If we send some type of nuclear-powered tunnelbot to Europa to seek life under its icy shield, how will we know what it finds? How can a probe immersed in water under all that ice communicate with Earth? We only have hints about the nature of that ice, what layers it has and what pockets of water it might hold.
Earth is about 29% land and 71% oceans. How significant is that mix for habitability? What does it tell us about exoplanet habitability?
On August 24th, a vital instrument aboard the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) experienced a malfunction that prompted the mission team to take it offline. The problem occurred when the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) experienced increased friction in one of its wheels while in Medium-Resolution Spectroscopy (MRS) mode. The mission team took MIRI offline while they attempted to diagnose the problem, leaving the observatory to continue making observations in other modes.
NASA has announced the release of the James Webb History Report, a document detailing their investigation into the namesake of the next-generation space telescope that took to space on December 25th, 2021. Months before it launched, the observatory became the subject of controversy when it was revealed that Webb was involved in the so-called “Lavender Scare.” After reviewing the relevant documents and collections located by their historians, NASA decided not to rename its flagship observatory.
The Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Cerro Paranal in northern Chile, is undoubtedly one of the premier ground-based observatories. But a new infrared instrument recently installed on the telescope has made the VLT even better.
NASA’s JWST data just keeps on delivering amazing discoveries. Back in July, it observed the exoplanet WASP-39 b and found fingerprints of atoms and molecules and active chemical reactions in its clouds. Now, a team of scientists extends that discovery with a much deeper analysis of the data.
NASA’s rolling geology robot shared a great image of sandstone that it found on Mars in Jezero Crater. It’s in a region called “Yori Pass”, which is part of an ancient river delta. Perseverance will take rock samples there for the upcoming Sample Return Mission. They should tell more about what happened with water in this region. And maybe they’ll show evidence of life.
SLS finally launches to the Moon. SpaceX gets another contract from NASA. James Webb gets a protection plan from micrometeoroids. A Chinese booster shreds in low-Earth orbit. A secret space plane returns.
NASA’s Balloon Program Analysis Group recently presented a roadmap to NASA, to guide them on how to plan and fund future balloon astronomy programs. Balloons have been used for over a century to conduct physics experiments, astronomical observations and Earth observing work, but remain relatively unknown to the general public. Balloon astronomy share many advantages with space telescopes, but at a fraction of the cost.
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) continues to pad its space community résumé with their interactive map, “The map of the observable Universe”, that takes viewers on a 13.7-billion-year-old tour of the cosmos from the present to the moments after the Big Bang. While JHU is responsible for creating the site, additional contributions were made by NASA, the European Space Agency, the National Science Foundation, and the Sloan Foundation.
According to the Standard Model of Particle Physics, the Universe is governed by four fundamental forces: electromagnetism, the weak nuclear force, the strong nuclear force, and gravity. Whereas the first three are described by Quantum Mechanics, gravity is described by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Surprisingly, gravity is the one that presents the biggest challenges to physicists. While the theory accurately describes how gravity works for planets, stars, galaxies, and clusters, it does not apply perfectly at all scales.
The Orion spacecraft made its first close flyby of the Moon on Monday, November 21, coming as close as 81 statute miles (130 km) from the lunar surface. As the Artemis 1 mission’s uncrewed spacecraft flew past the far side of the Moon, Orion’s orbital maneuvering system engine fired for 2 minutes and 30 seconds to successfully put the capsule into the desired orbit for the mission, called a distant retrograde orbit around the Moon.
The process of star birth begins in a shroud of gas and dust. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) excels in showing detailed views of these stellar crêches because there’s still a lot to learn about them. Its latest image shows an object called a “dense core”, where a stellar embryo could already exist.
We’ve reported in the past about the Venus Life Finder (VLF) mission, which is currently in the proposal stage but could potentially one day explore the Venusian clouds for signs of life. What exactly that life would look like is anyone’s guess. Therefore, the instrumentation the mission will use to find that life will be critical. Enter Fluid-Screen (FS), a technology developed by a start-up company spun out of Yale by Dr. Monika Weber. It could potentially directly detect life in the Venusian atmosphere – if only it could deal with the sulfuric acid.
Is there anything good about volcanoes? They can be violent, dangerous, and unpredictable. For modern humans, volcanoes are mostly an inconvenience, sometimes an intriguing visual display, and occasionally deadly.
Our galaxy’s stellar halo is giving astronomers some new food for thought. It turns out everyone thought the halo was spherical. But, it’s not. That’s news to everyone who said it was spherical. According to a new measurement done by a team at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, it has a tilted, oblong football shape. This all tells astronomers an interesting tale about our galaxy’s ancient history.
As we’ve reported here more than a few times – space debris is becoming more and more of a real problem. We’re not quite at Kessler syndrome levels yet, but with the increased interest in getting things into space, there is a real possibility that might happen in the not-too-distant future. Plenty of potential solutions have been put forward to deal with the problem, but they all face a similar problem at the first step – how to track the debris they’re attempting to eliminate. Enter a new idea from researchers in Iran – using a novel type of radar to detect and track space debris before it becomes a danger.
Japan and Germany have a history of collaboration in scientific and technological endeavours. The countries have a Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science Technology that has met many times over the decades. Both countries have advanced, powerful economies and sophisticated technological know-how, so it makes sense they’d collaborate on scientific activities.
What’s the most exciting thing about the James Webb Space Telescope? The stunning images? The completion of its torturous path from concept to launch?
Micrometeoroid strikes are an unavoidable part of operating a spacecraft. But after the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) was hit with a larger than expected piece of space dust earlier this year, engineers are making changes to the way the telescope will be pointed in an attempt to avoid excess or larger impacts from space dust.
All Rights Reserved. 2025. SpaceZE.com
