#Image: Backbone of a spacecraft

“#Image: Backbone of a spacecraft” Credit: Thales Alenia Space This structure is the frame and base for the European Service Module, part of NASA’s Orion spacecraft that will return humans to the moon. Built in Turin, Italy, at Thales Alenia Space, this is the third such structure to roll out of production. However, this one…

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#Rainbow comet with a heart of sponge

“#Rainbow comet with a heart of sponge” Credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CONSERT A permeable heart with a hardened facade—the resting place of Rosetta’s lander on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is revealing more about the interior of the “rubber duck” shaped-body looping around the Sun. A recent study suggests that the comet’s interior is more porous than the material near the…

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#MRI scans show brain reorganization during long space flights, but no neurodegeneration

“#MRI scans show brain reorganization during long space flights, but no neurodegeneration” Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain An international team of researchers has found that long space flights can lead to some minor brain reorganization but no neurodegeneration. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes their study of the brains of…

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#Image: Plasma propulsion for small satellites

“#Image: Plasma propulsion for small satellites” Credit: SENER A test firing of Europe’s Helicon Plasma Thruster, developed with ESA by SENER and the Universidad Carlos III’s Plasma & Space Propulsion Team (EP2-UC3M) in Spain. This compact, electrodeless and low voltage design is ideal for the propulsion of small satellites, including maintaining the formation of large…

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#China’s first reusable spacecraft lands after 2-day flight

“#China’s first reusable spacecraft lands after 2-day flight” China’s first reusable spacecraft landed Sunday after two days in orbit, a possible step toward lower-cost space flight, the government announced. The secretive, military-run space program has released few details of the craft, which was launched Friday aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite…

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#Vega rocket launches from French Guiana

“#Vega rocket launches from French Guiana” Europe’s Vega rocket returned to the skies on Wednesday from French Guiana in its first mission since a failed launch last year. The rocket left Earth around an hour before midnight local time after the launch was postponed numerous times, most recently due to a typhoon passing over a…

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