Bethesda MD (SPX) Dec 17, 2021
Apparently, China sees the Moon as a future source of fuel for terrestrial power and space dominance. At the moment Chinese nuclear scientists are studying lunar surface material samples brought back by its Chang'e 5 lunar exploration mission late last year. One sample is believed to contain helium-3, an isotope. This particular isotope is very rare on Earth, but thought to be abundant in

Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has received $6.5 million in funding from NASA to launch a roughly shoebox-sized satellite into space carrying an instrument designed to measure the howling thermospheric winds, which can gust more than 300 miles per hour through the highest reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. The blustery winds in the thermosphere - the upper layer of the

El Segundo CA (SPX) Dec 17, 2021
Raytheon Intelligence and Space, a Raytheon Technologies business, has been awarded a $67 million contract to demonstrate an Electro-Optical Infrared Weather System, or EWS, Prototype with the ability to deliver operational data for the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command under an Other Transaction Authority contract. A successful prototype demonstration will provide Electro-optical/Infrare

Moscow (AFP) Dec 19, 2021
After a decade-long hiatus, Russia is relaunching an ambitious bid for dominion over the world's budding space tourism industry, jostling with zealous billionaires, the United States, and rising China. Russia flaunted its comeback this month dispatching two cosmic adventurers - Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant - to the International Space Station (ISS) in its first lau

Paris (AFP) Dec 18, 2021
The much-delayed launch of the James Webb space telescope will go ahead on December 24, NASA and the company overseeing the launch confirmed on Saturday. The project, begun in 1989, was originally expected to deploy the instrument - which will be the largest and most powerful telescope ever to be launched into space - in the early 2000s. But multiple problems forced delays and a tripli

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 20, 2021
Virgin Orbit, the responsive launch and space solutions company that has announced a planned business combination with NextGen Acquisition Corp. II, has announced an agreement to acquire a 17.5% stake in geospatial analytics company Hypersat LLC. This investment will further expand Virgin Orbit's space solutions business by providing highly accurate electro-optic and hyperspectral imagery

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 20, 2021
Sounds from a Ganymede flyby, magnetic fields, and remarkable comparisons between Jupiter and Earth's oceans and atmospheres were discussed during a briefing on NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in New Orleans. Juno Principal Investigator Scott Bolton of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio has debuted a 50-second audio track generated

Beijing (XNA) Dec 20, 2021
China is making preparations for a moon landing that will place its astronauts on the lunar surface, according to a senior official at the China Manned Space Agency. Dong Nengli, head of the agency's technology bureau, said at a news conference at the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing on Friday afternoon that space program planners and engineers are researching t

Tallinn, Estonia (SPX) Dec 20, 2021
Katriin Kristmann, a doctoral student in chemical and materials science at TalTech (Tallinn University of Technology), began research aimed at developing technology for the production of monograin layer solar cells on the Moon. The results of the research activity are planned to be used to provide electricity to future lunar outposts of the European Space Agency (ESA) and its international

Austin TX (SPX) Dec 20, 2021
CesiumAstro, Inc., with support from The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is accelerating radio frequency (RF) active phased array antenna development enabling dual function communications and sensing for lunar and cislunar applications across common Ka-band, TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite), and 5G mmWave frequency bands. High-performance communication links f