Page 7 - Space

Private firm launches Athena lander to moon in latest lunar mission rush

A private company launched another lunar lander Wednesday, aiming to get closer to the moon's south pole this time with a drone that will hop into a jet-black crater that never sees the sun. Intuitive Machines' lander, named Athena, caught a lift with SpaceX from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. It's taking a fast track to the moon with a landing on March 6 while hoping to avoid the fate of its predecessor, which tipped over at touchdown. Never before have so many spacecraft angled for the moon's surface all at once. Last month, US and Japanese companies shared a rocket and separately launched landers toward Earth's sidekick. Texas-based Firefly Aerospace should get there first this weekend after a big head start. The two US landers are carrying tens of millions of dollars' worth of experiments for NASA as it prepares to return astronauts to the moon. It's an amazing time. There's so much energy, NASA's science mission chief Nicky Fox told The Associated Press a few hours ahead of th

Planet Parade 2025: Last chance to watch planetary alignment before 2040

Skygazers are eagerly anticipating a rare celestial event set to unfold on February 28. The next time all seven planets align in this formation will be in 2040

Nasa planning to destroy city-killer asteroid, 2024 YR4? Know more

The latest Nasa study revealed that the city killer asteroid, 2024 YR4, has 1.5 per cent chance of hitting the earth. Space agencies across the world unite to track and deflect YR4

IN-SPACe starts Rs 500 cr tech adoption fund to boost India's space sector

The TAF will support the transition of innovative ideas from the drawing board to a market-ready stage

'I assume he wants to do business in India': Trump on Modi-Musk meeting

PM Modi US visit: Following his discussion with Elon Musk, PM Modi shared a post on social media platform X, describing the meeting as 'very good'

Isro develops 10-tonne 'Vertical Planetary Mixer' for solid motors

ISRO on Friday said it has developed and realised the ten-tonne propellant mixer for solid motors. Solid propulsion plays a crucial role in Indian Space Transportation Systems and vertical mixer is one of the critical equipment in solid motor production, ISRO said in a statement. "Solid propellants are the backbone of rocket motors, and their production requires precise mixing of highly sensitive and hazardous ingredients," the statement read. The space agency said that towards increasing the production scale of solid motor segments, Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in collaboration with Central Manufacturing Technology Institute (CMTI), Bengaluru has successfully designed and developed 10-tonne Vertical Planetary Mixers for processing the solid propellants. ISRO has termed it a significant technological marvel. It added that the 10-tonne vertical mixer is the world's largest solid propellant mixing equipment. The development involves collaboration with academia and ...

Asteroid threat grows: 300-foot rock has higher chance of impact in 2032

The risk assessment of the newly discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 has increased from a chance of 1.2% impact over the last week to 2.1% due to new observations

Stranded in space: Updates on Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore's Earth return

Nasa recently confirmed the news that astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore who are stranded in space for nine months are likely to return to Earth in mid-March

Could China's Spacesail dethrone Elon Musk's Starlink? All you need to know

Spacesail recently partnered with Malaysia's Measat and Brazilian state telecom Telebras. The Chinese internet service provider might fill the gap that Musk's starlink couldn't

Hunting for life in alien atmospheres: Nasa probe Pandora to launch soon

Nasa's new space telescope Pandora is set to study at least 20 unknown exoplanets to analyse their atmospheres for haze, clouds, and water

Falling Starlink satellites worry scientists, 120 fell from space in Jan

As the cases of SpaceX's Starlink satellite falling from space rise, scientists are concerned over its environmental impact which could potentially harm the ozone layer

Hubble telescope locates gargantuan galaxy with nine mysterious rings

Hubble Telescope previously discovered eight rings of the gargantuan structure, but astronomers confirmed the ninth ring with the help of Hawaii's WM Keck Observatory

Sunita Williams sets record for total spacewalking time by woman astronaut

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams has broken the record for total spacewalking time by a woman by logging 62 hours and 6 minutes of spacewalk. Williams and her colleague Butch Wilmore, who have been stranded on the International Space Station (ISS) since June 2024, conducted a spacewalk on Thursday. The duo ventured outside the ISS to remove degraded radio communications hardware and collect samples that may show whether microorganisms exist on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory. The spacewalk began at 7:43 am Eastern Time (ET) and concluded at 1:09 pm ET, lasting 5 hours and 26 minutes. It was the ninth spacewalk for Williams and the fifth for Wilmore. "NASA astronaut Suni WIlliams just surpassed former astronaut Peggy Whitson's total spacewalking time of 60 hours and 21 minutes," NASA said in a post on X. She surpassed Whitson's record for total spacewalking time by a female astronaut. Williams now has 62 hours and 6 minutes of total spacewalk time, fourth on NASA's

Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore scheduled to conduct spacewalk today

NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore will go on a spacewalk. The live coverage of the spacewalk will take place at 17:00 hours IST

Donald Trump asks Elon Musk to help bring 'stranded' Sunita Williams home

US astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been aboard the ISS since June 2024, had been left 'stranded' after the mission's originally planned duration

Donald Trump, Elon Musk put out confusing statements on stuck US astronauts

It's unclear exactly what Trump and Musk mean considering the capsule that NASA has tasked with returning the astronauts is already up in space

Inkathazo galaxy discovered; it's 32 times larger than the Milky Way

The plasma jets of this cosmic giant span 3.3 million light-years from end to end - over 32 times the size of the Milky Way

Aequs to set up MRO facility this year, plans to hire 1,000 more people

Bullish on growth opportunities, contract manufacturer Aequs is set to strengthen its aerospace manufacturing capabilities, expand consumer segment footprint as well as set up an MRO this year. The company will also ramp up manpower by around 1,000 people in the financial year ending March 2026, according to its Chairman and CEO Aravind Melligeri. Aequs -- which provides vertically integrated product solutions for the aerospace and consumer goods industries, including high precision electronics components -- currently has around USD 120 million annual revenues. Airbus, Boeing, Collins and Safran are among the aerospace customers of Aequs, which also has facilities in France and the US. Elaborating on the future plans, Melligeri mentioned about expanding into the precision consumer electronics space and setting up the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) jointly with Canada's Magellan Aerospace Corporation in 2025. Initially, the facility will start with works for turboprop ...

Was asteroid 2024 PT5 ejected from moon? Here's what scientists have to say

Asteroid 2024 PT5 was discovered by Nasa's Asteroid Terrestrial-Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). Scientists believe that the asteroid possibly ejected from the Moon after a large impact

Meet Janet Petro, the first woman to lead NASA as acting administrator

Janet Petro will become the first female to lead NASA. She will replace the 14th NASA administrator, Bill Nelson. Here's all you need to know about her