Tag: Astrophysics
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Timeline of Soyuz launch with CSG 1 and CHEOPS
Follow the key events of the Soyuz ST-A rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with the first COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation, or CSG 1, radar observation satellite, the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS exoplanet telescope, and three CubeSats. A listing of exact times for the flight’s major events is posted below. Data source: Arianespace…
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Hubble catches best glimpse yet of interstellar interloper
The comet appears in front of a distant background spiral galaxy (2MASX J10500165-0152029) in this Nov. 19 image from the Hubble Space Telescope. The galaxy’s bright central core is smeared in the image because Hubble was tracking the comet. Comet Borisov was approximately 203 million miles from Earth in this exposure. Its tail of ejected…
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ESA satellite set for launch to measure sizes of exoplanets
EDITOR’S NOTE: Updated Dec. 17 after the first launch attempt was scrubbed. Artist’s illustration of the CHEOPS spacecraft observing an exoplanet transiting in front of its parent star. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab A compact exoplanet observatory built in Europe to help astronomers determine the sizes of distant worlds around other stars is scheduled for launch Wednesday from…
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SpaceX to experiment with less-reflective satellite coatings on next Starlink launch
Artist’s concept of a Starlink satellite with its solar array wing unfurled. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s next launch of satellites for the company’s Starlink broadband network — planned in the final days of 2019 — will carry one spacecraft with an experimental coating designed to make it less reflective in orbit, a first step in assuaging…
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Earth observation, deep space exploration big winners in new ESA budget
Frédérique Vidal, the French government’s representative and co-chair on the ESA Ministerial Council, ESA director general Jan Wörner, and Manuel Heitor, the Portuguese government’s representative and co-chair on the ESA Ministerial Council. Credit: ESA – S. Corvaja European Space Agency member states on Thursday committed nearly 12.5 billion euros ($13.7 billion) to fund ESA programs…
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Astronauts complete bonus objectives in first in series of AMS repair spacewalks
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan is perched on the end of the space station’s robotic arm during Friday’s spacewalk. Credit: NASA Two astronauts ventured outside the International Space Station Friday for the first of four spacewalks to repair a $2 billion cosmic ray detector, breezing through work to prep…
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Complex spacewalk repair work begins Friday
STORY WRITTEN FOR CBS NEWS & USED WITH PERMISSION NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan and European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano are gearing up for a spacewalk Friday to begin repairing the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument outside the International Space Station. Credit: NASA After four years of brainstorming, custom tool development and training, two astronauts plan to venture…
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Repair equipment for particle physics experiment aboard next station cargo launch
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer instrument has been collecting data on the International Space Station since 2011. Credit: NASA Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship set for liftoff Saturday will deliver to the International Space Station the final hardware for a series of ambitious spacewalks later this month to install a new coolant system on the Alpha…
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German X-ray telescope achieves ‘first light’
This image shows our neighboring galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud, observed in a series of exposures with all seven eROSITA telescope modules taken Oct. 18 to Oct. 19, 2019. The diffuse emission originates from the hot gas between the stars with temperatures typically a few million degrees. The more compact nebulous structures in the image…
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Egyptian satellite, ESA science probe share plane ride to launch base
These photos show the loading of Egypt’s TIBA 1 communications satellite (left) and the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS scientific satellite (right) on an Antonov An-124 cargo plane at Toulouse-Blagnac airport in France for transport to Kourou, French Guiana. Credit: Airbus Defense and Space/P. Masclet/Master Films A European-built communications satellite, manufactured in secret for the Egyptian…