Latest news with #AstrophysicsDivision
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA picks Rocket Lab to launch shoebox-sized Aspera space telescope in 2026
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. NASA has selected Rocket Lab to launch its Aspera smallsat mission, which will study gases in the vast regions of space between galaxies. Rocket Lab's Electron will launch Aspera, a cubesat being developed by the University of Arizona and NASA. The shoebox-sized satellite will use an onboard telescope to study the ultraviolet light emitted from gases adrift between galaxies. The launch is targeted for the first quarter of 2026, from Rocket Lab's Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand. The selection of Rocket Lab is part of NASA's $300 million Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) launch services contract, and adds to a growing list of science missions which with agency has entrusted the launch company, including PREFIRE, TROPICS and CAPSTONE. 'As a long-trusted launch partner for NASA's most pioneering small satellites, it's great to be able to continue that support for another innovative science mission like Aspera," Rocket Lab CEO Peter Beck said in a statement. Aspera will measure the inflow and outflow of gases between galaxies, called the circumgalactic medium, which scientists believe may contribute to star formation and galaxy evolution. The mission is part of NASA's Pioneers Program, in the space agency's Astrophysics Division, which provides funding to lower-cost astrophysics missions. "We have a good understanding of how much gas there must be in galaxies to explain how many stars we see, but we've searched far and wide and still cannot find most of it," Aspera Principal Investigator Carlos Vargas said in a February update from the University of Arizona about the mission's manufacturing process. Related Stories: — Rocket Lab launches 2 NASA satellites to study tropical storms and hurricanes like never before — Rocket Lab launches 1st Electron booster from US soil in twilight liftoff — US military taps Rocket Lab's new Neutron launcher for 'point to point' cargo test flight in 2026 Rocket Lab has also been contracted to launch a mission with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) using Neutron, the partially reusable new rocket the company is developing. Neutron is slated for its first launch sometime later this year, with its AFRL mission set for 2026. The next liftoff of the 59-foot-tall (18 meters) Electron is scheduled for Saturday (May 17). That mission will loft a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging satellite for the company iQPS called QPS-SAR-10 (nicknamed 'WADATSUMI-I' for the Japanese god of the sea). The spacecraft will join iQPS' growing constellation of high resolution Earth-imaging satellites.
United News of India
02-05-2025
- Science
- United News of India
NASA's SPHEREx space telescope begins mapping entire sky
Los Angeles, May 2 (UNI) NASA announced Thursday that its SPHEREx space observatory has officially begun science operations, marking a major step toward uncovering new insights into the origins of the universe, the evolution of galaxies, and the building blocks of life in the Milky Way. SPHEREx will take approximately 3,600 images per day over the next two years as it systematically surveys the entire sky. Launched on March 11, SPHEREx has spent the last six weeks undergoing checkouts, calibrations, and other activities to ensure it is working as it should, according to NASA. With science operations now underway, SPHEREx will chart the positions of hundreds of millions of galaxies in three dimensions. Its goal is to address some of the most profound questions in cosmology, such as how the universe began and how its large-scale structure evolved. "This new observatory is adding to the suite of space-based astrophysics survey missions leading up to the launch of NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Together with these other missions, SPHEREx will play a key role in answering the big questions about the universe we tackle at NASA every day," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The observatory will complete more than 11,000 orbits over its 25 months of planned survey operations, circling Earth about 14-and-a-half times a day, according to NASA. UNI XINHUA GNK
Forbes
25-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
NASA Drops Stunning New Images To Honor Hubble's 35th — And Looks Ahead
Exactly 35 years ago this week, the Hubble Space Telescope was released from the Space Shuttle Discovery cargo hatch. After a stuttering start, it became one of humankind's most treasured inventions, sending back images after jaw-dropping images and revealing the universe as it really is. To celebrate its 35th anniversary, NASA has published four spectacular new images. In celebration of the 35th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope's launch into orbit, ... More astronomers aimed the legendary telescope at a selection of photogenic space targets, stretching from inside our solar system to the nebulae found in interstellar space, to far-flung galaxies. The four new images published this week to celebrate its birthday are of Mars, planetary nebula NGC 2899, the Rosette Nebula and barred spiral galaxy NGC 5335. All images use the latest image processing techniques that weren't available when the data was originally collected. According to NASA, Hubble has made more than 1.7 million observations of about 55,000 celestial objects, creating more than 400 terabytes of data. Its observations have been used by scientists to write over 22,000 scientific papers. The four new images follow a steady stream of newly processed Hubble images published last week, including new versions of Hubble classics NGC 346, the Sombrero Galaxy and the iconic Eagle Nebula. Planetary nebula NGC 2899, one of the Hubble Space Telescope's 35th Anniversary images. 'Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago,' said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a press statement. 'Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system.' NASA's Hubble Space Telescope captured in exquisite detail galaxy NGC 5335 for one of its 35th ... More Anniversary images. It wasn't a great start for Hubble. Its first images were blurry — a result of an unexpected flaw in its eight-foot diameter primary mirror — which was fixed in 1993 by NASA astronauts. Further servicing missions followed until 2009. That final servicing mission left it with six gyroscopes — the tech that allows it to accurately point at objects — but a series of glitches last year left it with just one working gyro. It's now slower and less flexible than before (it can no longer study Venus, for example, or the moon) — but, for now, it's still usable. Dark clouds in the Rosette Nebula, one of the Hubble Space Telescope's 35th Anniversary images. It's ... More 100 light-years across and located 5,200 light-years from the sun. Hubble was designed to last for 15 years. 'The fact that it is still operating today is a testament to the value of our flagship observatories and provides critical lessons for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which we plan to be serviceable in the spirit of Hubble,' said Domagal-Goldman. There are plans for a successor — the Habitable Worlds Observatory — a large ultraviolet, optical and infrared space telescope to replace Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope. It will be designed to seek out signs of life beyond our solar system — identifying and examining Earth-like planets orbiting other stars to determine if they could show signs of hosting life — as well as be a general purpose observatory with unprecedented sensitivity and resolution. HWO will be NASA's next flagship astrophysics mission after the $3.5-billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, scheduled to launch by May 2027, though NASA said yesterday it wants it to launch as early as October 2026.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space photo of the day for April 24, 2025
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Now the most well-recognized and scientifically productive astronomical observatory in history, the Hubble Space Telescope first reached Earth orbit 35 years ago on April 24, 1990. A day later, as this photo shows, the STS-31 crew aboard space shuttle Discovery released Hubble, beginning a three-a-half-decade legacy. Though it probably doesn't need an introduction, the Hubble Space Telescope is a 24,000-pound (10,900 kilograms), 43.5-foot-long (13.2 meters) observatory that to date has made nearly 1.7 million observations, looking at about 55,000 astronomical targets, resulting in over scientific 22,000 papers and over 1.3 million citations (as of February 2025). "Hubble opened a new window to the universe when it launched 35 years ago. Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, in a statement. The Hubble Space Telescope is in low Earth orbit, 320 miles (515 kilometers) above the planet, placing it above most of the atmosphere. Its orbit is inclined at 28.5 degrees to the equator and it completes one trip around the Earth in about 95 minutes. Of course, the targets that the Hubble Space Telescope looks at are considerably more distant. One of, if not the farthest object that Hubble has imaged is galaxy GN-z11, located about 13.4 billion light-years away from Earth. Hubble's 35-year (to date) story is not just about the observations it has made — other orbiting observatories have returned stunning shots of our universe and made numerous discoveries. What sets Hubble apart is that 35 years ago, its mission almost ended before it began. As is now famously known, an unexpected flaw was discovered in Hubble's nearly eight-foot-diameter (2.4 m) primary mirror. Fortunately, the telescope was designed to be serviced on orbit, and astronauts came to the rescue on the first of five space shuttle servicing missions in December 1993 to improve Hubble's vision with corrective optics. You can read about the challenges facing the Hubble Space Telescope from this point forward and see some its stand out images from the past 35 years. You can also learn if we could still send astronauts to service the Hubble.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA releases stunning space photos to mark Hubble anniversary
On April 24, 1990, all 24,000 pounds of the Hubble Space Telescope were tucked away inside the Discovery space shuttle when it launched into space. Thirty-five years later, NASA says Hubble has proven to have "opened a new window to the universe," with more than 1.6 million observations to date filled with compelling and surprising images of galaxies, planets and our own solar system. To celebrate the anniversary milestone, NASA has released stunning photos taken by the telescope in its decades among the stars. Among them is an image of Mars, taken 61 million miles from Earth. "Thin water-ice clouds, revealed by Hubble's unique ultraviolet capability, give the Red Planet a frosty appearance," Hubble said along with the photo on social media. In a news release commemorating Hubble's decades around the sun, NASA said the telescope "is a glowing success story of America's technological prowess, unyielding scientific curiosity, and a reiteration of our nation's pioneering spirit." "Its stunning imagery inspired people across the globe, and the data behind those images revealed surprises about everything from early galaxies to planets in our own solar system," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The fact that it is still operating today is a testament to the value of our flagship observatories, and provides critical lessons for the Habitable Worlds Observatory, which we plan to be serviceable in the spirit of Hubble." Another image captured by Hubble shows the nebula NGC 2899, which NASA's Hubble account on X described as being "sculpted by the outflow of radiation and stellar winds from a 40,000-degree-Fahrenheit dying star at its center." Hubble has looked at roughly 55,000 astronomical targets during its time in space, resulting in over 22,000 scientific papers as of February. Aside from the James Webb Space Telescope, it has contributed to the biggest dataset for a NASA astrophysics mission, with over 400 terabytes of data. Among the observations it has captured are planetary seasons, black hole jets traveling at nearly the speed of light, stellar convulsions, asteroid collisions and expanding supernova bubbles. One of those observations, a portion of the star-forming Rosette Nebula, shows dark clouds of hydrogen gas laced with dust. Hubble's ability to capture the cosmos isn't just visually stunning, but has provided numerous scientific breakthroughs. Before the telescope's launch, telescopes grounded on Earth couldn't see as far into space, limiting estimates for the age of the universe and knowledge of space in general. Hubble was able to capture deep field images that showed galaxies dating back to the early universe, allowing scientists to precisely measure the universe's expansion. Using the telescope, scientists were also able to determine that supermassive black holes are common among galaxies and measure the atmospheres of exoplanets — and it even contributed to the discovery of dark energy. Sneak peek: The Detective's Wife St. Louis woman says family decimated by cancer after living near toxic creek for decades St. Peter's Basilica kept open for hours as Pope Francis mourners flood Rome
