Largest object ever jettisoned from ISS to make uncontrolled re-entry this week

Largest object ever jettisoned from ISS to make uncontrolled re-entry this week

The International Space Station’s (ISS) largest-ever discarded object, a hefty equipment pallet weighing 2.9 tons, is anticipated to make an uncontrolled descent back to Earth between March 8 and 9, 2024. Launched into space for a critical ISS power system upgrade, this pallet, loaded with nine old station batteries, will not fully disintegrate upon reentry, with predictions indicating about half a ton of debris could survive the descent and impact the planet’s surface.

True colors of Uranus and Neptune revealed

True colors of Uranus and Neptune revealed

Recent research led by Professor Patrick Irwin from the University of Oxford has unveiled that Neptune and Uranus, traditionally thought to be distinctly blue and green respectively, are in fact much closer in color – both portraying shades of greenish blue.

DART successfully altered the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos

DART successfully altered the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos

Data gathered by NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) investigative team over the last two weeks suggest that the spacecraft’s kinetic encounter with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, successfully altered the asteroid’s orbit.

Pieces of Chinese Long March 5B rocket expected to hit Earth’s surface this weekend

Pieces of Chinese Long March 5B rocket expected to hit Earth’s surface this weekend

A massive booster from Chinese Long March 5B rocket, launched on July 24, 2022, is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere over the weekend, with some of its pieces surviving the descent and hitting the surface. The rocket delivered the Wentian experiment module to China’s Tiangong Space Station.

Gaia data release 3: The most detailed Milky Way survey to date

Gaia data release 3: The most detailed Milky Way survey to date

On June 13, 2022, ESA releases its third and new full data set made by the Gaia observatory located at L2 Lagrangian point – about 1.5 million km or 930 000 miles from Earth. Among other things, this catalog includes chemical compositions, stellar temperatures, colors, masses, ages, and the speed at which stars move towards or away from us.