Although few details are known, and no images have been released, the Chinese did apparently launch a reusable spacecraft on September 4, 2020. It appears to have deployed a satellite to orbit and then returned to Earth safely 2 days later. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/china-reusable-spacecraft-mission-sept-2020…
Tag: space flight
China’s first reusable spacecraft lands after 2-day flight
China’s first reusable spacecraft landed Sunday after two days in orbit, a possible step toward lower-cost space flight, the government announced. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-china-reusable-spacecraft-day-flight.html…
A Tiny Space Rock Holds Clues About the Evolution of Life
Back in 2012, a team of Japanese and Belgian researchers in Antarctica found a golf ball-sized space rock resting in the snow. Now, NASA astronauts have had a chance to study a piece of that meteorite, Asuka 12236, and they say it may hold new clues about the development of life. From a report: Inside the meteorite, astrobiologists from NASA’s Goddard…
NASA’s guide to near light speed space travel
Take a couple of minutes and have a little fun with this new video from NASA Source: https://earthsky.org/space/nasa-guide-to-near-light-speed-space-travel-video…
Is it possible to hear meteors?
Can you hear a meteor as it streaks overhead? Some people have reported hearing meteors with a sizzling sound like bacon frying. Scientists now say you can, and explain how it happens. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/whoosh-can-you-hear-a-meteor-streak-past…
Researchers track slowly splitting ‘dent’ in Earth’s magnetic field
A small but evolving dent in Earth’s magnetic field can cause big headaches for satellites. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/researchers-track-dent-in-earths-magnetic-field…
Scientists Solve a Mystery By Firing a Laser at the Moon
“The moon is drifting away,” reports the New York Times. Every year, it gets about an inch and a half farther from us. Hundreds of millions of years from now, our companion in the sky will be distant enough that there will be no more total solar eclipses. For decades, scientists have measured the moon’s retreat by firing a laser at…
Exoplanet-hunter TESS completes its primary mission
NASA’s 2nd planet-hunter, TESS, has spent 2 years surveying the sky for exoplanets orbiting distant stars. It has found over 2,000 exoplanets so far. TESS now moves into its extended mission phase. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/exoplanet-hunter-tess-completes-primary-mission…
Images show Martian night sky pulsing with ultraviolet light
Vast areas of Mars’ nightside atmosphere glow and pulsate with ultraviolet light, according to images from NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/mars-night-sky-ultraviolet-light-images…
How astronomers rediscovered a ‘lost world’
And why this rediscovery of a lost world – called NGTS-11b – bodes well for finding habitable exoplanets. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/lost-world-ngts-11b-exoplanet-habitable-zone…