Tag: Astrophysics
-
Jupiter’s moons, black holes, exoplanets among JWST’s first scientific targets
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: NASA/Northrop Grumman The James Webb Space Telescope should start returning its first scientific results by the end of 2019, and scientists recently announced a slate of observations selected to whet the appetites of astronomers who will use the multibillion-dollar facility well into the 2020s. The observatory’s…
-
WFIRST astronomy mission faces cuts to contain rising costs
Artist’s concept of the WFIRST observatory. Credit: NASA/GSFC NASA has directed the team developing the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope, a flagship astronomy mission set for launch in the mid-2020s to study dark energy and exoplanets, to reduce the observatory’s scientific capabilities and keep it under a $3.2 billion cost cap. Fresh off their experience with…
-
Detector trouble expected to delay ESA’s Euclid dark energy mission
Artist’s concept of the Euclid spacecraft. Credit: ESA/C. Carreau Technical problems discovered during ground testing of U.S.-built detectors for the European Space Agency’s Euclid astronomy mission will delay the completion of the telescope’s scientific payload, jeopardizing the observatory’s 2020 launch target, the head of NASA’s astrophysics division said last week. Officials expect the problem, traced…
-
Neutron star collision an astronomical gold mine
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION An artist’s impression of two neutron stars merging in a cataclysmic collision, generating an explosive burst of light and gravity waves, squeezing and compressing space itself as they radiate away. On Aug. 17, astronomers detected both gravity waves and visible light from the merger of two neutron stars.…
-
JWST launch slips to early 2019
Artist’s concept of the James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: Northrop Grumman Extra testing of the James Webb Space Telescope and delays in assembling the powerful observatory will push back the $10 billion mission’s launch by at least six months to early 2019, officials announced last week as the telescope successfully completed an extensive performance test…
-
Photos: Falcon 9 rocket soars into space, lands back at Cape Canaveral
Look back on Monday’s blastoff of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in this gallery of photos captured by remote cameras at the launch pad, plus views of the first stage returning to Cape Canaveral for a propulsive landing. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket took off on 1.7 million pounds of thrust…
-
Station crew captures Dragon supply ship, gets early start on unpacking
SpaceX’s Dragon cargo craft on final approach to the space station Monday. Credit: Sergey Ryazanskiy/Roscosmos Two days after departing from a launch pad on Florida’s Space Coast, a SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday with more than 6,400 pounds of experiments and supplies after concluding an automated laser-guided approach.…
-
SpaceX launches cargo capsule full of science experiments
Credit: SpaceX A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket climbed into space Monday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center atop a column of gleaming exhaust, shooting a commercial resupply vessel toward the International Space Station with research projects looking into cosmic rays, the origin of Parkinson’s disease, the utility of small satellites and an experimental radiation-tolerant supercomputer. Crammed…
-
Video: Falcon 9 launch viewed from KSC press site
Watch a replay of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch as seen from the Kennedy Space Center press site, a viewpoint around three miles from pad 39A. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket delivered a SpaceX cargo capsule on course to haul more than 6,400 pounds (2,900 kilograms) of experiments and equipment to the International Space Station. It was…
-
4K video replay liftoff Falcon 9 rocket’s liftoff on station cargo flight
Check out a 4K video clip of Monday’s Falcon 9 launch viewed from Spaceflight Now’s office at the Kennedy Space Center. The 213-foot-tall (65-meter) rocket took off from pad 39A and delivered a SpaceX cargo capsule on course to haul more than 6,400 pounds (2,900 kilograms) of experiments and equipment to the International Space Station.…