Space probes

The square-shaped coronal hole on the Sun's surface (Image Solar Dynamics Observatory/NASA)

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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) space probe has discovered a square-shaped coronal hole in the Sun’s corona, the outer part of the atmosphere of our star. It’s far south on the Sun so it’s unlikely that the solar wind originated in that area reaches Earth.

The map of the Milky Way magnetic field created using data from the Planck space telescope (Image ESA and the Planck Collaboration)

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The Planck space telescope completed its mission in October 2013 but in these cases the analysis of the data may continue for years. It’s for this reason that only now a map of the gravitational field of the Milky Way was published, an image compiled from the observation of the polarized light emitted by interstellar dust present in the galaxy.

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Aerospace companies Orbital Sciences Corporation, one of two private companies that have sent a spacecraft on the International Space Station, and Alliant Techsystems Inc., better known as ATK, announced they have reached an agreement for their merger. This operation will be preceded by an internal reorganization of ATK, which will be split to create a new company from ATK Sporting Group, the division that produces sport weapons. The other two divisions, ATK Aerospace Group and ATK Defense Group, together with Orbital Sciences will form Orbital ATK.

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NASA has confirmed that the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) space probe concluded its mission, which began in September 2013, crashing on the dark side of the Moon. This is the normal end of this type of missions as the purpose is to avoid that a probe might become a space wreck with the risk of it being drawn back to the Earth’s orbit causing potential dangers.