Jay TateDesigned to explore a metal asteroid that could be
the heart of a planet, the Psyche mission is readying for a 2022 launch. After
extensive review, NASA Headquarters in Washington has approved the mission to
begin the final design and fabrication phase, otherwise known as Phase C. This
is when the Psyche team finalizes the system design,
…
Jay TateWhenever scientists announce an upcoming close encounter with an
asteroid, certain corners of the internet light up like the synaptic rush that
accompanies a meth binge, with panicky headlines shouted straight from the
brain stem. But never mind that. We’re not that corner of the internet. We’re
sober, yo!
The fact
of the matter is,
…
Jay TateBy Jonathan AmosBBC Science Correspondent
Scientists think
the time has come for a full geophysical survey of The Minch, to see if the
Scottish strait is hiding an ancient meteorite crater.
The idea that such
a structure lies between the Western Isles and mainland Scotland was first
raised back in 2008.
…
Jay TateThe unique capabilities of the SPHERE instrument on
ESO’s Very Large Telescope have enabled it to obtain the sharpest images of a
double asteroid as it flew by Earth on 25 May. While this double asteroid was
not itself a threatening object, scientists used the opportunity to rehearse
the response to a hazardous Near-Earth Object (NEO),
…
Jay TateIt looked like a scene from a sci-fi blockbuster: an astronomer in the Netherlands captured footage of a train of brightly-lit SpaceX satellites ascending through the night sky this weekend, stunning space enthusiasts across the globe.
But the sight has also provoked an outcry among astronomers who say the constellation,
…
Jay TateGomSpace’s subsidiary in Luxembourg and the
European Space Agency (ESA) have signed a contract of EUR 400.000 for the Phase
A design of the Miniaturised Asteroid Remote Geophysical Observer (M-ARGO)
mission.
Under the contract GomSpace will be in charge of
preliminary design of the mission, spacecraft and implementation planning.
…
Jay TateYou’ve never seen a night sky
sight quite like this.
It’s been one day since SpaceX launched its first 60 Starlink internet satellites into
orbit, and skywatchers around the World have already spotted them soaring
across the night sky.
SpaceX launched the satellites
into an initial orbit 273 miles (440 kilometers) above Earth.
…
Jay TateH
Asteroids may have provided up to half of the
Earth’s ocean water, new research shows.
Arizona State University recently found water in
fragments of an asteroid known as Itokawa. This discovery suggests impacts from
other asteroids during the early parts of Earth’s history may have sourced much
of the water for the planet’s oceans.
…
Jay TateAfter devastating the French Riviera in 2013,
destroying Dhaka in 2015 and saving Tokyo in 2017, an international asteroid
impact simulation ended Friday with its latest disaster — New York in ruins.
Despite a simulated eight years of preparation,
scientists and engineers tried but failed to deflect the killer asteroid.
…
Jay TateOn April 13, 2029, a speck of light will streak
across the sky, getting brighter and faster. At one point it will travel more
than the width of the full Moon within a minute and it will get as bright as
the stars in the Little Dipper. But it won’t be a satellite or an airplane –
…
