Aerocapture is a 'free lunch' in space exploration

When spacecraft return to Earth, they don't need to shed all their velocity by firing retro-rockets. Instead, they use the atmosphere as a brake to slow down for a soft landing. Every planet in the solar system except Mercury ...

Predicting equatorial plasma bubbles with SWARM

Changes in atmospheric density after sunset can cause hot pockets of gas called "plasma bubbles" to form over the Earth's equator, resulting in communication disruptions between satellites and the Earth. New AI models are ...

Loess landscapes could be major source of dust

Dust, which affects weather and climate and can be hazardous to health, can be generated when sand or silt grains are either dislodged from the surface by other windblown grains (saltation) or lifted by wind directly (direct ...

Hunting for high life: What lives in Earth's stratosphere?

What lives at the edge of space? Other than high-flying jet aircraft pilots (and the occasional daredevil skydiver) you wouldn't expect to find many living things over 10 kilometers up—yet this is exactly where one NASA ...

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