Boeing’s CST Starliner mission swaps commanders

Boeing and NASA have announced that astronaut and mission commander Chris Ferguson is stepping down from the first crewed CST-100 Starliner space mission for family reasons. He will be replaced by veteran NASA astronaut Barry “Butch” Wilmore.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingBoeing’s CST Starliner mission swaps commanders

Lunar orbiter to listen for radio signals from cosmic “Dark Ages”

NRAO has announced a new addition to NASA’s upcoming moon-shot Artemis program. From the silent skies on the far side of the Moon, the DAPPER spacecraft will listen out for radio signals from the cosmic “Dark Ages,” before the first stars fired up.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingLunar orbiter to listen for radio signals from cosmic “Dark Ages”

JAXA teams with GITAI for world-first private sector space robotics demo

Space robotics startup GITAI and JAXA are teaming up to carry out the world's first robotics demonstration in space by a private company. The new agreement aims to demonstrate the potential for robots to perform specific tasks aboard the ISS.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingJAXA teams with GITAI for world-first private sector space robotics demo

Mysterious match-up as giant planet spotted orbiting tiny star

NASA has discovered a strange star system where a gas giant planet is tightly orbiting a tiny white dwarf. This the first sighting of such an arrangement, raising questions about how the planet survived the star’s expansive death in the first place.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingMysterious match-up as giant planet spotted orbiting tiny star

Diamond planets could be born from carbon-rich worlds – just add water

Perhaps on other planets, diamonds are as common and boring as rocks. Astronomers suggest that some planets might actually be largely made of diamonds, and now a team has calculated how such a planet could form and how it would be structured.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingDiamond planets could be born from carbon-rich worlds – just add water

Engineered “Mighty Mice” sent to space retain their mass in low gravity

The results of an interesting experiment in which muscled-up mice were sent into space has shed some new light on how the low-gravity environment impacts physiology, with the rodents retaining muscle mass when engineered to lack a certain protein.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingEngineered “Mighty Mice” sent to space retain their mass in low gravity

Astronomers detect strongest known magnetic field in the universe

Astronomers have detected the strongest magnetic field ever observed in the universe. Studying X-ray signals from a neutron star, the team calculated that its magnetic field is tens of millions of times stronger than any created in a lab on Earth.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingAstronomers detect strongest known magnetic field in the universe

First mission for close-up study of binary asteroids gets NASA go-ahead

NASA has given the University of Colorado Boulder and Lockheed Martin the green light for the Janus mission, which tasks a pair of small satellites with returning the first high-resolution images of binary asteroids.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingFirst mission for close-up study of binary asteroids gets NASA go-ahead

Rocket Lab launches its two-in-one satellite for deep space missions

Rocket Lab made a successful return to service by launching a customer’s satellite into orbit earlier this week, but that wasn’t the only cause for celebration, with the team also deploying its own Photon satellite as part of the same flight.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingRocket Lab launches its two-in-one satellite for deep space missions

Japan’s manned lunar rover gets an official nickname

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Toyota Motor Corporation have released the official nickname for their manned pressurized, long-range lunar rover that is powered by fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) technology.

Source of Article

Continue ReadingJapan’s manned lunar rover gets an official nickname