Pluto nearly fills the frame in this image from the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) aboard NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft, taken on July 13, 2015 when the spacecraft was 476,000 miles (768,000 kilometers) from the surface. This is the last and most detailed image sent to Earth before the spacecraft’s[Read More…]
Space
Rosetta: Preparing for Perihelion
Comet around perihelion EU–(ENEWSPF)–13 July 2015. Rosetta’s investigations of its comet are continuing as the mission teams count down the last month to perihelion – the closest point to the Sun along the comet’s orbit – when the comet’s activity is expected to be at its highest. Rosetta has been[Read More…]
New Horizons Probe Another Example of U.S. Leadership in Space Exploration
A crowd watches in Central Park, New York City, as the Apollo 11 crew lands on the moon on July 20, 1969. SOURCE: AP/Marty Lederhandler Washington, D.C. —(ENEWSPF)–July 7, 2015. In a little over one week, NASA’s New Horizons space probe will conclude a nearly decade-long journey to Pluto and[Read More…]
Astronomers Use Cosmic Gravity to Create ‘Black-Hole-Scope’
Gravitational lensing EU–(ENEWSPF)–6 July 2015. The Integral, Fermi and Swift space observatories have used the magnifying power of a cosmic lens to explore the inner regions of a supermassive black hole. Gamma rays are highly energetic radiation emitted by some of the most extreme objects in our Universe. Jets of[Read More…]
Counting Stars with Gaia
Stellar density map EU–(ENEWSPF)–3 July 2015. This image, based on housekeeping data from ESA’s Gaia satellite, is no ordinary depiction of the heavens. While the image portrays the outline of our Galaxy, the Milky Way, and of its neighbouring Magellanic Clouds, it was obtained in a rather unusual way. As[Read More…]
NASA Administrator Statement on the Loss of SpaceX CRS-7
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 28, 2015. The following is a statement from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on the loss Sunday of the SpaceX Commercial Resupply Services 7 (CRS-7) mission. “We are disappointed in the loss of the latest SpaceX cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station. However, the astronauts are safe aboard[Read More…]
Monster Black Hole Wakes After 26 Years
Black hole with stellar companion EU–(ENEWSPF)–25 June 2015. Over the past week, ESA’s Integral satellite has been observing an exceptional outburst of high-energy light produced by a black hole that is devouring material from its stellar companion. X-rays and gamma rays point to some of the most extreme phenomena in[Read More…]
Rosetta Mission Extended
Rosetta approaching comet EU–(ENEWSPF)–23 June 2015. The adventure continues: ESA today confirmed that its Rosetta mission will be extended until the end of September 2016, at which point the spacecraft will most likely be landed on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Rosetta was launched in 2004 and arrived at the[Read More…]
NASA, Partners Test Unmanned Aircraft Systems
NASA’s Ikhana is being used to test a system that will allow uncrewed aircraft to fly routine operations within the National Airspace System. Credits: NASA Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–June 23, 2015. NASA, working with government and industry partners, is testing a system that would make it possible for unmanned aircraft to fly[Read More…]
Magnetic Complexity Begins to Untangle
Core and crust from Swarm EU–(ENEWSPF)–22 June 2015. After a year in orbit, the three Swarm satellites have provided a first glimpse inside Earth and started to shed new light on the dynamics of the upper atmosphere – all the way from the ionosphere about 100 km above, through to[Read More…]
