SOFIA Discovers Water on Sunlit Surface of Moon
The big story of the week was the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy’s (SOFIA) detection of fresh evidence for water on the Moon.
OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Goes for Early Stow of Asteroid Sample
Last week, the big story was the touch-and-go sample event, where OSIRIS-REx attempted to collect a sample from our favorite asteroid to hate, Bennu.
China launches new Yaogan-30 group of military satellites
China launched three Yaogan Weixing-30 Group 7 satellites on a Long March 2C rocket on Monday, October 26, 2020, at 15:19 UTC from LC-3 at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
Russian Aerospace Forces successfully launch Soyuz-2 carrier rocket from Plesetsk cosmodrome
On October 25 at 19:08 UTC, a Russian Space Force Soyuz-2.1b launched the Glonass-K No. 15L satellite into orbit from LC-43/3 at Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia.
Starlink Misson – SpaceX’s 100th Successful Flight
On October 24 at 15:31 UTC, SpaceX launched its 100th successful flight from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral AFS in Florida. This was a dedicated Starlink mission.
Smile, Wave: Some Exoplanets May Be Able to See Us, Too
A pair of scientists published a paper in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society this week that asks the question “which stars can see Earth as a transiting exoplanet?”
NASA’s Big Plans to Explore Small Bodies
There are three more asteroid missions to look forward to. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and Lucy missions will launch in July and October 2021, respectively, and the Psyche mission has a 2022 launch date.
ALMA Shows Volcanic Impact on Io’s Atmosphere
Those of you who know me know that I have a favorite small body in our solar system: Jupiter’s moon Io.
Monster in Middle of Milky Way Is…Spinning Slowly?
The next story comes to us from a collaboration that includes one of the most prolific researchers in astronomy: Avi Loeb.
Milky Way’s Archaeological Record Written by Atomic Hydrogen
In a new paper in Astronomy & Astrophysics with first author JD Soler, researchers let computers take their turn in understanding our galaxy.
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