WASHINGTON — A Russian Proton rocket launched the Yamal-601 communications satellite for Gazprom Space Systems May 30, completing the first of six Proton missions planned for this year. The rocket, built and contracted by Khrunichev, launched at 1:42 p.m. Eastern from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The 5,400-kilogram satellite separated 9 hours later. Gazprom Space
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They say you should never turn your back on the ocean, but what if the waves are coming from all sides? This is what happens when an unlucky swimmer or boater gets caught between two opposing swells, known as a cross sea. This rare pattern of square waves is a beautiful sight to behold, but
Parents that make a point of being generous with their money could inspire greater financial responsibility in their kids. Alongside budgeting and saving, a new psychology study suggests that responsible giving is one of the most valuable lessons a child can learn about money. Interviewing individuals of all generations, the research is some of the
Every 11 years, the Sun cycles through from riotous flare and sunspot activity to a quieter period, before ramping up again. It’s almost as regular as clockwork, and for years astronomers have been wondering what causes it. Now, they’ve proposed a new solution. Even though the Solar System’s planets are much smaller than the Sun,
From outside a black hole, all the infalling matter will emit light and always is visible, while nothing from behind the event horizon can get out. But if you were the one who fell into a black hole, what you’d see would be interesting and counterintuitive, and we know what it would actually look like.
MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Russia accused the United States of trying to unfairly grab market share in the space services industry on Friday after the U.S. military imposed restrictions on space launch cooperation with Moscow. FILE PHOTO – The Soyuz-2 spacecraft with Meteor-M satellite and 18 additional small satellites launches from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome, near
SAN FRANCISCO – Momentus, the Silicon Valley startup preparing to demonstrate its water plasma propulsion in orbit for the first time in July, revealed details of the transportation services it will offer small satellites seeking rides to medium Earth, geostationary or low lunar orbit. Customers will have the option of purchasing their own rides into
The way information travels inside the cells of our bodies is not unlike the wiring inside a computer chip, according to a new study that has unveiled the intricate workings of a network of calcium ions as intracellular messengers. According to researchers from the University of Edinburgh in the UK, this “cell-wide web” uses a
Curiosity is one busy rover. Since touching down on Mars in 2012, it’s helped astronomers locate the planet’s missing methane, delivered new evidence that Mars was once wet, and even provided clues of extraterrestrial life. But all work and no play makes Curiosity a dull bot, so it recently kicked back to do some cloud-watching
A U.S. artillery crew of Battalion A 324th Artillery, 158th Brigade, 29th Division, is operating a 155mm gun in position on a road just taken from the Germans in France, in this undated photograph, during World War I. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS When World War I broke out, an entire generation went to war, and that
SEATTLE/ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – Stratolaunch Systems Corporation, the space company founded by late billionaire and Microsoft Corp co-founder Paul Allen, is closing operations, cutting short ambitious plans to challenge traditional aerospace companies in a new “space race,” four people familiar with the matter said on Friday. FILE PHOTO: The world’s largest airplane, built by the
WASHINGTON — The 60 satellites SpaceX launched eight days ago for its Starlink broadband megaconstellation have powered up and contacted ground stations, the company said. All 60 satellites — the first in a constellation that could one day number 12,000 — have deployed solar arrays, a SpaceX spokesperson said, and most are in the process
Astronomers have detected the presence of ammonia mixed in with the rusty colouration of Pluto’s surface. This could have fascinating implications for the icy dwarf planet, as researchers have detailed in two new studies. Firstly, that ammonia-tainted ice hints at a salty, organic-rich ocean hiding beneath Pluto’s surface – one that may contain the right
The U.S. is getting serious about returning to the Moon. NASA NASA has selected three companies to send landers to the surface of the Moon, part of its ambitious new lunar programme to land humans on the surface of the Moon by 2024. Each of the companies will develop landers that would take equipment, including
WASHINGTON — NASA announced May 31 the award of more than $250 million in contracts to three companies to deliver NASA payloads to the lunar surface by 2021. The agency said it awarded contracts to Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines and OrbitBeyond to carry up to 23 payloads to the moon on three commercial lunar lander missions
Based on this recently released snapshot of the night sky captured by NASA’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), we can safely assume Superman gets no sleep at night. Just look at that thing. The sparkling dots and tangled loops are the result of nearly two years of effort to study cosmic sources of X-rays
Highveld mole-rat and Natal droptail ant Dewald Kleynhans / University of Pretoria While we humans suffer from the heat of spicy chilli on our tongue and the burn of wasabi as it shoots from our nose to brain, one species of African mole-rat doesn’t seem to feel any pain at all. As discovered in 2008
In the crop fields of Argentina, bees have been building nests for their young out of some strange materials. For the first time, scientists have found bee nests made entirely out of plastic waste. A lot of plastic in the form of packaging comes into farms, and often makes its way into the landscape. The
“What we observed today was successful test,” said Kent Rominger, Northrop Grumman’s vice president and capture lead for the OmegA launch system. WASHINGTON — Northrop Grumman on Thursday conducted a full-scale static fire test of the first stage of OmegA, the company’s new rocket it is developing for national security missions. Company officials called it
Earth is not one to sit still. For roughly 3 billion years, our planet has been perpetually recycling its ocean floor, swallowing up old oceanic crust in some areas and pouring out new seabed in others. Diamonds, it would seem, are the beautiful byproducts of all this restlessness. Tipped off by tiny traces of trapped salt,