measurements ranging from the touch of a feather to hard-hitting impacts has been developed by Marcus O’Mara and colleagues at the University of Sussex in
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SAN FRANCISCO – In-space transportation provider Momentus announced agreements June 16 with Bulgaria’s EnduroSat to provide transportation for two cubesats scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rideshare flight in February 2021. Under the agreement, Momentus will enclose Kuwait’s first spacecraft, QMR-KWT, and EnduroSat’s Shared Platform for Applied Research and Technology Affirmation (SPARTAN) in
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SAN FRANCISCO – Raytheon won a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contract to study High-Resolution Infrared Sounder (HIRIS), a weather instrument designed to offer detailed views of cloud tops and the dry line, where moist and dry air meet. Under the May 12 NOAA contract valued at nearly $295,000, Raytheon will spend seven months fleshing
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Probing the structure of liquid silicates under high pressure conditions similar to those at the interface between the mantle and the Earth’s core. Courtesy: Greg Stewart/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory A technique that reproduces the conditions of the Earth’s mantle at a depth of more than 2000 km could help researchers simulate our planet’s earliest days,
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Communications Commission remains unconvinced that low Earth orbit satellite internet constellations are worth subsidizing through its $16 billion rural broadband program despite tweaking the rules for that program to give LEO constellations a better chance to qualify for funding.  In a move meant to benefit the likes of SpaceX, Telesat,
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WASHINGTON — NASA has selected the longtime manager of its commercial crew program to be the next head of its overall human spaceflight efforts. NASA announced June 12 that Kathy Lueders will take over as associate administrator for human exploration and operations, effectively immediately. Lueders, the first woman to hold that post, had been manager
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Collision course: artistic representation of the current interaction between the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy and the Milky Way. (Courtesy: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM (IAC)) The solar system may have been formed in a long-ago collision between the Milky Way and its orbiting companion the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. That is the conclusion of astrophysicists in Spain, who
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WASHINGTON — A Rocket Lab Electron rocket successfully launched a set of payloads for the National Reconnaissance Office and two universities June 13 on a mission delayed two and a half months by the coronavirus pandemic. The Electron lifted off from the company’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand at 1:12 a.m. Eastern. The company
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