Lifeboat Foundation

Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser is set to make its inaugural trip to orbit to deliver supplies to the International Space Station.

By Sarah Scoles

With its perpetually upturned pectoral fins, and blunt nose, the Dream Chaser looks more like a killer whale than a spacecraft. But unlike an orca, the Dream Chaser will soon be going to orbit: it’s set to take food and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year when it travels to space for the first time.

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One day our civilization may settle our whole galaxy, with mighty star empires consisting of millions if not billions of worlds, but what would the centers of such empires be like?

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Continue reading “Cosmic Capitals” »

Astronomers have discovered an enormous, low-density planet named WASP-193b, which is 50% larger than Jupiter but has a cotton candy-like density. This finding challenges current planetary formation theories, as scientists cannot explain how such a planet could form.

Astronomers have discovered a huge, fluffy oddball of a planet orbiting a distant star in our Milky Way galaxy. The discovery, reported on May 14 in the journal Nature Astronomy by researchers from at MIT, the University of Liège in Belgium, and elsewhere, is a promising key to the mystery of how such giant, super-light planets form.

The new planet, named WASP-193b, appears to dwarf Jupiter in size, yet it is a fraction of its density. The scientists found that the gas giant is 50 percent bigger than Jupiter, and about a tenth as dense — an extremely low density, comparable to that of cotton candy.

Gravitational waves can be lensed by massive galaxies so that they repeat, like an echo. Scientists are now readying to snare their first one and explore the cosmic secrets it holds.

By Jonathan O’Callaghan

In response to these problems, the authors of the new paper came up with a simple suggestion: a tweak to Einstein’s theory at different distance scales.

“The modification is very simple: We assume the universal constant of gravitation is different on cosmological scales, compared to smaller (like solar system or galactic) scales,” Afshordi said. “We call this a cosmic glitch.”

One such feature is lunar #lobate #scarps, long curvilinear landforms due to thrust fault movement (older rocks are pushed above younger units leading to crustal shortening.

#Lunar #Landforms indicate Geologically Recent #Seismic #Activity on the #Moon.

The moon’s steadfast illumination of our night sky has been a source of wonder and inspiration for millennia. Since the first satellite images of its surface were taken in the 1960s, our understanding of Earth’s companion through time has developed immeasurably. A complex interplay of cosmic interactions and planetary systems, the moon’s surface displays a plethora of landforms evidencing its history.

Continue reading “Lunar Landforms indicate Geologically Recent Seismic Activity on the Moon” »

Physicists haven’t yet ruled out the possibility that the universe has a complicated topology in which space loops back around on itself.

About 9.2 billion light-years from Earth is a colossal structure which has confounded astronomers.

The discovery might upend current cosmological theories.

What they’ve found is a 1.3-billion-light-year-across, almost perfect ring of galaxies. No such structure has been seen before. And it doesn’t match any known formation mechanism. It has been dubbed the “Big Ring.”

The aerospace firms are working together on Tranche 2 Tracking Layer to enhance space-based missile defence capabilities.