With the intensifying space confrontation in geostationary orbit (GEO), the U.S. GSSAP (Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program) satellites have conducted hundreds of close-range observation operations on dozens of on-orbit satellites in the vicinity of GEO. The acquisition of multi-aspect information from non-cooperative targets has thus become a critical component of space security assessment. Close-range spacecraft operations, which employ relative motion configurations such as fly-around, hovering, and drifting flight, provide an effective technical means for approaching and observing targets to obtain multi-aspect payload information. However, existing studies predominantly focus on the control design of a single relative motion configuration, which fails to satisfy the complex mission requirements of multi-aspect observation. The combination of multiple models for observation presents multiple challenges, including smooth switching between modes, fuel optimization, strategy design algorithms, and analysis of payload parameter effects. Therefore, how to coordinately plan a sequential combination of multiple close-range operation models under minimum fuel constraints to efficiently acquire multi-aspect information of non-cooperative targets has become a key bottleneck in enhancing space situational awareness capabilities.

As humanity gets closer to the possibility of long-term interplanetary travel, psychologists have started to raise concerns about mental health wellness in astronauts. Researchers at Texas A&M University conducted research on sailors in an isolated environment to address these concerns with virtual reality technology and by introducing other senses to the experience, such as smell and touch.

Before people can mine resources on the Moon, asteroids, or Mars, they need to answer a few key questions: What is there? How much is there? And where can it be found?

A team led by SETI Institute research scientist Pablo Sobron is looking into a new way to answer these questions without having to land, drill, or bring samples back to Earth. Supported by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program, the project is testing whether Raman spectroscopy—a technique already used in planetary exploration at close range—could be used from orbit or during fast flybys to identify minerals, water, and other materials.

The idea, called Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys, suggests using a small spacecraft with one remote-sensing tool to study several places, such as the Moon, a near-Earth asteroid, and Phobos, which is one of Mars’s moons.

“The thing most likely to stop space mining may be that we cannot afford to prove there is anything worth mining. Land in the wrong place and you can lose an entire exploration program or a company, and nobody has enough money to keep sending spacecraft and hoping for the best. We are asking whether Raman can give us an affordable way to put an X on the map before anyone commits to landing. And if the physics works, this may become much more than a mining tool; it could give us a new way to explore places like Europa and Enceladus for science.” -Pablo Sobron

In a new study published as a Letter in Physical Review D, Sohan Ghodla and Cosmin Ilie of Colgate University investigate whether supermassive black holes formed in the early Universe could ultimately produce a substantial fraction of the gravitational-wave background now observed by Pulsar Timing Arrays, or PTAs. Their results establish a direct connection between two seemingly very different observational frontiers: observations of unexpectedly massive black holes in the young Universe and gravitational waves produced by supermassive black-hole binaries billions of years later.

Social media and other technologies have extended gender-based violence in Sub-Saharan Africa into the digital space, including cyber-bullying, stalking and revenge porn, with significant impact on victims

Astronomers have uncovered evidence that the fading phase of some radio galaxies may be considerably shorter and more dynamic than previously recognised. Led by researchers at the University of Cape Town and the Inter-University Institute for Data Intensive Astronomy (IDIA), the study examined 14 candidate remnant radio galaxies in the XMM–LSS deep field using sensitive observations spanning 144 MHz to 1.5 GHz.

Detailed spectral modelling confirmed 12 of the 14 sources as genuine remnant radio galaxies and revealed comparatively young spectral ages of approximately 8–42 million years. Many of the sources are faint and lie at relatively high redshifts, representing a population that has been difficult to detect in previous radio surveys. The findings suggest that radio lobes can fade rapidly after the supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy stops powering its jets, providing an important preview of the populations that will be discovered by future Square Kilometre Array (SKA) surveys. 

 

The research team led by materials scientist Ralf Busch from Saarland University is preparing for its first science-in-space mission. If everything goes to plan, from 31 August the researchers will spend one week remotely studying metallic-glass alloys in experiments carried out on board the International Space Station, ISS. Working with the European Space Agency, ESA, and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, the team will investigate the properties of these alloys using hot, levitating droplets. The aim is to obtain new, high-precision data that will help to further improve the material. A follow-up series of ISS experiments involving other alloys is already in preparation. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation, DFG.