Science

Since Pluto – the dwarf planet – was discovered in 1930, it has generated considerable interest among astronomers, primarily over its highly eccentric and inclined orbit. New research claims that it is also subject to chaotic perturbance and changes over shorter timescales. At larger timescales, the orbit appears relatively stable. What it really means is

Scientists at Europe’s physics research centre will this week fire up the 27 kilometer-long Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the machine that found the Higgs boson particle, after a shutdown for maintenance and upgrades was prolonged by COVID-19 delays. Restarting the collider is a complex procedure, and researchers at the CERN centre have champagne on hand

If you ever imagined how a solar eclipse would appear from the surface of Mars, you are in for a treat. NASA has shared a “sped-up” video that showed one of Mars’ two moons shadowing the Sun as seen from the Martian surface. The interesting video was shot by the space agency’s Perseverance rover when

SpaceX signed its first deal with an air carrier to provide in-flight wireless Internet using the Starlink satellite network, the space company said on Thursday as it jockeys with other burgeoning satellite firms to put high-speed Internet on commercial airlines. The company, owned by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk, has been in talks for months

Amazon’s satellite venture, SpaceX’s Starlink network and other satellite firms on Wednesday won a combined $278.5 million (roughly Rs. 2120 crore) in contracts from NASA to demonstrate communications in space as the US space agency moves to replace its current satellite network in orbit with privately-built systems. NASA is increasingly looking to rely on private

NASA is celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope (aka HST or Hubble) by sharing a stunning view of five galaxies in deep space depicted in a single image. To recall, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched on April 24, 1990, and deployed the next day. Thus, this week serves as the telescope’s

Bharti group-backed OneWeb and NewSpace India Limited (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), have entered into an agreement that will help ensure OneWeb completes its satellite launch programme, a statement said on Thursday. The first launch with NewSpace India is expected in 2022 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC)

NASA has further delayed the undocking of the Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) – the first private astronaut mission to ISS – from the International Space Station (ISS) due to bad weather conditions. The Expedition 67 and Axiom Mission 1 will have to spend extra hours aboard the International Space Station (ISS) for this reason. The

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted a series of dashes for a missing word followed by “is the Night”, days after he offered to buy Twitter Inc for $43 billion (roughly Rs. 3,28,534 crore). The offer from Musk, who has hinted at the possibility of a hostile bid, has prompted the social media company to adopt

NASA’s Hubble telescope has captured the interstellar visitor Comet Borisov to our solar system and shared its movement as a runaway point of light in a time-lapse video. The agency said that it “was a rocky visit”. Discovered by amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov in 2019, it is the first confirmed comet to enter our solar

China will launch three more astronauts to its newest space station in June after the latest crew returned this weekend following a six-month stay in orbit, an official said Sunday. The crew of the Shenzhou 14 capsule will spend six months on the Tiangong to add two modules to the station, Hao Chun, director of

SpaceX successfully launched one of its Falcon 9 carrier rockets with a US intelligence satellite on board on Sunday, broadcasting the launch live. The launch took place at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 9:13am local time (9:43pm IST). The rocket is putting into orbit the NROL-85 mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office

Three Chinese astronauts returned to Earth safely on Saturday after spending a record six months aboard China’s new space station, doubling the previous stay of the country’s longest single flight in space.The Shenzhou-13 capsule carrying astronauts Zhai Zhigang, Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu touched down successfully at 9:56 am local time in the Dongfeng landing

NASA’s InSight Mars lander has recently shared an incredible sight. On April 10, it captured the stunning view of a sunrise on the Red Planet. InSight is NASA’s first mission to study the interior of Mars — its crust, mantle, and core — in depth. It has been on the Red Planet since late 2018.

The return to Earth of three astronauts on Saturday after six months at China’s new space station marks a landmark step in the country’s space ambitions, ending its longest crewed mission ever. The world’s second-largest economy has put billions into its military-run space programme, with hopes of eventually sending humans to the Moon. China has

NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has captured a grand view while exploring patches of the sky. In an infrared image captured by the telescope and posted on social media by NASA, we see a cosmic cloud that resembles a butterfly. But don’t be fooled. This image is of a cluster of “baby stars”, a nebula of

Scientists are expecting a major solar storm to hit the Earth on April 14. This event could cause possible damage to Earth, researchers suggest. Space agencies say that this geomagnetic solar storm could be particularly powerful as the Sun has been quite active lately. Recently, the Sun has been flaring up more. This is because it

The European Space Agency on Wednesday ended cooperation with Russia on three missions to the Moon due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, following a previous decision to do the same for a Mars mission. The ESA said it would “discontinue cooperative activities” on Luna-25, 26 and 27, a series of Russian lunar missions on which