The discovery of terrestrial exoplanets, planets that orbit stars outside the solar system, has been one of the most significant developments in modern astronomy. Several exoplanets lie in the "habitable zones" of stars, ...
Astronomy
Dec 15, 2019
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The world of aerospace increasingly relies on carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites to build the structures of satellites, rockets and jet aircraft.
Nanophysics
Nov 13, 2019
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40
The entry probe of the Galileo mission to Jupiter entered the planet's atmosphere in 1995 in fiery fashion. As the probe descended from Mach 50 to Mach 1 and generated enough heat to cause plasma reactions on its surface, ...
Space Exploration
Oct 15, 2019
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Might an enormous orbiting "shield" be one way to combat the rising temperatures around the world caused by elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide levels? Writing in the International Journal of Global Warming, a team in China ...
Environment
Jun 18, 2019
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One of the greater challenges of sending payloads to Mars is contending with the planet's atmosphere. While incredibly thin compared to Earth's (with roughly half of 1 percent of Earth's air pressure), the resulting air friction ...
Space Exploration
Jun 18, 2019
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15
One of the big questions physicists are trying to answer is what happened to all the antimatter in our universe. The universe was born out of a hot soup of both matter and antimatter particles (for example, the antiparticle ...
General Physics
Jun 6, 2019
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50
An infrared view of our Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which is currently undergoing a series of tests at the IABG facility in Ottobrunn, Germany, ahead of its launch, scheduled for February 2020.
Space Exploration
Apr 2, 2019
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11
The design for SpaceX's Starship (aka. Big Falcon Rocket) is really starting to come together. Over the holidays, sections of the Starship Hopper (a miniature version of the Starship) were photographed at the company's South ...
Space Exploration
Mar 29, 2019
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92
It's too bad Mars is such an interesting place, because it's actually one of the most difficult places to visit in the solar system, especially if you want to bring along a lot of luggage. That planet is a graveyard of missions ...
Space Exploration
Mar 21, 2019
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112
Curious surface features, water-formed minerals, 3-D stereo views, and even a sighting of the InSight lander showcase the impressive range of imaging capabilities of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
Space Exploration
Mar 15, 2019
0
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