Science

LAUREL, Md. — A proposed cut of nearly 20% in the budget for NASA’s Dragonfly mission to Saturn’s moon Titan in 2024 could force changes to the mission or its schedule, a top project official said May 3. NASA’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal requested $327.7 million for Dragonfly, a rotorcraft that would land on

Many colours: the new device is capable of generating light at a number of specific wavelengths. (Courtesy: iStock/koey) A solid state electronic device array that produces time-modulated light at tuneable wavelengths has been unveiled by researchers in the US. Possible uses of the device include compressive spectroscopy, which is much easier to perform outside the

Daniel N. Baker is the director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Dr. Baker chaired the National Research Council’s 2013-2022 Decadal Survey in Solar and Space Physics. Robotic space programs have been one of the greatest achievements of the United States. These programs have been the source

WASHINGTON — U.S. defense contractor SAIC announced May 5 it will partner with European manufacturer GomSpace to develop small satellites for U.S. government agencies, commercial firms and universities. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding April 18 at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs. SAIC signed a similar agreement last year with small satellite startup

Uncorked: physicists have explained why champagne bubbles stay on the straight and narrow. (Courtesy: Shutterstock/Lukas Gojda) We live on a planet with lots of water and air, so it’s not surprising that bubbles can play important roles in a range of physical and biological processes. And that is one reason why some physicists are fascinated

WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials have called attention to DoD’s need to access commercial space industry services. However, very little of the Space Force’s budget is being allocated to these types of services, a space industry and budget analyst said May 2. Commercial space services — enabled by increasingly capable small satellites and cheaper access to

TAMPA, Fla. — The last pair of satellites SES needs to provide upgraded broadband services from medium Earth orbit (MEO) have completed tests ahead of an early June launch, SES said during financial results May 4. Boeing is preparing to ship the fifth and sixth O3b mPower satellites this month to Florida for launch on

In this episode of the Physics World Weekly podcast I explore the remarkable life of Freeman Dyson with the historian and physicist David Kaiser. Born in England a century ago, Dyson made important breakthroughs in quantum theory and applied mathematical rigour to a wide range of projects. These included the design of a popular research

WASHINGTON — CesiumAstro, a company that specializes in communications technologies for satellites and aircraft, will supply electronic phased-array payloads for seven U.S. military satellites built by Raytheon Technologies. Raytheon is producing missile-detection sensor satellites for a low Earth orbit constellation that’s being acquired by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Development Agency.  CesiumAstro, based in Austin,

WASHINGTON — The Czech Republic became the 24th country to sign the Artemis Accords May 3, growing Europe’s presence in the U.S.-led agreement. In a brief ceremony at NASA Headquarters, Jan Lipavský, minister of foreign affairs for the Czech Republic, formally signed the accords in the presence of officials from NASA and the U.S. State

Cluster creation: artistic impression of a state containing multiple entangled photons. (Courtesy: iStock/agsandrew) Pairs of entangled photons are a key ingredient of photonic quantum computers, quantum key distribution systems, and many quantum networking designs. Producing entangled photons on demand generally requires bulky lasers and prolonged alignment procedures – and this limits the commercial viability of

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force selected Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to develop competing ground systems for a next-generation space communications network that can survive a nuclear attack. Each company won a $30 million contract to develop prototypes of a ground system for the Evolved Strategic Satcom (ESS) program, the Space Systems Command announced May

WASHINGTON — A cubesat launched as a secondary payload on Artemis 1 may end its operations at the end of the month unless it can get its propulsion system working. The LunaH-Map spacecraft was one of 10 cubesats launched as secondary payloads on the inaugural flight of the Space Launch System last November. The spacecraft

Imperfect system: artist’s impression of neurons and synapses in the brain. (Courtesy: iStock/Henrik5000) Using a strategy that mimics the encoding of information in our brains, a trio of researchers in China have proposed a new platform for artificial intelligence (AI) that could be far more robust than existing architectures. The approach, which has yet to

Maia Moore is a graduate student in Georgetown University’s Science, Technology and International Affairs program and a fellow with the U.S. State Department.  African nations have the potential to become leading competitors in the space industry due to the continent’s rapidly expanding space industry, the amount of institutional knowledge already available, and its large youth

WASHINGTON — Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration May 1, arguing that the agency improperly carried out an environmental review of SpaceX Starship launches from Boca Chica, Texas. The suit, filed in federal district court, seeks to revoke the FAA’s launch license for Starship launches from Boca Chica and declare