For a brilliant (albeit brief) period of time, Earth had two moons — our tried and true satellite with astronaut footprints and abandoned lunar buggies on its surface, and a miniature space rock pulled into our orbit.
But alas, all good things must come to an end, and thus, the minimoon is no longer with us, according to The Atlantic .
Our (former) minimoon, known formally as 2020 CD3 , was officially identified in February after it had been orbiting our planet for at least a year, astronomers estimate. This happy little surprise revealed what is most likely a small, 3-foot-wide (0.9 meters) space rock. Researchers think that gravitational forces flung the tiny space rock into our orbit, where it hung out for so long.
While you're here, how about this:
Virgin Orbit's space launch business deemed 'essential service,' work allowed to continue at Long
WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit announced March 20 that it will continue operations at its facility in Long Beach, California, after state officials categorized the work as an essential service that should not be completely shut down during the coronavirus pandemic.
On March 19, California, Los Angeles County and Long Beach issued a series of "Safer at Home" orders that closed all non-essential businesses and requires most of the state's 40 million inhabitants to stay at home until further notice. The city, county, and state orders provide exemptions for certain businesses and industries deemed essential services.
NASA Space Station On-Orbit Status 19 March 2020 - Cardiac Research - SpaceRef
Cardiac research was a big part of the Expedition 62 crew's schedule on Thursday. Meanwhile, the International Space Station is orbiting higher to get ready for April's crew swap.
NASA astronaut Jessica Meir nourished and preserved heart tissue samples for an experiment watching how heart cells adapt to microgravity. Flight Engineer Andrew Morgan got to work replacing hardware for an investigation producing heart cells that may treat cardiac abnormalities.
34 satellites go into orbit for OneWeb’s broadband constellation, amid questions about
OneWeb's third batch of satellites for its broadband internet constellation was lofted into orbit today on a Russian Soyuz rocket launched from Kazakhstan with the aid of Europe's Arianespace consortium.
While you're here, how about this:
Two commercial satellites docked in orbit for the first time ever - MIT Technology Review
Northrop Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) docked successfully with Intelsat's-901 communications satellite in orbit on Tuesday, the first time two commercial satellites have ever docked in orbit.
May be a 'super world' orbiting the star closest to the Sun - Somag News
The analysis of cyclic changes in the light spectrum emitted by Proxima Centauri, the star closest to the Sun, points to the existence of a second planet around that star. The low-mass planet candidate travels about 1.5 astronomical units (about 225 million kilometers) from Proxima Centauri.
The data presented by Mario Damasso and colleagues from the National Institute of Astrophysics in Rome suggest that this candidate planet rotates every 5.2 years in orbit of Proxima Centauri, and the mass of the ‘Super World’ candidate’s mass is more than that of Uranus and Neptune. indicates that it may have a lower mass and a higher mass than that of the Earth.
India, Bangladesh, And The Bay of Bengal As Seen From Orbit - SpaceRef
The coasts of India and Bangladesh, pictured from the International Space Station from an altitude of 263 miles, meet at the Bay of Bengal.
The area is known for its vast mangrove forests and rich variety of wildlife including monkeys, elephants and tigers.
Virgin Orbit working toward first launch, schedule reassessed amid pandemic - SpaceNews.com
WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit is reassessing the schedule for the first orbital flight demonstration of its LauncherOne vehicle, which had been scheduled for April.
"We’re mindful that COVID-19 is putting added burdens and stresses on our teams and leaders, so we are assessing things daily and keeping momentum up as best we can while doing everything we can to protect the health of our people," Virgin Orbit spokesman Kendall Russell told SpaceNews March 19 in a statement.
No comments:
Post a Comment