News about PaperPanda, Open Access, and Research
The universe abhors a vacuum and so it is in Hollywood, where the current absence of mega-budget space operas like “The Expanse” and “Dune” has given rise to “Rebel Moon,” a fantastic new sci-fi project from director Zack Snyder (“Watchmen,” “Man of Steel,” “Justice League”), and we’ve got a first peek at some breathtaking concept … Read more
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Seán Doran) NASA’s Perseverance rover has now been exploring Mars for a full year, and it has captured some amazing photos during that stretch. The car-sized Perseverance rover touched down inside the Red Planet’s 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The rover is searching for signs of past Mars life … Read more
IXPE’s first science image shows the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A. (Image credit: NASA/CXC/SAO/IXPE) NASA’s newly-launched X-ray hunting probe has snapped its first science image and — wow — it’s spectacular. The Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) probe launched Dec. 9, 2021, on a mission to observe objects like black holes and neutron stars in X-ray … Read more
The wait is finally over. The team behind NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope released some of the first images from the much-anticipated observatory on Friday (Feb. 11). The main photo, which doesn’t even hint at the power Webb will bring to the universe once it’s fully operational, shows a star called HD 84406 and is … Read more
STARBASE, Boca Chica, TX — “It is hard to believe it is real, except, you know… it is right there.” Elon Musk took to the stage here on Thursday night (Feb. 10) to deliver what his company, SpaceX, billed as an “update on the design, development and testing of Starship” — the “it” to which Musk was … Read more
NASA will unveil the first-ever images from the James Webb Space Telescope on today (Feb. 11) and you’ll be able to see them as they debut online. But don’t expect a dazzling view. The first images captured by Webb, the largest telescope ever flown in space, will be released today at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 … Read more
Astra failed to deliver four satellites to orbit as planned today (Feb. 10) in the company’s first-ever orbital launch from the contiguous United States. The California startup’s 43-foot-tall (13 meters) Launch Vehicle 0008 (LV0008) launched the ELaNa 41 mission from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today, rising off the pad at 3 p.m. EST … Read more
An Arianespace Soyuz rocket launched 34 new broadband satellites for the OneWeb constellation to space today (Feb. 10). In its first mission of 2022, the European launch provider Arianespace launched Soyuz Flight VS27 from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana at 1:09 p.m. EST (3:09 p.m. local time, or 1809 GMT). “There we … Read more
It’s been a year since China’s first-ever independent interplanetary mission reached Mars, and in that time, Tianwen 1 has made major achievements while also delivering a number of surprises. The Tianwen 1 spacecraft entered orbit around the Red Planet on Feb. 10, 2021. Shortly after, the China National Space Administration released epic footage of the … Read more
Astra came tantalizingly close today (Feb. 7) to its first-ever launch of operational satellites. The California company’s Launch Vehicle 0008 (LV0008) was scheduled to launch the ELaNa 41 mission for NASA today from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. And it nearly happened: LV0008’s first-stage engines fired up at 1:50 p.m. EST (1850 GMT) … Read more