Science

WASHINGTON — European small launch vehicle developer Isar Aerospace has signed an agreement with the French space agency CNES to launch its Spectrum rocket from French Guiana. Isar said July 21 it signed a binding term sheet with CNES to launch from the Diamant launch complex at the Guiana Space Center, or CSG, near Kourou,

The US institute has selected four algorithms that will be developed to protect data from a future quantum computer attack (Courtesy: iStock/ktsimage) The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has selected four algorithms that will be developed as post-quantum encryption standards to protect data from a future quantum computer attack. The announcement follows

WASHINGTON — The Senate is moving forward with a revised version of a NASA authorization bill that formally authorizes the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration effort and extends operations of the International Space Station. The Senate Commerce Committee released July 20 the text of the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act, a bill primarily

WASHINGTON — Two startups, each yet to fly their first missions, said July 19 they are collaborating on a Mars lander mission they claim could launch as soon as 2024. Launch vehicle startup Relativity Space and in-space transportation company Impulse Space jointly announced July 19 they are working on a robotic Mars lander they anticipate

In a Best-in-Physics presentation at the AAPM Annual Meeting, Sihao Chen described how a single MRI scan can be used for motion management during MR-guided radiotherapy

WASHINGTON — NASA has selected SpaceX to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on a Falcon Heavy, but at a price significantly higher than previous agency contracts. NASA announced July 19 that it awarded a contract to SpaceX to launch Roman on the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket in October 2026 from the Kennedy Space

WASHINGTON — NASA has delayed the launch of an ice-prospecting lunar rover by a year to perform more testing of its commercial lander, the agency announced July 18. NASA said it is delaying the launch of its Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) mission from November 2023 to November 2024. The rover is designed to

Dosimetric characterization: The novel flashDiamond detector proves its suitability for commissioning the ElectronFlash, a research accelerator for FLASH radiotherapy. (Courtesy: Sordina Iort Technologies) A European research team has used a prototype diamond-based Schottky diode detector to successfully commission an ElectronFlash research accelerator for both conventional and pre-clinical FLASH radiotherapy. The novel detector proved to be

TAMPA, Fla. — DirecTV said July 18 its satellite TV customers face major disruption if broadcast rival Dish Network gets to deploy 5G wireless services in the 12 GHz spectrum band. Mobile operations in the band “would cause extensive harmful interference” to millions of DirecTV receivers across the United States, the company told the Federal

WASHINGTON — The United Arab Emirates will develop a radar satellite constellation as part of a new fund worth more than $800 million to support the country’s space sector. The UAE government announced July 17 plans for a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite constellation called Sirb, Arabic for a flock of birds. The constellation will

Travelling wave: new computational research has revealed the role of friction in how dominoes topple. (Courtesy: iStock/Soulmemoria) Inspired by a video on YouTube, two researchers have uncovered new insights into the physics of toppling dominoes. Through an extensive set of simulations, David Cantor at Canada’s Polytechnique Montréal, together with Kajetan Wojtacki at the Polish Academy

WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace is preparing for the second launch of its Alpha rocket in late August or early September, hoping that a successful mission can enable a “step change” in activity for the company. The second Alpha rocket is currently at the company’s launch site at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as the

Provisions in the House NDAA urge DoD to use commercial space services for communications, space domain awareness and debris removal WASHINGTON — The House on July 14 passed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act  by a vote of 329-101. The bill authorizes $839 billion for military spending, or $37 billion more than the administration requested.

Moiré pattern evolution. Courtesy: Andrea Silva and Xin Cao. If you’ve ever struggled to shift a heavy piece of furniture, you have probably noticed that rotating the furniture while pushing it makes things easier. Researchers in Germany and Italy have now investigated this same phenomenon on the microscale and, in the process, identified the conditions

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia is the latest nation to sign the Artemis Accords as part of what the White House called “expanding cooperation” with the United States in space. The signing of the Accords, which outline best practices for safe and sustainable space exploration, took place in a virtual ceremony July 14 featuring officials from

WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic announced July 14 plans to assemble a fleet of suborbital spaceplanes in a new factory in a suburb of Phoenix. The company said it has started work on the factory in Mesa, Arizona, where it will perform final assembly of new Delta-class spaceplanes. The facility is scheduled to be fully operational

Did you know that some snakes can fly – or at least glide down from a tree under control? I had a vague idea that this was possible but I had no idea how the snakes did it, so I really enjoyed the video below from Mashable. Jake Socha at Virginia Tech explains how these

WASHINGTON — The Russian government dismissed Dmitry Rogozin as the head of the space agency Roscosmos July 15, the same day the agency and NASA signed a long-anticipated agreement to exchange seats on flights to the International Space Station. In a brief statement, the Kremlin announced the Vladimir Putin, president of Russia, had dismissed Rogozin