Science

WASHINGTON — United Launch Alliance is now planning a first launch of its Vulcan Centaur rocket in the fourth quarter after the company completes modifications to and testing of the upper stage. In a call with reporters July 13, Tory Bruno, president and chief executive of ULA, said the changes to the Centaur upper stage

WASHINGTON — As India prepares to launch its second lunar lander mission, the fate of a second Israeli lander is in doubt after the organization developing it lost a major source of funding. India’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is scheduled to launch July 14 on a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark 3, also known as LVM-3, from

Quantum sounds: Hong Qiao (left) Chris Conner working in Andrew Cleland’s lab at the University of Chicago. (Courtesy: Joel Wintermantle) Sound is very much a part of the classical, macroscopic world – so we normally do not think of sound as a quantum phenomenon. However, for some of the quietest sounds possible, quantum mechanics kicks

WASHINGTON — President Biden on July 11 submitted to the U.S. Senate the nominations of two three-star Space Force leaders for promotion to four-star generals. Lt. Gen. Stephen Whiting, commander of the Space Force’s Space Operations Command; and Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein, commander of the Space Force’s Space Systems Command, have been nominated to the

HELSINKI — Chinese private rocket firm Landspace achieved a global first late Tuesday by reaching orbit with a methane-fueled rocket. The 49.5-meter-long Zhuque-2 lifted off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on July 11.  Landspace and Chinese state media announced that the second Zhuque-2 reached orbit, making it

Language is central to our personal identities, and connects us others, and with our ancestors. But language is highly dynamic. Words and language structures evolve over time, sometimes leading to new dialects and languages. How and why does this occur? What can online communication tell us about regional variations? Why are so many languages at

TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis has sold a small broadband satellite launching to geostationary orbit next year to a telco in the Philippines looking for support from the country’s government, the Californian manufacturer announced July 11. Orbits Corp, the satellite services arm of Philippine internet service provider HTechCorp, plans to sell at least some of the

WASHINGTON — NASA awarded task orders to two companies already working on spacesuits for the International Space Station and Artemis missions to develop alternative versions of their suits. NASA announced July 10 that it issued task orders valued at $5 million each to Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace to begin design work on alternative versions

Clár-Bríd Tohill reviews Starstruck by Sarafina El-Badry Nance Path to success Sarafina El-Badry Nance is an astrophysicist and science communicator who was named in 2021 by Forbes magazine as one of 30 inspirational women from all walks of life. (Courtesy: Lawrence Berkeley lab) When I was a girl, I was fascinated by science but had

SAN FRANCISCO – Benchmark Space Systems raised $33 million in a Series B funding round. With the money raised, Benchmark plans to shift its focus from propulsion system research and development to manufacturing and testing.    News of the investment round came on the heels of layoffs by the Burlington, Vermont-based startup. “The fundraising process

It’s said nature abhors a vacuum. The same is true of leadership. In the global space community, a government body is almost always a leading component of a nation’s growing space ecosystem. But what if it wasn’t? In Ecuador today, there is growing momentum around space ecosystem development. To be sure, Ecuador has some history

The shape of the brain Monash University researchers James Pang (left) and Alex Fornito studied over 10,000 MRIs to determine that brain geometry influences its activity. (Courtesy: Monash University) How does the human brain work? It depends on who you ask. At school, you were likely taught that our brains contain billions of neurons that

Dylan Taylor is the founder and CEO of Voyager Space and a commercial astronaut who flew on Blue Origin’s NS-19 New Shepard suborbital space mission. When Astronaut Chris Hadfield gazed at Earth from Space Shuttle Endeavour, tears formed in his left eye as he experienced the Overview Effect. He didn’t expect these tears would make

Edward Hearst is CEO of Hearst Technology and Trade, a former vice president at Astra Space, and served as a deputy assistant secretary for international affairs at the Treasury Department (acting), a senior official at the Commerce and State Departments, Counsel on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and as an attorney at the FCC

In the lab University of Connecticut researchers (from left to right): Kazem Kazerounian, Thanh Nguyen, Feng Lin, Thinh Le, Meysam Chorsi and Horea Ilies. The biodegradable ultrasonic transducer is shown in the foreground. (Courtesy: Thanh D Nguyen, University of Connecticut) A new type of biodegradable ultrasound implant based on piezoelectric nanofibres could improve outcomes for

WASHINGTON — As the European Space Agency continues to develop proposals for human space exploration efforts, more European countries are showing an interest in launching astronauts. At a June 29 briefing after a meeting of the ESA Council, ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher announced that Poland was subscribing an additional 295 million euros ($325 million)

SAN FRANCISCO – Plasmos, the Los Angeles-based startup developing rocket engines, is pivoting to become an artificial intelligence-driven venture capital firm. Plasmos officially changed its business model in late May after struggling to attract investors and strategic partners due in part to the background of Plasmos CEO Ali Baghchehsara. Born in Iran, Baghchehsara moved to

Shining adventure: embark on a Minecraft tour of the solar system with Our Place in Space. (Courtesy: Our Place in Space) While Minecraft is the best-selling video game in history and might have kids glued to their screens more than their parents would like, it does come with some educational benefits. One example is a new