Why a new hypersonic missile engine is a milestone for UK defence capabilities
The UK successfully tested a new hypersonic missile engine, a significant advancement for its defence capabilities.
The engine, developed with US and NASA support, uses air-breathing technology for greater range and speed.
This is a key step in the UK's Hypersonic Weapons Programme, aiming for a demonstrator by 2030.
Over 233 tests were conducted at NASA's Langley Research Centre, covering supersonic to hypersonic speeds.
Defence Minister John Healey called it a "milestone moment" for UK defence, emphasising collaboration with the US.
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Solar Orbiter offers first glimpse of sun's poles in breakthrough mission
The first-ever images of the sun 's south pole have been captured by the robotic Solar Orbiter spacecraft. The European Space Agency (ESA) released images on Wednesday using three of Solar Orbiter's onboard instruments. The images, taken in March, show the sun's south pole from a distance of roughly 40 million miles, obtained at a period of maximum solar activity. Images of the north pole are still being transmitted by the spacecraft back to Earth. Solar Orbiter, developed by ESA in collaboration with the US space agency NASA, was launched in 2020 from Florida. Until now, all the views of the sun have come from the same vantage point – looking face-on toward its equator from the plane on which Earth and most of the solar system 's other planets orbit, called the ecliptic plane. But in February, Solar Orbiter used a gravity-assist flyby around Venus to tilt its trajectory, enabling a view of the sun from about 17 degrees below the equator. Future Venus flybys will increase that angle to more than 30 degrees, allowing for even better polar observations. "The best is still to come. What we have seen is just a first quick peek," said solar physicist Sami Solanki from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, who leads the science team behind the spacecraft's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager. Mr Solanki explained that "the spacecraft observed both poles, first the south pole, then the north pole'. He added: "The north pole's data will arrive in the coming weeks or months." Solar Orbiter is currently collecting information on several solar phenomena, including the sun's magnetic field, its activity cycle, and the solar wind – a constant, high-speed stream of charged particles that flows outward from the sun's outer atmosphere and fills the solar system. "We are not sure what we will find, and it is likely we will see things that we didn't know about before," solar physicist Hamish Reid of UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory said. The sun is a ball of hot electrically charged gas that, as it moves, generates a powerful magnetic field, which flips from south to north and back again every 11 years in what is called the solar cycle. The magnetic field drives the formation of sunspots, cooler regions on the solar surface that appear as dark blotches. At the cycle's beginning, the sun has fewer sunspots. Their number increases as the cycle progresses, before starting all over again. "What we have been missing to really understand this (solar cycle) is what is actually happening at the top and bottom of the sun," Mr Reid said. The sun's diameter is about 865,000 miles – more than 100 times wider than Earth. "Whilst the Earth has a clear north and south pole, the Solar Orbiter measurements show both north and south polarity magnetic fields are currently present at the south pole of the sun. This happens during the maximum in activity of the solar cycle, when the sun's magnetic field is about to flip. In the coming years, the sun will reach solar minimum, and we expect to see a more orderly magnetic field around the poles of the sun," Mr Reid said. "We see in the images and movies of the polar regions that the sun's magnetic field is chaotic at the poles at the (current) phase of the solar cycle - high solar activity, cycle maximum," Mr Solanki said. The sun is located about 93 million miles from our planet. "The data that Solar Orbiter obtains during the coming years will help modellers in predicting the solar cycle. This is important for us on Earth because the sun's activity causes solar flares and coronal mass ejections which can result in radio communication blackouts, destabilize our power grids, but also drive the sensational auroras," Mr Reid said. "Solar Orbiter's new vantage point out of the ecliptic will also allow us to get a better picture of how the solar wind expands to form the heliosphere, a vast bubble around the sun and its planets," he added. A previous spacecraft, Ulysses, flew over the solar poles in the 1990s. "Ulysses, however, was blind in the sense that it did not carry any optical instruments - telescopes or cameras - and hence could only sense the solar wind passing the spacecraft directly, but could not image the sun," Mr Solanki said.
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
World-first views of the Sun's poles released - but scientists say best is yet to come
The sun's south pole has been seen for the first time from outside the ecliptic plane in unprecedented images sent back to Earth by a solar orbiter. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft travelled 15 degrees below the sun's solar equator to take the images in mid-March - with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA revealing them to the world on Wednesday. It is only the second craft to have passed over the sun's poles - with the ESA and NASA's 1990-2009 Ulysses craft lacking the capacity to take any photos. "Today we reveal humankind's first-ever views of the sun's pole," ESA's director of science, Professor Carole Mundell, said. Describing it as a "new era of solar science", she added: "The sun is our nearest star, giver of life and potential disruptor of modern space and ground power systems, so it is imperative that we understand how it works and learn to predict its behaviour." 'Best is yet to come' According to the ESA, previous images of the sun have been taken from around its equator. This is because Earth, the other planets, and all other operational spacecraft orbit the Sun within a flat disc around the Sun called the ecliptic plane. However, by tilting its orbit out of this plane, Solar Orbiter has revealed the star from a whole new angle - and because the spacecraft is set to tilt even further "the best views are yet to come". The Solar Orbiter took off from Florida in 2020. Unlike Earth, which has fixed north and south poles, the sun's equivalents flip on an 11-year cycle. This is because its equator spins faster than its poles - every 26 days compared to every 33 days - meaning it does not rotate as a solid object, instead becoming so unstable it eventually flips. The sun is currently at what is referred to as "solar maximum", when the star is building up to the polar flip. During this period, its spots and solar flares are most active. In five or six years, the sun will reach its "solar minimum", when its magnetic activity is at its lowest. The images from Solar Orbiter's recent journey reveal a fragmented mosaic of north and south polarity at the sun's base. The spacecraft will continue its orbit around the sun until Christmas Eve 2026. Its next flight will see it fly past Venus in 2029.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
NASA's ruthless response to glamorous 'astronaut' who said she's headed to space
A young woman who claimed she was picked to be a 'career astronaut' has gotten blowback from NASA about her questionable credentials. The controversy started on June 5 when Laysa Peixoto, 23, took to Instagram to reveal that she was chosen to fly missions to the moon and Mars after completing NASA astronaut training in 2022. The Minas Gerais native went on to explain that she was going to join Titan Space's inaugural flight in 2029, which will be led veteran NASA astronaut Bill McArthur. 'It hasn't fully sunk in yet, but I feel immense gratitude for the entire journey I've taken so far and for everyone who has been and is a part of it,' Peixoto wrote on the post, which was accompanied by a photo of her taken in a NASA shirt with the New York City skyline in the background. 'I was selected to become a career astronaut, working on manned space flights to private space stations, and for future manned missions to the Moon and Mars,' Peixoto said, while adding that she is 'officially an astronaut in the class of 2025. 'It is a great joy to represent Brazil as an astronaut in such a decisive era of space exploration, which will change the history of humanity forever,' she continued. 'It is an honor to carry the Brazilian flag with me as the first Brazilian woman to cross this frontier.' However, Peixoto's claims drew a ruthless response from NASA itself. 'While we generally do not comment on personnel, this individual is not a NASA employee, principal investigator, or astronaut candidate,' NASA said in a statement provided to the Daily Mail, saying she was involved in 'a workshop for students' that 'is not an internship or job at NASA.' 'It would be inappropriate to claim NASA affiliation as part of this opportunity.' Titans Space, which does not have a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to host human spaceflight, confirmed Peixoto's participation to Brazilian news outlet Metropoles. However, she is not on the list of astronauts for the potential flight. Peixoto attended the Federal University of Minas Gerais but was dismissed in 2023 when she failed to register for the second semester, the school confirmed to Metropoles. Peixoto also claimed that she was enrolled in an Application of Computing and Quantum Physics master's degree program at Columbia University. But the Ivy League school told the media outlet that it did not have any records of Peixoto attending. Peixoto sought to clear any confusion that her Instagram may have caused in a press release statement that was obtained by Brazilian outlet. O Tempo. 'In the announcement made on Instagram, the only statement given so far (June 11), having not checked any interview so far, Laysa explains that she was selected as an astronaut by the private company Titans Space,' Peixoto's publicist said. 'At no time is there a mention of NASA, or that it would be an astronaut from the agency. The post was never edited.' However, the Instagram post, which has more than 83,000 likes, had been edited. The press release also indicated that Peixoto doesn't have any direct ties to NASA. 'It's explicit and clear: Laysa was selected to become a career astronaut by Titans Space, which will have as mission commander, Bill McArthur, a veteran NASA astronaut - the only mention made about NASA in the post,' the note mentions.
