Mysterious mini-flares dubbed ‘campfires’ have been spotted on the Sun for the first time after a British-built Solar Orbiter sent back the closest-ever images of our star. Solar Orbiter, a joint venture between The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, launched in February on a two-year journey to learn more […]
solar wind
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The arrow points to a “camp fire”. The circle at bottom-left gives an indication of size New pictures of the Sun taken just 77 million km (48 million miles) from its surface are the closest ever acquired by cameras. They come from the European Space Agency’s Solar Orbiter (SolO) probe, […]
Driverless vehicles may lose GPS mid-journey due to densely populated streets and tall skyscrapers as signals are obscured. Radio waves may also bounce off surroundings and lose contact with the vehicle, causing cars to lose GPS information. Experts warn this could have possible “safety and operation issues” for driverless vehicles […]
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe was at the right place at the right time to capture a unique view of comet NEOWISE late last week. The US space agency’s Parker Solar Probe’s position in supplying the spacecraft with an unmatched view of the comet’s twin tails. These tails were particularly active […]
SAN FRANCISCO – The Southwest Research Institute won a $15.6 million contract to design and build the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) Lagrange 1 satellite. NOAA announced the cost plus, fixed-fee contract July 1, which it awarded through NASA. […]
SAN FRANCISCO – Ball Aerospace won a $96.9 million contract June 25 to build, integrate and operate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) satellite destined for Earth-Sun Lagrange Point 1. Under the firm fixed-price contract awarded by NASA on behalf of NOAA, Ball Aerospace will […]
In comparison, Earth orbits the Sun at a distance of around 93 million miles, on average. The European orbiter, called SolO, is a European Space Agency craft. It was launched in February this year. Its ‘close pass’ is still some distance from the Sun – indeed, its closest pass has […]
Four microsatellites will study how the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, imparts energy and mass to the solar wind during NASA’s PUNCH mission. (SwRI Illustration) Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited says it will provide key communications and propulsion capabilities to Southwest Research Institute in support of a NASA mission to study […]