Astronomy
NASA's Junocam Heals Its Radiation Damage
The JunoCam on NASA's Juno spacecraft has given us fantastic images of Jupiter and its moons, especially volcanic Io. But the instrument is suffering after years of exposure to Jupiter's intense radiation. There are few options for repairing that damage from such a great distance, but it looks like NASA's done it.
Zero-Boil Fuel Storage Undergoes System Testing
From an engineering perspective, space is surprisingly hot. Or, more specifically, solar energy can make systems that need to be kept at a very cold temperature heat up much more quickly than expected, given the reputation that space has of being cold. In some cases, this heating causes issues with long-term missions, which is why NASA is actively testing a two-stage active cryogenic system to keep one important consumable as cold as possible - fuel.
Astronomers Discover Mysterious Radio Pulsing White Dwarf
A team of astronomers using the Netherlands' powerful LOFAR radio telescope has found a white dwarf that's defying everything we thought we knew about them. Located over 3,500 light-years away, it’s pulsing out radio signals every 14 minutes with a twist, its radio waves mysteriously switch between spinning in circles and vibrating in straight lines. It's like discovering a lighthouse that randomly changes the shape of its beam, except this lighthouse is a star that died long ago and should be quietly cooling in space.
Tomb of Ancient Maya City’s First Ruler Has Been Uncovered by Archaeologists
A team of archaeologists excavating the ancient Maya city of Caracol discovered the tomb of its first ruler, which contained pottery, jadeite jewelry and a rare death mask
VV27 road to liftoff
Highlights and liftoff of Vega-C flight VV27 from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, at 23:03 local time on 25 July (03:03 BST/04:03 CEST on 26 July).
Flight VV27 was operated by Arianespace and launched Airbus’s four CO3D satellites and the French space agency CNES MicroCarb mission.
The four small satellites in the CO3D constellation (an abbreviation of the French 'Constellation Optique en 3D') are set to map the globe in three dimensions from low Earth orbit, to serve public and private sector needs.
MicroCarb is designed to map sources and sinks of carbon dioxide on a global scale. ESA coordinated and procured the launch of MicroCarb on behalf of the European Commission, as part of its In-Orbit Demonstration / In-Orbit Validation (IOD/IOV) programme.
