Rocket Report: Winter is coming for Themis; Cowboy Space adds iron to the fire

More in Space

• Hubble reveals a stunning twist in how the universe emerged from darkness

  Observations from an international research team, including University of Michigan astronomers, upend conventional models explaining how the cosmos became transparent roughly 13 billion years ago. Rather than opening escape corridors for ultraviolet radiation, powerful winds produced by exploding supernovae actually trapped this light inside early galaxies. These findings demonstrate that early cosmic clearing was likely underway before massive dying stars exploded and produced their disruptive gusts.

  7 min read
• How Do You Take a Picture of a Black Hole?

  Harvard astrophysicist Shep Doeleman spearheaded an international network of 250 researchers to resolve the silhouettes of cosmic voids from which light cannot escape. By synchronizing global radio observatories into an Earth-sized virtual instrument, the team resolved the central black hole of the Milky Way alongside another target roughly 55 million light-years away. These historic observations provide empirical data to validate theoretical physics models and reveal how these extreme entities shape nearby space.

  51 min read
• 'One Nation, One Time': Why Isro is sending atomic clocks into space

  Establishing homegrown timekeeping assets in orbit directly strengthens national infrastructure and reduces vulnerabilities in sensitive civilian and security sectors. The indigenous Rubidium technology secures domestic navigation accuracy while eliminating dependence on foreign hardware following prior operational challenges. This orbital precision provides the foundational synchronization necessary to legally harmonize timing references across domestic systems.

  3 min read