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SOFIA Begins First Series of Science Flights from Germany
February 4, 2021 GMT
Universities Space Research Association Logo (PRNewsfoto/Universities Space Research Ass)
COLUMBIA, Md., Feb. 4, 2021 /PRNewswire/ NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) will conduct its first-ever series of observations from Germany in March 2021. Many of the observations seek to answer fundamental questions in astronomy, including how stars can transform galaxies and what is the origin of cosmic rays in the Milky Way galaxy.
SOFIA, a joint project of NASA and the German Aerospace Center, DLR, recently completed scheduled maintenance and telescope upgrades at Lufthansa Technik’s facility in Hamburg, Germany. Now, the observatory will take advantage of its proximity to science teams at the Max-Planck Institute of Radio Astronomy in Bonn and the University of Cologne, which operate
Tuesday, January 26th 2021, 10:01 am
By: CBS News
NASA s planet hunter satellite TESS has discovered an exoplanet orbiting two stars instead of one and it was identified by a high school intern. The announcement of the circumbinary planet prompted comparisons with Luke Skywalker s home world of Tatooine in the Star Wars movie series, with its bewitching double sunsets.
But the newly found planet s size alone it is 6.9 times larger than Earth, almost the size of Saturn makes it unlikely to be livable. Named TOI 1338 b, it is the only planet in the TOI 1338 system, which lies 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Pictor, and orbits its stars every 95 days.
NASA has chosen four small-scale astrophysics missions â including one led at Marshall Space Flight Center â for further concept development in a new program called Pioneers. Through small satellites and scientific balloons, these selections will enable new platforms for exploring cosmic phenomena such as galaxy evolution, exoplanets, high-energy neutrinos, and neutron star mergers.
âThe principal investigators of these concept studies bring innovative, out-of-the-box thinking to the problem of how to do high-impact astrophysics experiments on a small budget,â Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASAâs Science Mission Directorate, said. âEach of the proposed experiments would do something no other NASA telescope or mission can do, filling important gaps in our understanding of the universe as a whole.âÂ
| UPDATED: 11:31, Fri, Jan 8, 2021
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Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate has revealed four concepts have been selected for the next generation of space research. NASA’s Pioneers program allows researchers to propose innovative experiments and lead space or suborbital science investigations for the first time. These missions have now confirmed to be Aspera, Pandora, StarBurst and PUEO.
NASA has selected four small-scale astrophysics missions for further concept development in a new programme called "Pioneers" to study the secrets of the universe.Through small satellites and scientific balloons, these selections .