How Artemis Astronauts Will Be Protected From Solar Storms

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BOULDER — The looming crewed Artemis moon missions, which will send astronauts beyond the protective cocoon of Earth's magnetic field, are spurring a look at flight rules and sharpening space weather forecasting skills.

Our planet's atmosphere and magnetic field protect us from the steady stream of radiation and charged particles released by the Sun. But outbursts of the Sun , as recently highlighted by the super-strong geomagnetic storm on May 10 that buffeted Earth via solar flares and coronal mass ejections, can also be a threat to outbound crews heading for the moon.

Given the recent powerful solar eruptions, what impact on Artemis operations would have happened if a crewed mission was now underway?

"Fortunately, most of the spacecraft designed for human exploration — including those for Artemis — are designed to protect our astronauts from most of this radiation hazard," Ian Cohen, deputy chief scientist for space exploration at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, told SpaceNews.

"There are also protocols at NASA to monitor and respond to such events and specifically designed areas of the spacecraft where astronauts can shelter to ride out the hazard," Cohen added.

The largest potential threat is if the astronauts were outside the spacecraft performing an extravehicular activity either in space or on the surface of the moon, Cohen said.

"In that scenario NASA would monitor the event and potentially alter the mission plans — possibly cancelling the [extravehicular activity] — to protect the astronauts. So, while the radiation is a potential hazard for extreme events, NASA does actively monitor the situation and has procedures in place to keep our astronauts safe," said Cohen.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) is working with NASA space radiation specialists to bolster space weather support for human expeditions to the moon.

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Just A Moment...

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Why USGA boss Mike Whan is right leader for this complex moment

Our main goal, here at GOLF Originals, is to bring interesting people to you, dear viewer, without sitting our subject down in a clubhouse Windsor chair on a tartan carpet with a framed poster of the original 1745 Rules of Golf on a nearby wall. With those ground rules in mind, we brought David Feherty , golf broadcasting legend, to the Psychic Eye Bookstore in Las Vegas for our March premiere. A good time. We toured a giant sand pit in South Florida, a course under construction called Sandglass, with Tom Doak, the brilliant course architect, for our April show . Fun! And now, for our May edition, and right on time for the U.S. Open I (women) and U.S. Open II (men), comes Mike Whan, the USGA's CEO. My colleague Darren Riehl, the producer of this series, and I joined Whan at a nine-hole, mom-and-pop golf course called Palm Valley, about 10 miles or so from TPC Sawgrass . Whan loved it. He was right at home, chatting up the course owner, Chris Hord, and his random playing partner, a retired schoolteacher named Louise.

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Are These Drones Too Chinese to Pass U.S. Muster in an Anti-China Moment? - The New York Times

A one-man startup believes it has an answer to U.S. government concerns over the Chinese-made drones that dominate commercial sales in the American market.

Anzu Robotics's chief executive and founding partners are all American, and the company's headquarters is in Texas. The company's drones, which are expected to be used by law enforcement agencies, utilities, architects and others, are assembled in Malaysia, and they run on servers sitting in Virginia.

There's just one problem: Anzu has multiple close ties to China and to DJI, the Shenzhen-based firm being targeted by legislative and regulatory efforts to curb sales of Chinese drones in the United States.

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Massive NASA Exoplanet Catalog Unveils 126 Extreme And Exotic Worlds

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The catalog's mix of planets is further evidence of the wide and wild variety of worlds beyond our cosmic backyard; it even shows that our solar system is perhaps a little boring. Yet, despite these planets being so different than Earth and its neighbors, maybe they can still help us better understand why our planetary system looks the way it does, thus uncovering our place in the wider cosmos.

The catalog of extrasolar planets, or " exoplanets ," was created using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in collaboration with the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii .

"With this information, we can begin to answer questions about where our solar system fits into the grand tapestry of other planetary systems," Stephen Kane, TESS-Keck Survey Principal Investigator and an astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside, said in a statement .

The new TESS-Keck Survey of 126 exoplanets really stands apart from previous exoplanet surveys because it contains complex data about the majority of planets included.

"Relatively few of the previously known exoplanets have a measurement of both the mass and the radius," Kane added. "The combination of these measurements tells us what the planets could be made of and how they formed."

The catalog was built over the course of three years as the team used 13,000 measurements of tiny "wobbles" that planets cause as they orbit their stars and exert a tiny gravitational tug on them. This tug causes a star to move slightly away, then slightly toward, Earth.

When stars are pulled slightly away, this stretches the wavelengths of light they emit, moving them toward the "red end" of the electromagnetic spectrum. When stars move toward Earth, the wavelength of the light they omit is slightly compressed, making it "bluer."

Bloomberg - Are You A Robot?

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Asteroid-bound Psyche Spacecraft Fires Up Ion Thrusters, Starts Cruising Through Space

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'It's so complicated:' Boeing Starliner teams diagnosing helium leak ahead of June 1 astronaut launch...

Starliner is still set to fly on its historic first flight with astronauts on June 1, but that could change as the team works through "complicated" issues following a small helium leak.

NASA and Boeing officials emphasized they are carefully weighing the decision to launch Starliner 's first test mission with astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). The approximately one-week mission is known as Crew Flight Test (CFT) and includes NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams , both former U.S. Navy test pilots.

"It's so complicated. There's so many things going on. We really just needed to work through it as a team," Ken Bowersox, associate administrator for NASA's Space Operations Mission Directorate and a former astronaut, told reporters in a teleconference Friday (May 24). He added that addressing the issues have taken a lot of time, which is part of why few updates have been forthcoming from the team in recent weeks.

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Watch Rocket Lab launch a NASA climate change cubesat early on May 25 | Space

Rocket Lab will launch a small NASA Earth-observation satellite early Saturday morning (May 25), and you can watch the action live.

An Electron launcher is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab 's New Zealand site Saturday during an hour-long window that opens at 3:15 a.m. EDT (0715 GMT; 7:15 p.m. local New Zealand time). It will carry to orbit the first of two cubesats for NASA's PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) climate-studying mission.

You can watch the launch live courtesy of Rocket Lab , and Space.com will air the company's stream if, as expected, it is made available. Coverage will begin 30 minutes before the window opens.

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NASA's mission to the metal-rich asteroid 16 Psyche has fired up its ion engines and is now cruising across the solar system under the power of solar-electric propulsion.

The launch of the spacecraft, which is also called Psyche , on October 13, 2023 gave it enough of an initial boost to take it across more than 190 million miles (300 million kilometers) of space, which is beyond the orbit of Mars .

Now, however, its onboard ion engines have taken over the job of acceleration. They work by converting sunlight into electricity via the spacecraft's solar arrays that form its "wings." The resulting electrical current powers an electromagnetic field that accelerates and expels ions, which are charged particles, of xenon gas. As the ions are accelerated out of the four thrusters, creating an eerie blue glow, they impart a momentum upon the spacecraft, pushing it in the opposite direction.

The force exerted by expelled ions is small; each thruster provides a pressure equivalent to three coins pressing into your hand due to the force of gravity . However, with no atmospheric friction in space , this gentle thrust can build up, quickly accumulating to accelerate the spacecraft at higher and higher rates. Psyche is currently racing through space at 84,000 miles (135,000 kilometers) per hour, and the intention is to get it up to 124,000 miles (200,000 kilometers) per hour.

The spacecraft's ion engines are currently firing almost constantly and taking it forward, but as part of Psyche's journey to its eponymous asteroid, it will loop back around and encounter Mars in May 2026. On approaching the Red Planet, Psyche will shut down its ion engines and allow itself to get caught in Martian gravity and be slingshot around the planet.

After this gravity assist, the ion engines will power back up and the spacecraft's next stop will be the asteroid 16 Psyche in 2029, which it will orbit for at least two years. The asteroid 16 Psyche is of interest to scientists because it is a large, 173-mile-wide (280-kilometer-wide) fragment of an ancient planet's metallic core that was left over from our solar system's period of planet formation, about 4.5 billion years ago. By learning about 16 Psyche, planetary scientists hope to discover more about the interiors of rocky planets like Earth , as well as how these worlds formed.

Airbus To Build ESA Space Science Satellite

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Airbus to Build ESA's Vigil Space Weather Forecasting Mission

ESA has signed a contract with Airbus Defence ⁘ Space UK worth €340 million for the development of its Vigil satellite. From its unique vantage point in deep space, Vigil will greatly improve our early warning of severe space weather events such as solar storms that may disrupt Earth.

"Vigil will be Europe's first 24/7 operational space weather satellite, providing valuable time to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids or mobile communication networks on Earth as well as valuable satellites in Earth orbit, including the International Space Station ISS," says ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher .

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GWPrime : The First Subscription based Geospatial Media Platform

The opportunity of emerging technologies is rising significantly, especially with the promise of AI implementation, which can play a vital role in enhancing cost-efficiency as well as the qualitative and

Mapping is a dire necessity. Be it combating climate change, holistic city planning, or resilient adaptation for disaster preparedness. Beginning with 2D maps, we have evolved to address a range

Data-based insights have always informed our decisions and choices. Space data not only informs us but helps predict and analyze what we can't see view from the ground. Myriad Solutions

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WASHINGTON — The European Space Agency has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a contract to build a spacecraft that will provide a unique view of the sun.

ESA held a signing ceremony May 22 in Brussels for a contract valued at 340 million euros ($369 million) for the Vigil spacecraft. Airbus will build Vigil at its facilities at Stevenage in the United Kingdom.

Slated to launch in 2031, Vigil will operate at the Earth-sun L-5 Lagrange point, trailing the Earth by 60 degrees in its orbit. It will complement spacecraft at the L-1 point, between the Earth and the sun, by viewing regions of the sun before they rotate into view of the Earth, thus providing advance warning of solar activity.

"Data from Vigil can give us an unprecedented notice of up to four to five days for certain space weather effects traveling to Earth," said Giuseppe Mandorlo, ESA project manager for Vigil, in a statement. "From its vantage point from the 'side', Vigil can also observe much more clearly the speed, direction and chance of impact of coronal mass ejections."

"Vigil will be Europe's first 24/7 operational space weather satellite, providing valuable time to protect critical infrastructure such as power grids or mobile communication networks on Earth as well as valuable satellites in Earth orbit," said ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher in a statement. "Vigil will drastically improve both the lead time of space weather warnings as well as their level of detail from its unique vantage point in deep space."

Scientists Find Earth-sized Planet. It⁘s Orbiting A Fascinating Star.

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Discovery alert: An Earth-sized planet with 17-hour year found - Times of India

At TOI World Desk, our dedicated team of seasoned journalists and passionate writers tirelessly sifts through the vast tapestry of global events to bring you the latest news and diverse perspectives round the clock. With an unwavering commitment to accuracy, depth, and timeliness, we strive to keep you informed about the ever-evolving world, delivering a nuanced understanding of international affairs to our readers. Join us on a journey across continents as we unravel the stories that shape our interconnected world. Read More

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NASA's TESS Finds Intriguing World Sized Between Earth, Venus - NASA Science

Using observations by NASA's TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and many other facilities, two international teams of astronomers have discovered a planet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years away. Multiple factors make it a candidate well-suited for further study using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope .

TESS stares at a large swath of the sky for about a month at a time, tracking the brightness changes of tens of thousands of stars at intervals ranging from 20 seconds to 30 minutes. Capturing transits — brief, regular dimmings of stars caused by the passage of orbiting worlds — is one of the mission's primary goals.

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Our medium-sized sun, in contrast, will shine for some 10 billion years before exhausting its fuel.

The small Jupiter -sized star is called "SPECULOOS-3," named after the Search for Planets EClipsing ULtra-cOOl Stars research project, which aims to learn more about the worlds around these faint objects. This ultra-cool star is some 4,760 degrees Fahrenheit (2,627 Celsius), while the sun's surface is over 10,000 F (5,537 C).

But the nearby Earth-sized planet, called SPECULOOS-3 b, isn't exactly "cool." At such a close distance, it's walloped with radiation.

"Though this particular red dwarf is more than a thousand times dimmer than the sun, its planet orbits much, much closer than the Earth, heating up the planetary surface," Catherine Clark, a researcher at NASA⁘s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who coauthored the new research recently published in Nature Astronomy , said in a statement . Blasted by solar storms and winds, it might not harbor much of an atmosphere, the space agency said.

Yet some rocky worlds, like a super-Earth found this year, inhabit the "habitable zone" around red dwarfs, meaning a region of space where water exists on the surface. It takes 19 days for this super-Earth (dubbed "TOI-715 b") to orbit its red dwarf ⁘ which is still relatively close. (A habitable zone around a red dwarf star can be just one percent the distance Earth is to the sun ).

To find this Earth-sized world, scientists employed a number of robotic telescopes around the world to look for a slight dimming of such ultra-cool red dwarf stars, which is caused by a distant world transiting in front. This allows astronomers to measure the size of the world and determine its density. Next, a space observatory like the James Webb Space Telescope ⁘ fitted with instruments able to detect the composition of exoplanet atmospheres and surface mineralogy ⁘ can further investigate this alien world. Research time on Webb is highly competitive, but NASA noted SPECULOOS-3 b is "an excellent candidate" for further research.

The Robots Are Taking Over X-Isle As Hawked's Second Major Issue Update Arrives

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In "Issue #2: Dark Arrival," players are tossed into a conflict with VEKTR — a robotic force. These cybernetically-enhanced adversaries have seized control of X-Isle, aiming to excavate a legendary vault rumored to contain immense power. As players embark on a new questline, they will confront various types of VEKTR units — each presenting unique challenges, from close combat GAMMA units to aerial BETA threats and terrain-altering DELTA forces.

There's also gameplay enhancements included in this patch. Ranked Mode expands the competitive PvP experience, allowing players to level up their rank and division by extracting treasure and eliminating rivals, with exclusive rewards for those who climb higher. Additionally, the Class Cards system introduces a new way to experiment with builds and playstyles, inspired by legendary Renegades from the game's lore. By completing Mastery Quests, they can unlock unique buffs and bonuses tied to each Class Card.

The shooter 's update introduces the Renegade Pass as well, offering players a progression path with rewards from both the free and premium tracks. By completing quests, players can earn rewards such as exclusive outfits, avatars, weapon patterns, and in-game currency. They have the opportunity to participate in a community contest to create their own Class Card, with prizes and the chance for their creation to be featured in-game.

Matthew "dinofries" D'Onofrio is a writer, content creator, podcaster and — most importantly — a gamer. With such a strong passion for video games and a severe case of FOMO, it's no surprise he always has his finger on the pulse of the gaming world. On the rare occasion Matt's away from a screen, you'll find him strumming away on his acoustic guitar or taking care of his cat Totoro.

The Seven Most Amazing Discoveries We've Made By Exploring Jupiter

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Jupiter's extreme heft is its most characteristic feature. Owing to its gravitational prowess, Jupiter plays a "big brother" role in the solar system—it has had a hand in many historical events. Four billion years ago, the behemoth conspired with Saturn to combine their gravitational might to hurl comets and asteroids across the solar system. Such an event may have even brought about a cataclysmic period known as the Late Heavy Bombardment—when planetesimals peppered the inner solar system and potentially forged many of the craters that pockmark the surface of the moon today.

In the last 50 years, spacefaring missions and the development of more powerful telescopes have allowed scientists to peer past Jupiter's clouds and dissect the planet with unprecedented clarity. Scientists have found that Jupiter's environment is extremely hostile. Long-lasting storms jet around the planet and paint the surface in multicolor bands. Lethal levels of radiation threaten to fry any interloper. Like their mother planet, the Galilean moons are also far from being placid worlds.

With its gorgeous swirling overcoat and nature of extremes, Jupiter has long captured the public imagination and continues to inspire scientific study. Recent discoveries have only heightened Jupiter's mystique, enticing researchers to probe this far-flung realm. Here are some of the most enthralling findings scientists have made about Jupiter and its moons in the last five decades.

As a gas giant, Jupiter isn't terra firma—all the way down to its fuzzy core. At its center is a diluted mixture of heavy-element solids and gases squeezed beyond recognition by gravity. Imagine biting into day-old boba that's still soft on the outside but has hardened somewhat in the middle—Jupiter has a similar consistency, one of a fluffy outer layer that transitions into a dense core in one continuum.

Jupiter's strange interior was discovered by the Juno mission in 2017 through gravity field measurements , a technique that maps the subtle variations in the gravitational tug on a spacecraft as it skims all across the planet. The gravity data looked nothing like that for planets with a sharp solid-fluid boundary, prompting scientists to propose that Jupiter has a fuzzy core. "We still don't fully understand exactly what is going on," says Heidi Becker, a NASA planetary scientist and one of Juno's co-investigative leads.

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Six Planets To Line Up In The Skies In Rare Cosmic Alignment

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'Planet Parade' 2024: watch guide for 6 planets aligned on June 3

The Biden administration has given the space agency until the end of 2026 to hammer out a new ⁘time zone⁘ specific to the moon. LiveNOW from FOX's Josh Breslow spoke with Professor Catherine Heymans, Scotland's Astronomer Royal about the reasons behind this.

Skywatchers are in for a treat on June 3, 2024, when a rare alignment of six planets will be visible in the pre-dawn sky. This celestial event, known as a ⁘planet parade,⁘ will feature Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune lining up in a spectacular display.

From Earth's perspective, a planet parade occurs when multiple planets appear close together in the sky. Although the planets don't form a straight line, they will be close enough to create a stunning visual spectacle.

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Witness rare celestial magic on June 3 as six planets align in a straight line, here's how to spot them - Hindustan...

Next month, on June 3, there will be a planetary alignment that may actually allow you to witness six planets align in the sky . This is a rare astronomical phenomenon. So, if you were not present for the breathtaking show of the northern lights a few weeks ago, you may have another opportunity to see something really unique in the night sky .

According to Kate Pattle, a lecturer at University College London's Physics & Astronomy Department in conversation with Glamour UK, "A planetary alignment is an astronomical event that happens when, by coincidence, the orbits of several of the planets of the Solar System bring them to roughly the same side of the Sun at the same time."

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Weeks after the total solar eclipse amazed people in several parts of the world, stargazers will be treated to a rare alignment of six planets gracing the early morning skies.

The alignment will take place in the first week of June as the planets line up in a rare cosmic event.

Planetary alignment is a term used to describe the positioning of planets in the solar system such that they appear to be in a straight line or close to one when viewed from a specific vantage point, for us that's Earth. This phenomenon is more an illusion of perspective rather than the planets being in a perfect line in space.

Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will form a near-straight line, offering an extraordinary opportunity to witness this cosmic phenomenon. WHICH PLANETS WILL BE VISIBLE?

While six planets align, not all of them will be visible to the naked eye, due to their vast distance from Earth.

Mercury, and Jupiter will be tricky to see in the sky due to their proximity to the Sun in their orbit. However, Mars and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye, though very dim. Meanwhile, keen observers will need telescopes or high-powered binoculars to spot the distant planets Uranus and Neptune.

The yellowish glow of Saturn at magnitude 1.1 will be the first to appear in the late night hours, shining brightly in the constellation Aquarius. Neptune with a magnitude 7.9 will follow, located in the nearby Pisces constellation but requiring binoculars to discern its faint presence.

Scientists To Install Nuclear-powered UFO Detectors In Space To Lure Aliens To Earth, Claims Expert - Science...

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Scientists develop technique that can create diamonds in just 15 minutes - Science News

Scientists seemingly have developed such path-breaking technology, which may revolutionise the synthetic diamond industry over the coming years.

Physical chemist Rodney Ruoff of the Institute for Basic Science in South Korea published the study on April 24 in the journal Nature.

As of today, 99 per cent of synthetic diamonds are made using the high-pressure and high-temperature (HPHT) method. In this process, extreme conditions are used to convert carbon atoms into a diamond around a small seed or a started diamond.

Also read: Scientists to install nuclear-powered UFO detectors in space to lure aliens to Earth, claims expert

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Scientists develop machine that can read human thoughts, translate to text in real-time - Science...

This marks a significant leap in the brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, which can drastically change how we interact with machines.

It sounds magical and supernatural to have the ability to read someone else's mind. But it seems like science has already brought this surreal but also terrifying imagination to reality. Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) are claiming to have developed a machine that can read a human's mind and translate thoughts into text in real-time. The machine was found to have an impressive accuracy rate of 79 per cent.

To conduct the experiment, tiny electrodes were planted in the brains of two participants by the scientists. Then, the two participants were asked to silently say specific words.

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Kevin Knuth, Professor of Physics at the University at Albany, said earlier this year that it's an idea that couldn't go wrong and that mini handheld nuclear reactors are already being patented.

A scientist has claimed that researchers are trying to build small "handheld" nuclear reactors to help lure aliens to our home planet. The idea is based on the long-held notion that aliens find it easier to detect nuclear reactors, radiation or weapons. Some media reports in the past have even linked UFO sightings to nuclear sites across the world.

"We were trying to figure out how we can lure UFOs and work out how to make contact," he was quoted as saying by Daily Star.

"We settled on the fact that UFOs have an interest in, and an ability to detect nuclear weapons – some of them underground, some of them in bunkers or in storage depots," he said.

"How do they do this? Are they using neutrinos, which are really hard to detect, or gamma rays? We don't know. But my colleague has developed a new technology which is basically a handheld lithium-powered nuclear-fission reactor, which he is now patenting," he told an audience.

He said that the plan is to design nuclear-powered UFO-observing equipment and then install it in the space.

He said while delivering a speech at the Sol Foundation in California earlier this year. However, the researcher failed to provide any more details about the plan.

Spain Launches Space Technology Program Call With EUR 70m In Subsidies - SpaceWatch.Global

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SpaceWatch.GLOBAL - An independent perspective on space - SpaceWatch.Global

The Centro para el Desarrollo tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) Innovation has launched the 2024 call for the Space Technology Program (PTE) focused on promoting the competitiveness of the Spanish aerospace industry as a key actor for the next challenges and opportunities of the sector through the development of technological capabilities based on research and development. The call falls under the scope of Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) Aerospace.

NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected BAE Systems (formerly known as Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation) of Boulder, Colorado, to develop an instrument to analyze ocean data as part of NOAA's Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.

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China Launches Beijing-3C Remote-Sensing Satellite Constellation - SpaceWatch.Global

Ibadan, 21 May 2024. ⁘ China has launched the Beijing-3C satellite constellation aboard the Long March-2D carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, sending four Beijing-3 optical remote sensing satellites into orbit. This was the 523rd flight mission of the Long March rocket series. The Long March-2D carrier rocket also previously launched Beijing-3A and Beijing-3B satellites into orbit.

The Fifth Academy of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation developed the Beijing-3C satellite constellation to provide high spatial and temporal resolution remote sensing satellite data. After the constellation becomes operational, the four satellites will operate in an equal-phase network to support land and resources management, agricultural resource surveys, ecological environment monitoring, comprehensive urban applications and other fields.

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NASA Selects BAE Systems to Develop Ocean Color Instrument

Ibadan, 21 May 2024. ⁘ NASA, on behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), has selected BAE Systems (formerly known as Ball Aerospace ⁘ Technologies Corporation) to develop an instrument to analyze ocean data as part of NOAA's Geostationary Extended Observations (GeoXO) satellite program.

This cost-plus-award-fee contract is valued at approximately $450 million. Furthermore, it includes the development of two flight instruments as well as options for additional units. The anticipated performance period for the contract includes support for 10 years of on-orbit operations and five years of on-orbit storage, for a total of 15 years for each flight model. The work will take place at BAE Systems, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

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Ibadan, 21 May 2024. ⁘ The Centro para el Desarrollo tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) Innovation has launched the 2024 call for the Space Technology Program (PTE) focused on promoting the Spanish aerospace industry's competitiveness as a key actor in the space sector through the development of technological capabilities based on research and development. The call falls under the scope of Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE) Aerospace.

The program includes EUR 70 million in subsidies from the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the PRTR Addendum. As a result, applications are open until June 19, 2024, and projects may receive up to 100% advance payment of the aid once the CDTI approves the concession.

The financing program will focus on projects in the new space-satellite constellations and bottom-up space technology maturation areas. As a result, the New space project area will get EUR 30 million for R⁘D projects to develop new products, processes or services that allow considerable improvement in the mass production capacity of space systems, especially those of a strategic nature for Spanish positioning and leadership in the global operation of future satellite services.

On the other hand, the space technology maturation project area will get a pool of EUR 40 million for projects that promote progress in the level of maturity of space technologies, especially those with a high disruptive potential, which will generate a large recurrence of use and/or commercial or enable the development of cutting-edge scientific instrumentation for future space science missions.

Webb Telescope Reveals First Look Inside Cotton Candy-like Exoplanet -

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Webb telescope offers first glimpse of an exoplanet's interior | Hub

A surprisingly low amount of methane and a super-sized core hide within the cotton candy⁘like planet WASP-107 b.

The revelations, based on data obtained by the James Webb Space Telescope , mark the first measurements of an exoplanet's core mass and will likely underpin future studies of planetary atmospheres and interiors, a key aspect in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system.

"Looking into the interior of a planet hundreds of light-years away sounds almost impossible, but when you know the mass, radius, atmospheric composition, and hotness of its interior, you've got all the pieces you need to get an idea of what's inside and how heavy that core is," said lead author David Sing , a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University. "This is now something we can do for lots of different gas planets in various systems."

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NASA-funded Pulsed Plasma Rocket Concept Aims To Send Astronauts To Mars In 2 Months

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Ed Dwight, 1st Black astronaut candidate, exults after suborbital launch (video) | Space

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy selected Dwight to train at the U.S. Air Force's Aerospace Research Pilot School. ARPS was widely regarded as a conduit into NASA's astronaut corps at the time, so the pick made Dwight the United States' first Black astronaut candidate.

He never moved beyond "candidate" status, however: Though Dwight completed his ARPS training and the Air Force recommended him for the astronaut corps, NASA didn't choose him.

So Dwight never made it to the final frontier ⁘ until yesterday (May 19), when he flew to suborbital space and back with Blue Origin , on the company's NS-25 mission .

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An innovative rocket system could revolutionize future deep space missions to Mars, reducing travel time to the Red Planet to just a few months.

The goal of landing humans on Mars has presented a myriad of challenges, including the need to quickly transport large payloads to and from the distant planet, which, depending on the positions of Earth and Mars, would take almost two years for a round trip using current propulsion technology.

The Pulsed Plasma Rocket (PPR), under development by Howe Industries, is a propulsion system designed to be far more efficient than current methods of deep space propulsion, enabling the trip between Earth and the Red Planet to be made in just two months. Specifically, the rocket will have a high specific impulse or Isp, a measure of how efficiently an engine generates thrust. This technology could therefore enable astronauts and cargo to travel to and from Mars more efficiently and rapidly than existing spacecraft, according to a statement from NASA.

Stemming from the Pulsed Fission Fusion concept, the PPR uses a fission-based nuclear power system, which obtains energy from the controlled splitting of atoms, to generate thrust for spacecraft propulsion. However, the PPR is smaller, simpler and more affordable than previous concepts.

In addition to enabling further range missions, the PPR could support much heavier spacecraft, meaning additional shielding could be installed to reduce a crew's exposure to harmful high-energy particles , called Galactic Cosmic Rays, endured during long-duration spaceflight.

"The exceptional performance of the PPR, combining high Isp and high thrust, holds the potential to revolutionize space exploration," the statement reads. "The system's high efficiency allows for manned missions to Mars to be completed within a mere two months."

The PPR concept is now moving into Phase II of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) study, having completed Phase I, which focused on the neutronics of the propulsion system, designing the spacecraft, power system and necessary subsystems, analyzing the magnetic nozzle capabilities, and determining trajectories and benefits, according to the statement.

SpaceX Gets FCC License To Use New Starlink Dishes On Planes, Ships, Cars

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After months of waiting, SpaceX has finally received an FCC license to operate its new ⁘ V4 ⁘ Starlink dish and the upcoming ⁘mini⁘ dish model on moving cars, ships, and planes.

The FCC initially issued SpaceX a license to operate the next-generation dishes in September, but only for fixed positions. Last week, the US regulator then granted SpaceX the additional authority to operate the new dishes onboard aircrafts, vessels, and mounted vehicles.

This came after Dish Network initially urged the FCC to deny SpaceX⁘s license for the ⁘in motion⁘ use, citing concerns about the technology generating radio interference. In response, Elon Musk's company alleged that Dish was ⁘resurrecting failed arguments in an effort to block its successful competitor⁘ after the FCC approved SpaceX⁘s first license to use the Starlink dishes on moving vehicles back in 2022.

Although SpaceX has yet to say when the mini Starlink dish will arrive, it⁘s possible the company has been waiting for the FCC ⁘in motion⁘ license before launching the product. The smaller dish is meant to be a portable way for consumers to receive satellite internet access, no matter the location.

SpaceX has also been offering Starlink in-motion use for cars, such as RVs. But it requires the user to own the flat high-performance dish . Otherwise, the "in-motion use of Mobile Data is limited to less than 10mph," according to the company's FAQ.

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Mars Might Have An Asteroid Problem

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Astronomers have been surveying the sky for years to catalog and track so-called Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) , asteroids and comets that come near to or cross paths with our planet's orbit. Humanity has even been preparing for the possibility of protecting ourselves against a catastrophic collision; for example, the recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission nudged the asteroid Dimorphos in 2022 to prove our technology could help deflect a problematic space rock.

But, asteroids are all over the solar system, not just near Earth. Naturally then, other planets must have close encounters with—or even impacts from—wayward bits of cosmic rubble, too. Of particular interest is our neighbor planet, Mars, as we plan to send humans there in the coming decades. A new research paper accepted to the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society Letters takes a look at asteroid threats to the red planet, and finds about two-and-a-half times more potentially hazardous asteroids at Mars than on Earth.

When you think about it, this actually makes intuitive sense. Mars is much closer to the asteroid belt–our solar system's main reservoir of rocky debris–than Earth. Of course something closer to the source would encounter more strays. "It is well known that the number of Mars crossers is larger than the number of Earth crossers," adds Alessandro Morbidelli , an astronomer at the French Observatoire de la Côre d'Azur, not affiliated with the new work.

This research team specifically investigated potentially hazardous asteroids, or PHAs . These are a subset of NEOs (or in their case, NMOs—Near-Mars Objects) that are both big enough to be a problem, and on a path that closely grazes the planet in question. "We speculate that there are more [potentially hazardous] asteroids around Mars than around Earth, and numerical simulations in our work confirm this speculation," explains Yufan Zhou, lead author and astronomer at Nanjing University. According to their simulations, there are almost 17,000 PHAs that could skim past Mars, but only about 4,700 such asteroids around Earth.

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NASA SMD Town Hall For Planetary Research Programs

Source: Found here

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⁘On May 21, 2024 at 1 PM Eastern, NASA's Planetary Science Division (PSD) will host a webinar to discuss the Planetary Research Program, including upcoming changes, some data on programs to date, and plans to reduce the barrier to proposing for the planetary research community.⁘ More

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space ⁘ Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

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Hot Gas Bubble Found Orbiting Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole

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Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile have discovered "signs of a 'hot spot' orbiting Sagittarius A*," according to the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Credit: ESO

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Surgeons Can Use AI Chatbot To Tell Robots To Help With Suturing

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Surgeons could use a ChatGPT-like interface to instruct a robot to carry out small tasks, such as suturing wounds and dilating blood vessels.

Surgical robots have been in use for decades, but these are normally controlled entirely by a human. Researchers are now developing autonomous versions that can perform parts of an operation without human assistance, but these can be difficult for people to work with because of a lack of fine control.

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