NASA Extends SpaceX Crew Flight Contract for 3 Missions to ISS
NASA awarded three additional missions to the International Space Station (ISS) to Elon Musk led SpaceX company for a $3.49 billion contract.
The contract for Crew-7, Crew-8, and Crew-9 is part of NASA's Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap), which follows the US space agency's notice of intent to procure the flights in December 2021.
It brings the total missions for SpaceX to nine and allows NASA to maintain an uninterrupted US capability for human access to the space station.
Earlier, SpaceX was contracted to fly three more missions to the ISS: Crew-4 and Crew-5 in 2022 and Crew-6 in 2023.
The period of performance for SpaceX now runs through March 31, 2028.
Mar 01, 2022
Map of 4.4 Million Galaxies
Using the Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio, more than a quarter of the northern sky was mapped by astronomers from Durham University who collaborated with a team of international scientists for this project. This map provides an incredibly detailed radio image of over 4.4 million objects, as well as a very dynamic picture of our Universe.
The vast majority of these mapped objects are galaxies with huge black holes or rapidly growing young stars that are billions of light-years away.
Flaring stars within the Milky Way and colliding groups of faraway galaxies are among the rarer objects discovered.
This is by far the largest data release from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey.
This data release includes nearly four million objects that at radio wavelengths are new discoveries and around a million objects that have never been seen before with any telescope.
Feb 28, 2022
China's Record Launch of 22 Satellites
China launched a Long March-8 rocket to place 22 satellites in space.
With the launch, China set a domestic record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket.
The rocket blasted off at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in southern Hainan Province. It sent the satellites into preset orbits.
It marked the 409th flight of Long March carrier rockets.
These satellites will be used for commercial remote sensing services, forest fire prevention, marine environment monitoring, and disaster mitigation.
Astronomers Identify Real-Life Planet with Two Suns - Like "Tatooine" From Star Wars
Astronomers used a new technique to confirm a real-life Tatooine, the fictional planet with two suns that was home to Luke Skywalker in "Star Wars."
The planet, Kepler-16b, is about 245 light years from Earth, is a gas giant, and is roughly the size of Saturn. Scientists already knew that the planet existed, but in a recent study, an international team of astronomers explained how they successfully applied a technique that hadn't been previously used to observe a planet orbiting two stars.
The technique, called the radial velocity method, has long been used in astronomy. (The first planet ever found around a sun-like star was found using radial velocity – and was found using the same telescope astronomers used to find this one.)
Feb 27, 2022
Biggest Bacterium ever Discovered Amazes Scientists with its Complexity
Scientists discovered an absolutely massive bacterium that can be seen without the aid of a microscope and lurks among the mangroves of Grande-Terre in the Caribbean.
The single-celled organism can grow up to 0.78 inches (2 centimeters) long and resembles a thin string. The bacterium carries all its DNA inside a membranous pouch, unlike most bacteria, whose genetic material floats, unbound, within their cells. This feature not only sets the newfound microbe apart from other bacteria, but also distinguishes it from other prokaryotes — a group of organisms with very small, simple cell structures. The group includes organisms found in the Bacteria and Archaea domains.
Feb 26, 2022
Dawn Detects Organics and Salts in Giant Crater on Ceres
Using the Framing Camera (FC) and the Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (VIR) aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft, planetary researchers spotted bright brine residues and organics in the Urvara basin, one of the largest impact structures on the dwarf planet Ceres. The results strengthen the hypothesis that Ceres is and has been a geologically active world even in recent epochs, with salts and organic-rich material playing a major role in its evolution.
This dwarf planet is a survivor of the earliest period of Solar System formation and thus detailed knowledge about its interior provides fundamental insights into the formation and evolution of volatile-rich planetary embryos that originated within the protoplanetary disk.
Infosys Launches Metaverse Foundry
Bengaluru-based IT services major Infosys launched Metaverse Foundry that will help its clients with adaptation, creation and also help scale the new technology. The company has already developed 100 use cases and is actively working with clients on the same.
The move comes at a time when companies around the world are putting a huge focus on the metaverse. From Meta, formerly Facebook, and Microsoft, to IT services providers, the companies are investing significantly in the space.
+91-85588-96644
