Science

A satellite the size of a microwave oven successfully broke free from its orbit around Earth on Monday and is headed toward the moon, the latest step in NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the lunar surface again. It’s been an unusual journey already for the Capstone satellite. It was launched six days ago from

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, have designed an affordable ‘radiative cooler’ coating material, an alternative to air-conditioning system that needs no electricity to operate. According to officials, this material is an electricity-free cooling system as it can be applied on the rooftops, and functions both during day and night time to provide

NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the world’s first full-scale planetary defence test against potential asteroid impacts on Earth. Researchers now show that instead of leaving behind a relatively small crater, the impact of the DART spacecraft on its target could leave the asteroid near unrecognisable. A giant asteroid impact on the Earth

FIFA has announced that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar starting on November 21, offering a support tool for the video match officials and the on-field officials to help them make faster, more accurate and more reproducible offside decisions on the biggest stage of all. Following the

World UFO Day is marked annually on July 2 to spread awareness about the existence of mysterious Unidentified Flying Objects. These strange objects have been sparking controversy and curiosity in the minds of many for decades. However, the existence of UFOs has always remained in question. The World UFO Day aims to encourage people to

A Virgin Orbit rocket carrying seven US Defense Department satellites was launched from a special Boeing 747 flying off the Southern California coast and streaked toward space Friday night. The modified jumbo jet took off from Mojave Air and Space Port in the Mojave Desert and released the rocket over the Pacific Ocean, northwest of

In a significant step towards solving the problem of waste management, researchers have devised a way to turn carbon atoms in mixed waste into new plastic without having any impact on environment. The new method does not require fossil raw material and can be a cleaner way to create plastic products. Currently, only a small

Homegrown space sector start-up Dhruva Space has tested and space-qualified its satellite orbital deployer, setting the stage for its plans to launch indigenously built satellites soon. The Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C53 mission that placed in orbit three foreign satellites, also proved to be a testbed for Dhruva Space’s Satellite Orbital Deployer (DSOD-1U), that

The US Federal Communications Commission on Thursday authorised Elon Musk’s SpaceX to use its Starlink satellite internet network with moving vehicles, green-lighting the company’s plan to expand broadband offerings to commercial airlines, shipping vessels and trucks. Starlink, a fast-growing constellation of internet-beaming satellites in orbit, has long sought to grow its customer base from individual

The solar system is unlikely to lose stability for the next 1,00,000 years, according to a new study. While outer space may be filled with mysterious and sometimes violent interstellar phenomena that could have an impact on the Earth and the solar system it resides in, the orbits of bodies in the solar system are

NASA administrator Bill Nelson said on Wednesday that the agency will reveal the “deepest image of our universe that has ever been taken” on July 12, thanks to the newly operational James Webb Space Telescope. “If you think about that, this is farther than humanity has ever looked before,” Nelson said during a press briefing

An uncrewed Chinese spacecraft has acquired imagery data covering all of Mars, including visuals of its south pole, after circling the planet more than 1,300 times since early last year, state media reported on Wednesday. China’s Tianwen-1 successfully reached the Red Planet in February 2021 on the country’s inaugural mission there. A robotic rover has

US space agency NASA’s Perseverance rover has been exploring Mars and digging for signs of life since it landed on the planet in February last year. Besides the rocks and alien atmosphere, the rover witnessed some intense dust winds called dust devils in the Jezero Crater. In a new study, scientists have tried to examine

Construction is due to begin on Wednesday on what could become the world’s biggest plant to capture carbon dioxide from the air and deposit it underground, the company behind the nascent green technology said. Swiss start-up Climeworks AG said its second large-scale direct air capture (DAC) plant will be built in Iceland in 18-24 months,

While dyslexia is characterised by learning difficulties, researchers from the University of Cambridge have concluded that people with the disorder are skilled at exploring the unknown. This strength, according to researchers, has helped humans adapt and survive in changing environments. The findings came as researchers carried out a study on behaviour, cognition and the brain.

The Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN-SPACe) has started authorising Indian private firms, marking the beginning of private space sector launches in India. IN-SPACe is an autonomous, single window nodal agency; formed to promote, authorise, monitor, and supervise the space activities of Non-Governmental Private Entities (NGPEs) in India. Dhruva Space, Hyderabad, and Digantara research