Tag: Astrophysics
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China launches two small satellites for gravitational wave research
A Long March 11 rocket lifts off from the Xichang space base with the GECAM mission. Credit: CAS Two small Chinese satellites designed to detect gamma-ray bursts associated with gravitational waves launched Wednesday on a Long March 11 rocket, beginning an astrophysics research mission to study black holes and neutron stars. The Gravitational Wave High-energy Electromagnetic…
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Arecibo Observatory collapses as scientists lament loss of deep space radar
The instrument platform of the Arecibo Observatory — seen here in an earlier photo — collapsed onto the telescope’s dish Dec. 1. Credit: National Science Foundation The 900-ton suspended platform of Puerto Rico’s famed Arecibo Observatory collapsed Tuesday after cable failures, crashing into the radio telescope’s iconic dish and shattering a research instrument used for…
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Arecibo Observatory faces demolition after cable failures
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The damaged dish at Arecibo Observatory. Credit: University of Central Florida After withstanding hurricanes and earthquakes, playing central roles in movies like “GoldenEye” and “Contact,” Puerto Rico’s famed Arecibo Observatory, once the largest radio telescope in the world, will be demolished because of cable failures that left its…
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Water molecules detected on moon’s sunlit surface, adding impetus to Artemis
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION This illustration highlights the Moon’s Clavius Crater with an illustration depicting water trapped in the lunar soil there, along with an image of NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) that found sunlit lunar water. Credits: NASA/Daniel Rutter Water molecules have been directly detected across sunlit regions of…
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JWST completes tests to simulate rigors of launch
The fully-assembled James Webb Space Telescope is lifted at a Northrop Grumman facility in Redondo Beach, California, during recent environmental testing. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn The fully-assembled James Webb Space Telescope has completed testing in Southern California to verify the $10 billion mission can withstand the sound and shaking it will see during launch scheduled late…
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NASA announces seven-month launch delay for JWST
The James Webb Space Telescope inside Northrop Grumman’s test facility in Redondo Beach, California, earlier this month. Credit: NASA/Chris Gunn NASA officials said Thursday the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will be delayed seven months to Oct. 31, 2021, a schedule slip that takes into account work slowdowns caused by the coronavirus pandemic…
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Coronavirus work stoppage likely to delay launch of NASA X-ray astronomy mission
Artist’s concept of the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer. Credit: NASA A nearly three-month stoppage of on-site work due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus at NASA’s Marshall Space Fight Center in Alabama is expected to push back the launch of the IXPE X-ray astronomy satellite from May 2021 until some time later next…
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NASA says JWST won’t be ready for launch in March 2021
Technicians inspect a critical part of the James Webb Space Telescope known as the Deployable Tower Assembly after fully extending it in the same maneuver it will perform in once in space. Credit: Northrop Grumman The launch of the James Webb Space Telescope will not happen in March 2021 — the mission’s previously-scheduled launch date…
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SpaceX to debut satellite-dimming sunshade on Starlink launch next month
SpaceX plans to debut a new sunshade structure on its future Starlink satellites. Credit: SpaceX A new sunshade, or visor, designed to reduce the brightness of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband Internet satellites will debut on the company’s next launch, a measure intended to alleviate astronomers’ concerns about impacts on observations through ground-based telescopes, SpaceX founder Elon…
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Hubble still going strong 30 years after launch
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION The Hubble Space Telescope was deployed from the space shuttle Discovery on April 25, 1990, one day after its launch from the Kennedy Space Center. Credit: NASA Thirty years ago Friday, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched aboard the shuttle Discovery with a famously flawed mirror, the opening…