The payload computer aboard the Hubble Space Telescope stopped running on Sunday, June 13, 2021, and now the operations team is working to either save the module or switch to a backup. Plus, a protoplanetary disk, stellar mega-flares, missing dark matter, trans-Neptunian objects, and a review of Brandon Sanderson’s novel Skyward.
New research presented at the Workshop on Terrestrial Analogs for Planetary Exploration used the Haughton impact crater in Arctic Canada as a potential analog for impact craters on Titan, one of the targets of the upcoming Dragonfly mission. Plus, giant spinning structures, the slowing of the Milky Way, a blinking star, and volcanoes here on Earth.
This Rocket Roundup includes a Chinese launch and two launches from Northrop Grumman, including one for the National Reconnaissance Office. Plus, this week in rocket history, we look back at the first woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, and Vostok 6.
Contrary to the destructive role supermassive black holes are thought to play in the lives of stars, it turns out that certain types of galaxies benefit from black holes clearing the way and keeping star formation going. Plus, lightning at the edge of space, a landslide in the Himalayas, and an interview with Dr. Darby Dyar and Dr. David Grinspoon about the recent selection of three different Venus missions.
Two seemingly unrelated stars, each with several exoplanets, turn out to be members of an enormous, diffuse star cluster. Plus, baby squid go to the ISS, new images from China’s Zhurong rover, a brightening blazar, and an interview with scientist Sophia Gad-Nasr and artist Cathrin Machin about how art and science work together.
In new research, scientists examined the populations of stars observed by the Kepler and K2 missions and found that the solar systems were different depending on the type of star involved. Plus, CHIME results, a brown dwarf’s atmosphere, a stream of stars in the Milky Way, and an interview with PSI’s Dr. Candice Hansen about the recent Ganymede flyby of NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
Get your daily dose of all that’s new in space and astronomy. The sky is not the limit, as we bring you a fast-paced roundup of launches, landings, and everyday discoveries. The Daily Space is brought to you by the team behind CosmoQuest at the Planetary Science Institute, and features hosts Dr. Pamela L. Gay, Beth Johnson, and Annie Wilson.
