Tag: Aurora
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Austria Taps R-Space to Build Its Second Military Satellite
Does Austria Have a Military Space Strategy? Austria’s Ministry of Defence has selected homegrown startup R-Space as prime contractor for the country’s second military satellite, expected to launch in 2027. The mission, called Aurora, is designed to demonstrate two next-generation capabilities in a single platform: space-to-ground laser communications and quantum encryption technology. According to R-Space…
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How space weather events impact launches, orbiting spacecraft, and our future in space
When Blue Origin scrubbed the launch of its NG-2 mission on its New Glenn rocket on Nov. 12, the culprit wasn’t Florida’s notoriously unpredictable thunderstorms or high winds — it was space weather. NASA’s ESCAPADE mission, the primary payload on NG-2, was eventually launched on Nov. 13 and is designed to study how solar storms…
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Solar Orbiter makes first ever observations of Sun’s south pole, reveals messy magnetic field
Following a flyby of Venus in February that successfully increased its orbital inclination around the Sun, the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter recently imaged the Sun’s poles for the first time. The images are the first to show how the Sun’s immense magnetic field interacts at its poles, and will improve scientists’ understanding of the…
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Launch Roundup: Starliner delayed further; 21st flight for Falcon 9 booster; New Shepard returns to crewed missions
SpaceX reached another milestone when booster B1062 became the first in its fleet to fly for the 21st time on Friday night, exceeding the previously set limit of 20 flights per booster. Blue Origin also launched its first crewed mission for over 18 months on Sunday, taking six more humans briefly above the Karman line.…
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NOAA says “extreme” solar storm will persist through the weekend
After a night of stunning auroras across much of the United States and Europe on Friday, a severe geomagnetic storm is likely to continue through at least Sunday, forecasters said. The Space Weather Prediction Center at the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Prediction Center observed that ‘Extreme’ G5 conditions were ongoing as of Saturday morning…
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Webb discovers potential aurorae on brown dwarf
Silently floating through the universe are cosmic objects that are both too large to be planets and too small to be stars. Called brown dwarfs, these substellar objects are among the most captivating objects in the universe, and their low surface temperatures mean that most of the light they emit is infrared and thus can…
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Photos: Stunning Northern Lights dance over Seattle — here are tips for catching the next one
The Northern Lights are a mesmerizing but infrequent occurrence at our latitude in Seattle. Stargazers got a treat Monday night if they were looking northwards, as a moderate G2 geomagnetic storm from the sun produced a solar flare that pushed the Aurora Borealis southwards to us. Unlike in the Arctic where the Aurora often fill…
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Five years on, Juno science reveals answers to zodiacal lights, Jovian auroras
Juno, NASA’s flagship mission to Jupiter, marks five years at the solar system’s largest planet today, having been in space for nearly 10 years since its launch. Juno quickly became one of NASA’s most scientifically important missions upon its arrival, with its Ultraviolet Spectrograph and Advanced Stellar Compass instruments used to reveal many unique scientific…
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Aurora alert: Northern lights could flare in the sky … if clouds don’t block your view
Northern lights shine over Mount Adams in a Sept. 27 image. (MtAdams.tv via Brenda Turnbull) The chances of seeing the northern lights are higher for the next couple of nights, but Western Washington’s trademark fall weather could cloud things over. Literally. We’re talking about two types of weather here: The space weather side of the…
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Northern lights provide a glowing auroral sendoff to Seattle’s summer weather
Northern lights glow in a time-exposure photo that includes star trails. (NWS Seattle Photo via Twitter) Seattle’s final fling with hot weather featured a celestial fireworks show on Wednesday night, in the form of an auroral display that benefited from clear skies as well as a strong geomagnetic storm. The northern lights were pumped up…