Construction on giant network of high-speed rail line passes major milestone: ‘Shows just how much momentum is behind construction of the line’
Construction on a new high-speed rail line in Britain has passed a major milestone, with over half (29 miles) of the planned 54.8 mile tunnel network now excavated. Giant tunnel-boring machines have been digging the tunnels, which will be lined with concrete segments. The machines can advance over 16 meters per day. Completing over half […]
The sun’s magnetic field is about to flip. Here’s what to expect.
The sun’s magnetic field flips its polarity approximately every 11 years as part of the solar cycle. The last flip happened in late 2013. This upcoming flip will switch the magnetic field from northern to southern polarity in the Northern Hemisphere, and vice versa in the Southern Hemisphere. The reversal is driven by sunspots emerging […]
NASA prolongs Boeing Starliner’s stay on space station amid ongoing testing
NASA has prolonged Boeing’s Starliner capsule’s stay at the International Space Station from the originally planned 9 days to now at least until June 22nd. This extension allows for additional testing of Starliner’s capabilities to help prepare it for future 6-month crewed missions to the ISS. The crew of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will […]
Missile Defense Agency satellites track first hypersonic launch
The Missile Defense Agency’s satellites successfully tracked their first hypersonic weapons test flight this week. The satellites collected data after the launch but will continue assessing data over the coming weeks. The satellites that tracked the flight were the two Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites, which are part of the Space Development […]
5 space discoveries that scientists are struggling to explain
5 space discoveries that scientists are struggling to explain Planet Nine – A potential massive planet speculated to exist at the outer edges of our solar system, pulled from anomalies in object orbits. direct evidence remains elusive. Runaway black hole – A black hole detected escaping its host galaxy at 4,500 times the speed of […]
How China’s Chang’e 6 minirover snapped its epic photo on the moon’s far side
China’s Chang’e 6 mission to the moon’s far side included a small mini rover in addition to the main lander. After the Chang’e 6 lander touched down successfully in the Apollo crater region of the South Pole-Aitken basin, the mini rover detached autonomously from the lander. The rover drove a short distance away from the […]
New space plane arrives in Florida, set to launch later this year
A new space plane called Tenacity, built by Sierra Space, has arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for its first cargo flight to the International Space Station later this year. The Dream Chaser space plane is designed to transport either cargo or astronauts to low-Earth orbit. Its design was based on […]
NASA telescope spots ‘cosmic fireworks’ and faint echos from the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole
Astronomers used NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) telescope to discover nine large X-ray flares coming from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. These flares had previously gone unnoticed. Studying them provides insights into the environment near the black hole. The researchers also discovered X-ray “echoes” […]
NASA telescope spots ‘cosmic fireworks’ and faint echos from the Milky Way’s supermassive black hole
Astronomers used NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) telescope to discover nine large X-ray flares coming from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. These flares had previously gone unnoticed. Studying them provides insights into the environment near the black hole. The researchers also discovered X-ray “echoes” […]
Hubble Telescope maps high-speed ‘burps’ from nearby feeding supermassive black hole for 1st time
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers mapped plasma “burps” from a feeding supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy Zwicky 1. Zwicky 1 is located about 847 million light years from Earth. Its central black hole has a mass of around 9.3 million suns and is consuming matter at a high rate. The […]