Science

Going with the flow: Björn Hof in his lab. (Courtesy: Nadine Poncioni/ISTA) Pumping patterns that mimic the human heartbeat can drastically reduce turbulence in a fluid that is pumped through pipes, researchers in Austria have discovered. Through a simple set of experiments, Björn Hof and colleagues at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria showed

WASHINGTON — Operating under a veil of secrecy reminiscent of a national security launch, Virgin Galactic performed its third commercial suborbital spaceflight Sept. 8 with three private astronauts on board. The company’s VSS Unity spaceplane, attached to its VMS Eve mothership aircraft, took off from Spaceport America in New Mexico at 10:34 a.m. Eastern. Unity

TAMPA, Fla. — Viasat’s U.K. subsidiary is partnering with Oxford Space Systems, a British satellite antenna specialist, to develop a 50% lighter high-speed communications terminal to improve the mobility of dismounted soldiers. The companies see the potential for a Ka-band satellite communications system that is 15 kilograms or less, Viasat UK managing director Hisham Awad

Elaborate structure: this pitcher plant grows at the Oxford Botanic Garden (Courtesy: Chris Thorogood) Carnivorous pitcher plants consist of hollow, cup-like structures that capture and then digest unsuspecting prey. Found mostly in the tropics, especially south-east Asia, pitcher plants have a slippery rim at the top, called a peristome that is covered in small ridges

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has completed the mishap investigation in SpaceX’s first integrated Starship launch in April but is not ready yet to approve a second launch of the vehicle. In a Sept. 8 statement, the FAA said it completed the investigation into the April 20 launch of the Starship vehicle and its

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force should overhaul its current approach to procuring commercial satellite communications services, the RAND Corp. recommends in a report published Sept. 6. RAND argues in the report that existing methods for procuring commercial satcom services inhibit the government from harnessing the full potential of commercial innovations.  The Space Force, which

Speedy SNAIL: The experimental structure housing the two cavities and the SNAIL coupling element. (Courtesy: Stijn de Graaf and Sophia H Xue) Quantum computers could revolutionize science, but the quantum bits (qubits) they run on are fragile. Being able to manipulate these qubits rapidly, before interactions with their environment cause the quantum information in them

WASHINGTON — Satellite manufacturer Terran Orbital in 2024 plans to accelerate production at its factory in California, promising deliveries in 30 to 60 days, the company announced Sept. 7. The company is marketing this effort as a “responsive space initiative” to shorten production timelines,  said Marc Bell, co-founder, chairman and CEO of Terran Orbital. “Today

ARLINGTON, Va. — Under a new strategy to counter China’s military buildup, the Pentagon is advocating the use of low-cost autonomous platforms that can be mass produced and deployed at sea, on land, in the air and in space.  “This is about driving culture change just as much as technology change — so we can

Fluid situation: composite image of the remnant of SN 1987A. Neutrinos from such supernovae could provide clues about physics beyond the Standard Model. (Courtesy: Alma/NASA/ESA) Neutrinos created in exploding stars could point to physics beyond the Standard Model, according to calculations done by Po-Wen Chang and colleagues at Ohio State University in the US. Their

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency and ArianeGroup announced a successful hot-fire test of the core stage of the Ariane 6 rocket, the first of two such tests before ESA is ready to set a date for the rocket’s inaugural launch. The test took place Sept. 5 on the launch pad at the spaceport in

TAMPA, Fla. — Vodafone plans to test beta services from Amazon’s planned Project Kuiper broadband constellation next year to extend the reach of its cellular networks in Europe and Africa. The companies said Sept. 5 they agreed on a partnership that would use Amazon’s envisioned network of 3,200 satellites in low Earth orbit to bring

Cool idea: NIST’s Daniel Barker, Steve Eckel, Jim Fedchak, Julia Scherschligt and colleagues have developed and tested a technique that uses cold atoms to measure ultralow pressures. (Courtesy: NIST) An effect that normally gets in the way of the magnetic trapping of atoms has been harnessed to create a new method for measuring pressure in

WASHINGTON — With its first 23 satellites in orbit, the U.S. Space Development Agency in the coming months will begin the demonstration phase of a data network in space designed to support military operations.   SpaceX on Sept. 2 launched SDA’s second batch of satellites. The agency now has 19 communications satellites and four missile-tracking spacecraft

WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency plans to set a target launch period for the first Ariane 6 in October, with the hopes that vehicle can finally take flight “not too late” into 2024. At a Sept. 4 briefing, officials from ESA and other partners on the Ariane 6 said they should be able to

Lurking for decades: researchers have discovered Pines’ demon, a collection of electrons in a metal that behaves like a massless wave. It is illustrated here as an artist’s impression. (Courtesy: The Grainger College of Engineering/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) For nearly seven decades, a plasmon known as Pines’ demon has remained a purely hypothetical feature of

HELSINKI — Emerging trends in how China is utilizing and operating its Tiangong space station could impact how the country’s space program is viewed internationally. “The People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) intention to allow civilian astronauts and nonstate-owned enterprise (SOE) companies to participate in the Chinese Space Station (CSS) are two trends that will probably change

WASHINGTON — Lunar lander developer Intuitive Machines announced Aug. 31 it raised $20 million through a sale of stock as the company gears up for its first mission. The Houston-based company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it sold approximately 4.7 million shares to an unnamed institutional investor at $4.25 per share.