Massive galaxy merger caught in the act EU–(ENEWSPF)–22 May 2013. A rare encounter between two gas-rich galaxies spotted by ESA’s Herschel space observatory indicates a solution to an outstanding problem: how did massive, passive galaxies form in the early Universe? Most large galaxies fall into one of two major categories:[Read More…]
Space
Space Drives E-mobility
Simulation for safety EU–(ENEWSPF)–20 May 2013. An ESA business incubation start-up company is helping major car manufacturers to develop electric vehicle concepts and improve safety systems by turning ideas quickly into virtual prototypes. Foreseeing products by modelling and simulations can provide big jump-starts for companies,” explains Johannes Gerl, founder and[Read More…]
Proba-V Opens Its Eyes
Proba-V’s first image EU–(ENEWSPF)–17 May 2013. Earth watcher Proba-V is in good health following its launch last week. The Vegetation imager has been switched on and the first image has been captured over western France. The miniature satellite is designed to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire[Read More…]
NASA Satellite Data Help Pinpoint Glaciers’ Role in Sea Level Rise
WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 17, 2013. A new study of glaciers worldwide using observations from two NASA satellites has helped resolve differences in estimates of how fast glaciers are disappearing and contributing to sea level rise. The new research found glaciers outside of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, repositories of 1 percent[Read More…]
First New Galileo Satelite Arrives at ESA for Space Testing
First Galileo FOC satellite arrives at ESTEC for space testing EU–(ENEWSPF)–16 May 2013. The first satellite of Galileo’s next phase has arrived at ESA’s technical heart in the Netherlands for a rigorous set of tests to check its readiness for launch. This first Galileo Full Operational Capability – FOC –[Read More…]
Leak Repaired on International Space Station
Repairing pump unit 13 May 2013 EU–(ENEWSPF)–13 May 2013. Over the weekend the crew of the International Space Station worked overtime to fix a leaking cooling network outside the orbital outpost. Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn ventured into space on Saturday and replaced a pump unit that was leaking[Read More…]
NASA Curiosity Rover Team Selects Second Drilling Target on Mars
PASADENA, Calif.–(ENEWSPF)–May 10, 2013. The team operating NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover on Mars has selected a second target rock for drilling and sampling. The rover will set course to the drilling location in coming days. This second drilling target, called “Cumberland,” lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of the[Read More…]
NASA Partners With Ohio Non-Profit on Unmanned Air Challenge
WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013. NASA has selected Development Projects Inc. of Dayton, Ohio, to manage a new Centennial Challenge prize competition involving unmanned aircraft systems in 2014. NASA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Airspace Operations Challenge is focused on developing and demonstrating key technologies, particularly the ability to sense and avoid other[Read More…]
NASA’S Hubble Space Telescope Finds Dead Stars ‘Polluted’ With Planet Debris
WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–May 9, 2013. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has found the building blocks for Earth-sized planets in an unlikely place– the atmospheres of a pair of burned-out stars called white dwarfs. These dead stars are located 150 light-years from Earth in a relatively young star cluster, Hyades, in the constellation Taurus.[Read More…]
Join the Search for ‘Space Warps’
UK–(ENEWSPF)–09 May 2013. Online volunteers are being asked to search for ‘space warps’, very rare massive galaxies that bend light around them so that they act rather like giant lenses in space. By looking through data that has never been seen by human eyes, citizen scientists can help astronomers discover[Read More…]