Space
A telescope dropped dark matter data from the edge of space. Here’s why
Doomsday came on May 25 for the payload of a pumpkin-shaped balloon at the edge of space. The floating gourd — inflated with more than 500,000 cubic meters of helium and large enough to fit 60 Goodyear blimps inside it — traversed the southern hemisphere some five times in 40 days, toting a telescope that…
2023 saw thrilling space missions and new cosmic mysteries
SpaceX’s Starship rocket made its first launch attempt in April 2023, but blew up SpaceX The following is an extract from our monthly Launchpad newsletter, in which resident space expert Leah Crane journeys through the solar system and beyond. You can sign up for Launchpad for free here. As the end of the year looms, I…
New technique helps robots pack objects into a tight space | MIT News
Anyone who has ever tried to pack a family-sized amount of luggage into a sedan-sized trunk knows this is a hard problem. Robots struggle with dense packing tasks, too. For the robot, solving the packing problem involves satisfying many constraints, such as stacking luggage so suitcases don’t topple out of the trunk, heavy objects aren’t…
X-37B: Space Force’s secretive space plane is making its highest flight yet
X-37B after its sixth mission ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy The US Space Force is preparing to launch its secretive X-37B space plane for the seventh time. What little information has been released suggests this will be the uncrewed space plane’s highest and longest flight yet. Over the course of its first six missions, X-37B spent a…