Astrophysics – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Government watchdog warns of another JWST launch delay

January 30, 2020 Stephen Clark

The James Webb Space Telescope is at risk of another launch delay beyond the mission’s current target launch date in March 2021, the Government Accountability Office said this week.

NASA prepares to shut down one of its ‘Great Observatories’

January 28, 2020 Stephen Clark

NASA will say goodbye to the Spitzer Space Telescope this week after more than 16 years observing the most distant galaxies ever detected, planets orbiting other stars, and star-forming clouds of dust and gas.

Astronauts finish repairs to space station cosmic ray detector

January 25, 2020 William Harwood

During a fourth spacewalk Saturday to wrap up repairs of the coolant system in a $2 billion cosmic ray detector, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano and Drew Morgan discovered a leak in one of eight coolant lines that were spliced into a new pump module during three earlier excursions. But Parmitano was able to tighten a fitting on the line and the astronauts were able to complete the repair work, setting the stage for the instrument to resume science operations.

New discoveries from NASA’s TESS mission include potentially habitable exoplanet

January 10, 2020 Stephen Clark

Scientists crunching data from NASA’s orbiting TESS planet-hunting observatory have discovered a potentially habitable Earth-sized world circling a star a bit more than 100 light-years from the sun, the first such detection by the TESS mission since its launch in 2018, astronomers announced this week.

SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites, tests design change for astronomers

January 7, 2020 Stephen Clark

Sixty more satellites for SpaceX’s Starlink global Internet network streaked into orbit Monday night from Cape Canaveral, including one spacecraft to test an experimental dark coating to address scientists’ concerns that the thousands of the quarter-ton, flat-panel satellites will impede astronomical observations.

Soyuz launches Italian radar satellite, ESA exoplanet telescope

December 18, 2019 Stephen Clark

A package of five satellites, including an Italian radar reconnaissance craft and a European Space Agency exoplanet science probe, soared into orbit Wednesday from French Guiana aboard a Russian-made Soyuz rocket.

Timeline of Soyuz launch with CSG 1 and CHEOPS

December 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Soyuz rocket’s ascent into orbit from the Guiana Space Center with the first COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation, or CSG 1, radar observation satellite, the European Space Agency’s CHEOPS exoplanet telescope, and three CubeSats.

Live coverage: Soyuz launches from French Guiana

December 17, 2019 Stephen Clark

Five European satellites, including a Italian radar surveillance craft and an ESA exoplanet probe, lifted off Wednesday at 0854 GMT (3:54 a.m. EST) from French Guiana aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. A launch attempt Tuesday was scrubbed due to a software concern with the launch vehicle.

ESA satellite set for launch to measure sizes of exoplanets

December 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

A compact exoplanet observatory built in Europe to help astronomers determine the sizes of distant worlds around other stars is scheduled for launch Wednesday from French Guiana aboard a Soyuz rocket.

Hubble catches best glimpse yet of interstellar interloper

December 15, 2019 Stephen Clark

A comet originating from outside our solar system has been imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope as it made its closest approach to the sun earlier this month.