Abra Science

  An image of Neptune from Voyager 2. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Deep inside Neptune and Uranus, temperatures and pressures are extreme enough to produce superionic water—a phase in which oxygen ions crystallize while highly mobile hydrogen ions float through interstitial spaces. Information about superionic water’s phase behavior would help planetary scientists model and understand the ice giants’ evolution, structure, and unusual magnetic fields. Theoretical and computational studies of superionic water’s structure and stability have supplemented scarce experimental data—the phase was observed for the first time in 2019. But those have yielded limited, and sometimes contradictory, results. Now Bingqing Cheng at the University of Cambridge and her collaborators have made predictions about superionic water’s lattice structure at planetary conditions by simulating the material using machine-learning potentials (MLPs) and an artificial neural-network architecture. Molecular-dyn...

  William Shatner (pictured September 2017), who played Captain James T. Kirk in the cult classic TV series "Star Trek," is set to become the first member of the iconic show's cast to journey to the final frontier as a guest aboard a Blue Origin rocket. Blue Origin announced Sunday it was delaying an upcoming flight set to carry actor William Shatner to space due to anticipated winds. Shatner, who played Captain James T. Kirk in the cult classic TV series "Star Trek," is due to become the first member of the iconic show's cast to journey to the final frontier as a guest aboard a Blue Origin suborbital rocket. His history-making flight was scheduled for October 12. But "due to forecasted winds on Tuesday, October 12, Blue Origin's mission operations team has made the decision to delay the launch of NS-18 and is now targeting Wednesday, October 13," a spokeswoman said in a statement. The new flight is scheduled for 8:30 am (1330 GMT). Sha...

While the EU proposes a launcher alliance to support next-generation launch vehicle develop, ESA is working to keep the first Ariane 6 launch on schedule for 2022. Credit: Arianespace WASHINGTON — The European Union is proposing a “launcher alliance” involving companies and governments to develop the next generation of European launch vehicles, although some European startups are skeptical of those plans. In a June 22 speech highlighting the EU’s space programs, including the signing of a Financial Framework Partnership Agreement with the European Space Agency, the EU commissioner responsible for space highlighted the launcher alliance as part of a “ambitious and disruptive space agenda.” “There is no space policy without autonomous access to space,” said Thierry Breton, commissioner for the internal market. “However, it is a segment under massive business and technological changes.” He said the EU had a “fantastic” launch vehicle industry, but that given growing global completion, Eur...