atmospheric entry
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Massive Pallet of Old Batteries Re-Enters Earth’s Atmosphere, Marking Heaviest ISS Trash Return Yet
Last week, a pallet of used batteries from the International Space Station (ISS) reentered Earth’s atmosphere over the Gulf of Mexico following an unpredictable journey through orbit. The pallet contained nine batteries and weighed in at 2.9 tons. It had been tossed by the Canadarm2 robotic arm in March 2021 and and has since been…
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Startup Wants to Land Space Drugs Factory in Australia After US Denies Reentry
Varda’s first manufacturing capsule remains stuck in orbit after being denied a request to land in Utah. It’s now eying Australia to prevent a repeat.
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China Tests Gigantic Drag Sail for Removing Space Junk
Engineers in China have successfully deployed an ultra-thin sail attached to a rocket part to expedite its departure from low Earth orbit and reduce the amount of space junk aimlessly floating above our planet.
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Why Some Scientists Are Sceptical of Space Command’s ‘Interstellar’ Meteor Claims
A new U.S. Space Command memo says that a meteor that fell to Earth in 2014 came from interstellar space. That would make it the first known interstellar object in our solar system, preceding ‘Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped object that first appeared in 2017 and seemed to come from another star system. But some scientists aren’t…