Curated by John Schmit

Sunday, December 27, 2020

Week 53

 



 News From Around The Web

 

China’s Long March 8 rocket successful in debut launch

Hello, Venus! Solar Orbiter spacecraft makes first swing past planet

UK stays with European Space Agency after Brexit, but projects at home struggle

Foust Forward | A tale of two launch vehicle programs

US may buy seat on Russia's Soyuz for astronaut's flight to ISS in Spring 2021

Japanese spacecraft's gifts: Asteroid chips like charcoal

Scientists complete yearlong pulsar timing study after reviving dormant radio telescopes 

Capella Space unveils super-sharp radar images of Earth (photos)

Thailand to launch a moon space programme to boost efforts to become a high-income economy 

ESA Clean Space tackles space junk one component at a time

If a planet has a lot of methane in its atmosphere, life is the most likely cause

We’re Never Going to Mine the Asteroid Belt 

Arianespace targets early 2021 for Vega return-to-flight

SpaceX, Blue Origin, Dynetics await NASA lunar lander decision

ISRO to use green fuel for human space flight

A 4G network on the moon is bad news for radio astronomy

On the Hunt for a Missing Giant Black Hole 

Earthlings and astronauts chat away, via ham radio

Black hole X-ray binary GRS 1915+105 has a variable magnetic disc wind, study suggests

The upside of volatile space weather 

China to launch core module of space station in first half of 2021


Sunday, December 20, 2020

Week 52

 


 News From Around The Web

 

Lockheed Martin to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne for $4.4 billion 

Russian cosmonaut says new air leak on ISS Zvezda module not critical

Arianespace targets early 2021 for Vega return-to-flight

NASA's Webb sunshield successfully unfolds and tensions in final tests

NASA moves Mars Sample Return program into next phase of development

Video - Discovery of a Strange Crack Expanding on Moon's Surface Has Baffled Scientists

Ancient Earth had a thick, toxic atmosphere like Venus — until it cooled off and became liveable

Key building block for organic molecules discovered in meteorites

Ice-Rich Flow Features in Martian Southern Hemisphere Reveal Effects of Recent Climate Cycles

China plans to launch four manned spacecraft in next two years

The Milky Way's primordial history and its fossil findings

Did the universe's creator hide a message in the cosmos?

Blue Origin’s New Glenn added to NASA launch contract

Juno space craft updates quarter-century Jupiter mystery

New satellite propulsion test facility to propel UK into new space age

Knowledge of asteroid composition to help avert collisions

Recently discovered comet seen during 2020 total solar eclipse

Beyond “Fermi’s Paradox” XIV: What is the Aurora Hypothesis?

The Subaru Telescope photographs the next target asteroid for Hayabusa2

ULA’s new rocket Vulcan projected to launch in late 2021

How did the solar system form? 


Sunday, December 13, 2020

Week 51

 


 News From Around The Web

 

€167 million Space Rider contract funds construction of Europe’s first orbital spaceplane

Chang'e 5 makes 1st moon-Earth transfer injection maneuver to return home 

The largest solar telescope on Earth snaps the most detailed image of a sunspot we've ever seen

Balloon-borne telescopes could keep cool with less 

NASA Defines Science Priorities for First Crewed Artemis Landing on Moon 

NASA's Juno Spacecraft Updates Quarter-Century Jupiter Mystery 

Water on Mars not as widespread as previously thought, study finds 

Aerospace Corp. raises questions about pollutants produced during satellite and rocket reentry 

Video - SpaceX's Plan to Colonize Mars, Explained 

Hubble pins down weird exoplanet with far-flung orbit that behaves like the long-sought 'Planet Nine'

"Game changer" perovskite can detect gamma rays

Researchers get a look at the sun's dusty environment

Next Starliner test flight scheduled for late March 

'The robot made me do it': Robots encourage risk-taking behaviour in people 

Blast from the past – researchers make breakthrough in centuries-old astronomical mystery

Israel will aim for the moon again in 2024 with Beresheet 2 mission

Black holes gain new powers when they spin fast enough 

Space weather discovery puts 'habitable planets' at risk

Lunar gold rush could create conflict on the ground if we don't act now – new research

eROSITA finds large-scale bubbles in the halo of the Milky Way

What does space do to the human body? 29 studies investigate the effects of exploration


Sunday, December 6, 2020

Week 50

 

News From Around The Web

 

Hayabusa2 delivers asteroid samples to Earth after six-year voyage 

From interstellar space, twin Voyager probes spot 'electron burst'

World's largest solar observatory releases first image of a sunspot 

NASA considering commercial Mars data relay satellites 

I'm an astronomer and I think aliens may be out there but UFO sightings aren't persuasive 

NASA confirms SIMPLEx Mission Small Satellite to blaze trails studying Lunar surface 

Hubble Observes Rapidly Fading Stingray Nebula 

Curiosity Mars Rover: Marching Forward 

If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination? 

Researchers uncover key clues about the solar system's history

Turkey's Space Strategy: Trilateral Cooperation With Russia, Kazakhstan is Logical, Agency Head Says

Supercomputer simulations could unlock mystery of Moon's formation 

Op-ed | No, Mars is not a free planet, no matter what SpaceX says 

The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding 

Stem cell research finds a unique lab — the International Space Station 

Astronomers Capture Deepest Views Ever of Magellanic Clouds 

Who has the right stuff to be a private astronaut? 

Biomining study could unlock future settlements on other worlds 

Video: Gaia's stellar motion for the next 1.6 million years 

NASA will buy moon dirt from these 4 companies