Astronomy / Space

A whole arsenal of equipment has made its way to the surface of the moon. It is part of the new lunar missions that could turn our satellite into a valuable research station.

Surgeons at the headquarters of Virtual Incision have successfully remote-controlled the spaceMIRA surgical robot 250 miles afar on the International Space Station during mock surgery. This trial run simulated surgical tasks required during robotic surgeries such as grasping and cutting by using rubber bands as tissue.

The weather forecast for plasma storms is to become more accurate. To this end, ESA is sending a satellite 100 million miles on a journey to provide much earlier and more reliable warnings of solar flares.

It is about 50 percent of the oxygen on earth and 90 percent of our sunlight. This is no small task for a spectacularly expensive satellite that is supposed to investigate many unanswered questions about the global climate.

Three years of observations show that water must be present on an exoplanet. This is the first time that the molecule has been detected on such a small planet. It is the starting signal for further investigations.

Three satellites with floating cubes of gold and laser light are to detect gravitational waves. The system is set up millions of miles away from Earth, is gigantic and can make the previously unknown visible.

CheckMag Since landing on Mars on August 5, 2012, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has been investigating the planet's past ability to support life. In 2023, Curiosity captured 3 significant images and videos, crucial for future Mars exploration missions. These captures underscore Curiosity's success in collecting important data on Mars' environment and landscape.

CheckMag The portable Starlink dish is actually coming and the question of "why pay over half a grand for bizarrely low connection speeds" is the first to come to mind. With average 2023 cellular connection speeds close to 200 Mbit/s, will a few megabits per second really make the customer happy? More importantly, will the technology still be able to deliver those few megabits per second once tens of thousands of people start using the kit on a daily basis?

The Hubble Space Telescope has discovered a cyclone on a planet almost 1,000 light years away. An astonishing observation when you realize the dimensions.

Alchemists puzzled over it for centuries, physicists have now been able to calculate it precisely. A comprehensive model shows how gold and other precious, rare and heavy metals are formed. The only ingredients: Just two neutron stars.

A rocket launch consumes a few hundred tons of fuel. Roughly speaking, the equivalent of 1 million liters of petrol. All the better that ESA wants to send its Ariane launch vehicles into space using solar energy in future.

NASA has streamed a high-definition video of a cat named Taters. The video was transmitted to Earth from 19 million miles away, nearly 80 times the distance from the Moon. But what's really interesting is that the video was beamed using near-infrared lasers with a bit rate of 267 Mbps, faster than many internet connections.

In the "Pulsar Seekers" project, anyone can search for pulsars using their own computer and brainpower. However, it is not necessary to have your own spaceship. The findings help to better understand Einstein's theories, including gravitational waves.

Indian space technology startup Agnikul has secured US$26.7 million in its series-B funding round. The company is developing its own launch vehicle propelled by the 3D-printed ‘Agnilet’ rocket engine. The rocket is unique in being configurable as per the payload size, between 30 and 300 kg.