Outer space, or simply space, is the expanse that exists beyond the Earth and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a hard vacuum containing a low density of particles, predominantly a plasma of hydrogen and helium, as well as electromagnetic radiation, magnetic fields, neutrinos, dust, and cosmic rays. The baseline temperature of outer space, as set by the background radiation from the Big Bang, is 2.7 kelvins (−270.45 °C; −454.81 °F).
“SpaceX now licensed to deploy 1 million of what Musk calls “UFOs on a stick.” SpaceX has received government approval to deploy up to 1 million user terminals in the United States for its Starlink satellite-broadband constellation. SpaceX asked the …
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“Eight and a half years into its grand tour of the solar system, NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft was ready for another encounter. It was Jan. 24, 1986, and soon it would meet the mysterious seventh planet, icy-cold Uranus. Over …
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“At 8:16 a.m. EDT, or 12:16 UTC, on Wednesday, March 18, SpaceX launched its sixth Starlink mission. Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9 …
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“The 3D-printed thrust chamber assembly of the methane-fuelled M10 rocket engine has passed its first series of hot firing tests. The M10 engine will power the upper stage of future Vega evolutions from 2025. “These test results are encouraging, confirming …
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“Scientists studying a distant galaxy cluster have discovered the biggest explosion seen in the Universe since the Big Bang. The blast came from a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy hundreds of millions of light-years away. It …
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“NASA’s Curiosity rover has captured its highest-resolution panorama yet of the Martian surface. Composed of more than 1,000 images taken during the 2019 Thanksgiving holiday and carefully assembled over the ensuing months, the composite contains 1.8 billion …
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“For the last two and a half years, the Earth may have had two moons. There’s the obvious one that raises the tides and can often be seen during the day, and now researchers have identified a candidate for …
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“SpaceX successfully launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit Monday (Feb. 17), but missed a milestone rocket landing on what was the company’s fourth flight of the year. Smoked billowed and flames erupted as the sooty Falcon …
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“Virgin Galactic has successfully completed another vital step on its path to commercial service, relocating SpaceShipTwo, VSS Unity, to its commercial headquarters at Spaceport America’s Gateway to Space building. VSS Unity, attached to the carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, made …
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“China’s Yutu-2 lunar rover has discovered what appear to be relatively young rocks during its recent exploration activities on the lunar far side. The Chang’e-4 mission’s rover imaged the scattered, apparently lighter-colored rocks during lunar day 13 …
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