...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Copernical Team

Copernical Team

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Russian cargo ship docks at International Space Station
In this photo provided by Roscosmos Space Agency Press Service, the Progress MS-16 cargo blasts off from the launch pad at Russia's space facility in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021. The Russian Progress MS-16 cargo ship blasted off from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch facility in Kazakhstan and reached a designated orbit en route to the International Space Station.
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Mars Relay Network connects Earth to NASA’s robotic explorers
Five spacecraft currently in orbit about the Red Planet make up the Mars Relay Network to transmit commands from Earth to surface missions and receive science data back from them. Clockwise from top left: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), Mars Atmospheric and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), Mars Odyssey, and the European Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech, ESA
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NASA’s next Mars rover is ready for the most precise landing yet
The aeroshell containing NASA’s Perseverance rover guides itself toward the Martian surface as it descends through the atmosphere in this illustration. Hundreds of critical events must execute perfectly and exactly on time for the rover to land on Mars safely on Feb. 18, 2021. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

What to expect when the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover arrives at the Red Planet on Feb. 18, 2021:

With about 2.4 million miles (3.9 million kilometers) left to travel in space, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is days away from attempting to land the agency's fifth rover on the Red Planet.

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Life as We Do Not Know It: Astrobiology and the Mars 2020 Mission
An artist's rendering of how Jezero Crater might have looked as a lake when liquid water still existed on Mars. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Life as we know it has never been found anywhere in our solar system or universe, other than on Earth. But that does not necessarily mean it is not out there.

The Mars 2020 mission is the first NASA mission with an explicit astrobiology component. Planned to be executed in multiple parts over decades, Mars 2020 and related missions aim to be the first to return samples of another planet for the purpose of examining them for .

But what do scientists hope to find? How will they know if or when they have found it? What does it mean for life on Earth if something is found, and what does it mean if it is not?

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This is what happens to spacecraft when they re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere
Credit: JAXA

When one of the Russian Progress resupply ships undocks from the International Space Station, timing is everything. The Progress needs to fire its engines at just the right time to instigate the deorbit burn in order for the ship to enter the atmosphere at just the right place so that its destructive re-entry occurs over the Pacific Ocean. That way, any potential surviving bits and pieces that might reach Earth will hit far away from any land masses—which are home to people, buildings, and other things we don't want to get bonked.

Last week, the timing for the Progress MS-15 cargo ship was just right, so that the astronauts/cosmonauts on board the ISS could see the ship as it broke apart and burned up in Earth's atmosphere. JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi shared the view on social media.

"Farewell, Progress 76P MS-15! #Russian cargo spacecraft undocked from #ISS, and successfully burned up," Noguchi tweeted, sharing a photo of the Progress' fiery demise.

Farewell, Progress 76P MS-15! #Russian cargo spacecraft undocked from #ISS, and successfully burned up. #ロシア プログレス宇宙船、役目を終えて大気圏突入時の夜空に燃え尽きる瞬間を見事に捉えました!#はやぶさ 思い出すと泣けます。。。 pic.twitter.com/2OLMrlmAKO

— NOGUCHI, Soichi 野口 聡-(のぐち そういち) (@Astro_Soichi) February 9, 2021
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Europe is recruiting astronauts: here's what it takes to become one
Future astronauts will visit Mars. Credit: Shutterstock/Vadim Sadovski

For the first time in 11 years, the European Space Agency (Esa) is recruiting new astronauts. Applications will open on the 31 March 2021 for eight weeks, followed by a six-stage selection process to identify the next generation of European astronauts.

By 2030, humans will once again walk on the surface of the Moon, travel to Mars and potentially enjoy sub-orbital holidays. The new era will provide enormous benefits to all of us. It will push technologies as we find ways to live sustainably beyond planet Earth, it will create exciting jobs and it will generate new socioeconomic opportunities.

Recruiting new astronauts is the first step into this new era of human space exploration. Many people may have dreamed of becoming an astronaut since childhood, but do you have what it takes?

The criteria

Becoming an astronaut is not simple, nor is it easy. Esa is looking for candidates with different profiles and backgrounds. However, there are some minimum requirements.

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Bosnia village with link to Mars enthralled by rover landing
An aerial photograph shows the village of Jezero, Bosnia, Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2021. Bosnian villagers are setting up a video screen in the yard of the village's sole school so people can gather to watch NASA's Mars rover land Thursday in a crater of the Red Planet named after their small village.
Tuesday, 16 February 2021 10:00

Falling to Earth takes a long time

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Satellites and debris take a long time to return Image: Satellites and debris take a long time to return
Tuesday, 16 February 2021 08:14

Explore the Jezero neighbourhood

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Jezero Crater delta

Flyover movies, elevation maps, 3D views and detailed colour scenes: ESA’s Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter missions have provided imagery of Jezero Crater and the surrounding region in support of NASA’s Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing on 18 February 2021.

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Moscow, Russia (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
Researchers from the Oil and Gas Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and their Skoltech colleagues have surveyed the newest known 30-meter deep gas blowout crater on the Yamal Peninsula, which formed in the summer of 2020. The paper was published in the journal Geosciences. Giant craters in the Russian Arctic, thought to be the remnants of powerful gas blowouts, first att
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