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NASA's Psyche mission used a gravity assist maneuver at Mars to gain velocity and adjust its trajectory to its eventual target. The asteroid 16 Psyche is a metal-rich asteroid that may be the remnant rocky core of a protoplanet. The flyby not only shepherded the spacecraft on to its target, it was also an opportunity to test Psyche's science instruments and cameras. NASA has released a timelapse of the flyby.

Universe Today·4h ago

Spiral galaxies, including grand spirals like the Whirlpool galaxy, are plentiful. But it's still a mystery how their spiral arms form and persist for hundreds of millions of years, and why some galaxies have one, two, or three or more arms. New research based on Euclid data finds links between galaxy mass, star formation rate, and number of arms, and hints at their formation.

Universe Today·5h ago

Biomedical research to keep the Expedition 74 crew healthy and advance health on Earth packed Tuesday’s schedule aboard the International Space Station. The orbital residents are also handing over their mission responsibilities as three crewmates prepare to return to Earth this weekend.

NASA·6h ago

blog

Our ability to track and visualize small rocks in space is still improving. And occasionally we’ll find a space rock that will remind us of that fact. One such rock is detailed in a new paper, led by Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and recently published in Nature Astronomy, where the research team discovered what they thought was a normal, run of the mill asteroid, was actually a “dark comet”.

Universe Today·6h ago

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 is set to launch the Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV-1) mission from Florida… The post Falcon 9 to launch MRV-1 robotic servicing spacecraft for Northrop Grumman appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com.

NASASpaceflight·7h ago

As of July 20, the public can access data from the two powerful radar instruments aboard the NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) satellite. Teams in the United States and India will release files processed from the satellite’s L-band and S-band radars on an ongoing basis, helping researchers and other users track the movement of Earth’s […]

NASA·7h ago

Keith’s note: yesterday Astronauts For America Announces announced a college tour to encourage youth voter participation. Press release below. Astronauts For America Announces College Tour to Encourage Youth Voter Participation […] The post Astronauts For America ‘Vote for Freedom’ College Tour appeared first on NASA Watch .

NASA Watch·9h ago

On Earth, it’s hard to track events that reshape its surface, as the surface itself is being reshaped constantly by weather and tectonic or volcanic upheavals. However, the Moon is much more static, and scientists have been slowly unraveling a pattern that is noticeable in its craters - that something dramatic happened around 800 million years ago. A new paper by researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), led by Dr. William F. Bottke, and accepted for publication in the Planetary Science Journal, suggests they might have found a culprit - the parent body of a family of asteroids…

Universe Today·9h ago

A low-number periodic comet is stalking our fair planet this summer, and putting on its best show of several generations. We’re talking about Comet 10P/Tempel. The comet is currently loitering in the early dawn sky, presenting a good target for large binoculars or a small telescope. But act fast, as the comet is taking the plunge southward in August, post-perihelion.

Universe Today·9h ago

Poland has formalised its participation in Europe’s IRIS2 secure communications constellation and agreed to increase its contribution by more than €150 million. The additional funding will double Poland’s contribution to the programme’s space segment to 12 satellites, comprising six in medium Earth orbit (MEO) and six in low Earth orbit (LEO). The agreement, signed on […] The post Poland Boosts Its Contribution to Europe’s IRIS2 Constellation to €656M appeared first on European Spaceflight.

European Spaceflight·9h ago

In 1935 the most eminent astronomer alive stood up in a packed room and called Chandrasekhar's discovery "stellar buffoonery." The story of Arthur Eddington's years-long campaign against a result that everyone privately knew was correct.

Universe Today·9h ago