Galileo satellite set for new orbit

ESA's fifth Galileo navigation satellite, one of two left in the wrong orbit this summer, will make a series of manoeuvres this month as a prelude to its health being confirmed.

NASA celebrates four decades of plucky Pioneer 11

Forty years ago, on April 5, 1973, a small, ambitious spacecraft launched from Cape Canaveral, heading towards the third-brightest point of light in the night sky. Following in the footsteps of its sister craft, Pioneer 10, ...

A new way to create Saturn's radiation belts

A team of international scientists from BAS, University of Iowa and GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences has discovered a new method to explain how radiation belts are formed around the planet Saturn.

How much radiation damage do astronauts really suffer in space?

Space is a really inhospitable place to live – there's no breathable air, microgravity wastes away your bones and muscles and you're subjected to increased doses of radiation in the form of high-energy charged particles. ...

The radiation belt storm probes

(Phys.org)—Since the dawn of the Space Age, mission planners have tried to follow one simple but important rule: Stay out of the van Allen Belts. The two doughnut-shaped regions around Earth are filled with "killer electrons," ...

Study of electrons in space could help weather forecasting

Researchers have discovered a formerly undetected impact of space weather on the polar atmosphere, which may explain some previously unexplained variations in winter weather patterns. Their results, published today (Tuesday ...

Van Allen Probes reveal new dynamics of radiation belts

(Phys.org)—Just 96 days since their launch, NASA's twin Van Allen Probes have already provided new insights into the structure and behavior of the radiation belts that surround Earth, giving scientists a clearer understanding ...

Pluto team updates science from the solar system's edge

Nearly eight years after its historic Pluto flyby, NASA's New Horizons probe is getting ready for another round of observations made from the icy edge of the solar system—and this time, its field of view will range from ...

page 6 from 12