Hubble spies cosmic “Bat Shadow” flapping its wings

The Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking sight in the Serpens Nebula – a huge shadow in the shape of a bat. Now, follow-up observations have shown that it appears to be flapping its wings, which may be the influence of a nearby planet.

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NASA funds SETI study to scan exoplanets for alien “technosignatures”

Given how big the universe is, chances are tiny that Earth is the only planet with life. But how would we find others? A new NASA grant has been awarded to try and do so by hunting for signs of advanced alien civilizations, or "technosignatures."

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Airbus to continue work on ESA’s Fetch Mars rover

ESA has awarded a contract to Airbus Defence and Space to go ahead on the next phase to develop the Sample Fetch Rover. The contract will allow Airbus to continue work on the rover that will collect Martian rock and soil samples for return to Earth.

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Northrop Grumman selected to design and build Gateway’s habitat module

Northrop Grumman has been awarded a US$187 million contract to design the Habitation And Logistics Outpost (HALO) crew module for NASA's Gateway deep space outpost. The HALO will provide pressurized living quarters for visiting astronauts.

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ESA’s Prometheus to usher in cheaper, reusable next-gen rocket engines

Constructed using 3D printing technology, the Prometheus is a liquid-fueled rocket engine demonstrator that is intended as the model for the next generation of potentially reusable propulsion systems suitable for a wide variety of launch vehicles.

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New theory proposes ‘Oumuamua is an interstellar hydrogen iceberg

The exact nature of the bizarre interstellar object ‘Oumuamua remains a mystery. There’s been no shortage of ideas, but now astronomers at Yale and the University of Chicago have proposed that it’s a brand new type of object: a hydrogen iceberg.

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America returns to manned spaceflight with launch of SpaceX Demo-2

The launch of the SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the ISS marks two historic events. It is the first manned launch from American soil since the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011, and the first ever manned commercial mission to go into orbit.

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ESA’S Solar Orbiter set for unexpected rendezvous with Comet ATLAS

ESA’s Solar Orbiter is set to have a chance encounter with the tails of a disintegrating comet. The probe is currently en route to the inner solar system and has had instruments rushed through commissioning to be ready for the unexpected rendezvous.

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Avoiding violent neighbors key to planet formation in star clusters

According to the results of a new study, stars orbiting near the centers of massive clusters have a much harder time forming planets than their smaller siblings located nearer the edge, and they may have themselves to blame.

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Closest exoplanet more Earth-like than previously thought

A team of international researchers has confirmed the existence of an Earth-like exoplanet only 4.2 light-years from the Sun. The ESPRESSO spectrograph found Proxima b has a mass of 1.17 Earths and orbits in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri.

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