NASA spacecraft in Earth's orbit, preparing to study magnetic reconnection
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
Following a successful launch at 10:44 p.m. EDT Thursday, NASA's four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft are positioned in Earth's orbit to begin the first space mission dedicated to the study of a phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. This process is thought to be the catalyst for some of the most powerful explosions in our solar system.
The spacecraft, positioned one on top of ...
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Spacetime Foam Not Slowing Down Photons From Gamma Ray Burst
Jerusalem, Israel (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
One hundred years after Albert Einstein formulated the general theory of relativity, an international team has proposed another experimental proof. In a paper published in Nature Physics, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Open University of Israel, Sapienza University of Rome, and University of Montpellier in France, describe a proof for one of the theory's basic assumptio ...
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A second minor planet may possess Saturn-like rings
Boston MA (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
There are only five bodies in our solar system that are known to bear rings. The most obvious is the planet Saturn; to a lesser extent, rings of gas and dust also encircle Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune. The fifth member of this haloed group is Chariklo, one of a class of minor planets called centaurs: small, rocky bodies that possess qualities of both asteroids and comets.
Scientists only r ...
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Clyde Space wins Outernet contract
Glasgow UK (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
Clyde Space has signed a 1 million pound deal to build three CubeSats for American global broadcast company Outernet Inc in an international partnership deal funded by the UK Space Agency.
Outernet's aim is to make web access free and unrestricted all over the world through space-based telecommunications. As the project develops, Clyde Space hopes to secure business from the New York based ...
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Sixth Galileo satellite reaches corrected orbit
Paris (ESA) Mar 17, 2015 -
The sixth Galileo satellite of Europe's navigation system has now entered its corrected target orbit, which will allow detailed testing to assess the performance of its navigation payload.
Launched with the fifth Galileo last August, its initial elongated orbit saw it travelling as high as 25 900 km above Earth and down to a low point of 13 713 km - confusing the Earth sensor used to point ...
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Scientists fly kites on Earth to study Mars
Tucson AZ (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
Scientists of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory have taken to kites that they fly above lava flows blanketing the Hawaiian landscape to unravel the past mysteries that shaped Mars.
A kite, equipped with off-the-shelf instruments such as a camera, a GPS, and orientation sensors, scans the terrain from high above. The team then employs parallel computing and powerful ...
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Colorful life-form catalog will help discern if we're alone
Ithaca NY (SPX) Mar 17, 2015 -
While looking for life on planets beyond our own solar system, a group of international scientists has created a colorful catalog containing reflection signatures of Earth life forms that might be found on planet surfaces throughout the cosmic hinterlands. The new database and research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, gives humans a better chance to learn if we ...
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