Hyguane: green hydrogen for Ariane 6, Europe's Spaceport and more
Thursday, 21 December 2023 08:35
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The start of a more sustainable production facility to create hydrogen fuel for Ariane 6 – Europe’s new heavy-lift rocket – is underway.
Project HYGUANE – a portmanteau of the French words for hydrogen, French Guiana and the local Iguanas – is a €40.5M investment in a solar farm and distribution systems, being designed to be allowed to easily expand in the future.
Happy holidays from ESA’s Hera asteroid detective!
Thursday, 21 December 2023 08:00
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Wishing you all the best for Christmas 2023 and a happy new year! This is a very special holiday season for ESA’s Hera asteroid detective and her two CubeSats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – because this is the last one they will enjoy on planet Earth. This time next year the trio of friends will be off on their adventure to explore Didymos, a double asteroid system that is typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to planet Earth.
Find out more about Hera and her CubeSats by watching our
Helicity Space Raises $5M Seed Round for Fusion Propulsion Technology
Thursday, 21 December 2023 06:55
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
Helicity Space, a name that's beginning to resonate in the commercial space industry, recently heralded a significant advance in its quest to redefine space propulsion. The company has successfully secured a $5 million seed funding round, a move that not only underscores the industry's confidence in fusion technology but also marks a pivotal moment in space travel innovation.
This round of
Helicity Space, a name that's beginning to resonate in the commercial space industry, recently heralded a significant advance in its quest to redefine space propulsion. The company has successfully secured a $5 million seed funding round, a move that not only underscores the industry's confidence in fusion technology but also marks a pivotal moment in space travel innovation.
This round of Telescope Dismantled and Heading to New Mission in Chile
Thursday, 21 December 2023 06:55
Pasadena CA (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
At nearly 14,000 feet, Maunakea is the tallest mountain in Hawai'i, and the second tallest on any island on Earth. Clouds often settle below the mountain's barren, dark-brown summit, making the site one of the best for astronomy in the world.
At the summit, one can find several of the world's finest telescopes, including the W. M. Keck Observatory, a partnership between Caltech and the Uni
At nearly 14,000 feet, Maunakea is the tallest mountain in Hawai'i, and the second tallest on any island on Earth. Clouds often settle below the mountain's barren, dark-brown summit, making the site one of the best for astronomy in the world.
At the summit, one can find several of the world's finest telescopes, including the W. M. Keck Observatory, a partnership between Caltech and the Uni Ariane 6 smoke during combined test loading 3
Thursday, 21 December 2023 06:50
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Ariane 6 smoke during combined test loading 3 Ariane 6 main stage final test firing
Thursday, 21 December 2023 06:50
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Ariane 6 main stage final test firing Ariane 6 during combined test loading 3
Thursday, 21 December 2023 06:50
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Ariane 6 during combined test loading 3 
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Boost! logo NASA's 3D-printed Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine Test a Success
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Huntsville AL (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
NASA has achieved a new benchmark in developing an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully tested a novel, 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or longer than four minutes), producing more than 5,800 pounds of thrust.
That kind of sustained burn emulates typical requi
NASA has achieved a new benchmark in developing an innovative propulsion system called the Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE). Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, successfully tested a novel, 3D-printed RDRE for 251 seconds (or longer than four minutes), producing more than 5,800 pounds of thrust.
That kind of sustained burn emulates typical requi NASA Outlines Future Strategy for Post-ISS Microgravity Research Labs in LEO
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
In a recent development marking a significant shift in space research dynamics, NASA is actively developing a strategy for establishing the next generation of microgravity national labs in a commercial space station environment. This move comes in response to a directive from the National Space Council in September 2022, tasking NASA with crafting a plan for this new era in space research.
In a recent development marking a significant shift in space research dynamics, NASA is actively developing a strategy for establishing the next generation of microgravity national labs in a commercial space station environment. This move comes in response to a directive from the National Space Council in September 2022, tasking NASA with crafting a plan for this new era in space research. Virgin Galactic sets January 2024 for 11th mission
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) has officially announced the opening of its 'Galactic 06' flight window on January 26, 2024. This mission will mark the company's 11th spaceflight, following a year of remarkable achievements in human spaceflight, including six suborbital missions in just six months.
The upcoming 'Galactic 06' flight is set to continue Virgin Galactic's pioneering
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SPCE) has officially announced the opening of its 'Galactic 06' flight window on January 26, 2024. This mission will mark the company's 11th spaceflight, following a year of remarkable achievements in human spaceflight, including six suborbital missions in just six months.
The upcoming 'Galactic 06' flight is set to continue Virgin Galactic's pioneering Zhurong Rover Unveils Ancient Polygonal Terrain Under Mars' Utopia Planitia
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
A team of researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has made a significant discovery using the Zhurong rover's ground-penetrating radar on Mars. Their study, conducted in the expansive Utopia Planitia region, reveals buried palaeo-polygonal terrain, suggesting that this area experienced considerable climatic variability in ancient Martia
A team of researchers from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) has made a significant discovery using the Zhurong rover's ground-penetrating radar on Mars. Their study, conducted in the expansive Utopia Planitia region, reveals buried palaeo-polygonal terrain, suggesting that this area experienced considerable climatic variability in ancient Martia Rocker-Bogie Around the Marsmas Sea: Sols 4041-4042
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 22, 2023
Earth planning date: Monday, December 18, 2023: On the 4040 sol of Marsmas my downlink gave to me, a faulted drive and a wheelie! That's right, folks, we're popping Christmas-sized wheelies this year, bigger than we've ever seen before! It's a little hard to tell from the Navcam perspective, but the cover photo above shows our right-middle wheel (bottom in image) completely off the ground in sus
Earth planning date: Monday, December 18, 2023: On the 4040 sol of Marsmas my downlink gave to me, a faulted drive and a wheelie! That's right, folks, we're popping Christmas-sized wheelies this year, bigger than we've ever seen before! It's a little hard to tell from the Navcam perspective, but the cover photo above shows our right-middle wheel (bottom in image) completely off the ground in sus Hera's wings of power
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Paris (ESA) Dec 22, 2023
The solar wings that will power ESA's Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence as it ventures out to meet the Dimorphos asteroid have been cleared for flight. As part of its current test campaign at ESA's ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands, the spacecraft commanded the deployment of the wings one at a time, as it will do in space directly after launch - known as a 'hot deployment'.
Th
The solar wings that will power ESA's Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence as it ventures out to meet the Dimorphos asteroid have been cleared for flight. As part of its current test campaign at ESA's ESTEC Test Centre in the Netherlands, the spacecraft commanded the deployment of the wings one at a time, as it will do in space directly after launch - known as a 'hot deployment'.
Th Recent volcanism on Mars reveals a planet more active than previously thought
Thursday, 21 December 2023 02:54
Tucson AZ (SPX) Dec 21, 2023
A vast, flat, "featureless" plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona. Enormous amounts of lava have erupted from numerous fissures as recently as one million years ago, blanketing an area almost as large as Alaska and interacting with water in and under the surface, re
A vast, flat, "featureless" plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona. Enormous amounts of lava have erupted from numerous fissures as recently as one million years ago, blanketing an area almost as large as Alaska and interacting with water in and under the surface, re