NASA's Crew-3 astronauts splash down in Gulf of Mexico
Saturday, 07 May 2022 10:57
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After a 24-hour delay to be sure of weather conditions in the Atlantic Ocean, NASA's Crew-3 returned to Earth on Friday with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico just off the coast of Florida.
NASA's Raja Chari, Kayla Barron and Tom Marshburn and Germany's Matthias Maurer splashed down in their Dragon Endurance capsule at 12:43 a.m. EDT.
"We're glad to be back," Chari told the Spac Matthias returns to Cologne
Friday, 06 May 2022 23:42 Write a comment
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Matthias returns to Cologne Telesat to order 100 fewer satellites for LEO constellation
Friday, 06 May 2022 18:51 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Increasing costs and delays have forced Telesat to downsize plans for 298 low Earth orbit satellites by a third to keep within its $5 billion budget.
The post Telesat to order 100 fewer satellites for LEO constellation appeared first on SpaceNews.
Virgin Galactic pushes back commercial suborbital flights to 2023
Friday, 06 May 2022 18:16 Write a comment
Virgin Galactic is again postponing the start of commercial service of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital spaceplane from late 2022 to early 2023, blaming the latest delay on supply chain and labor issues.
The post Virgin Galactic pushes back commercial suborbital flights to 2023 appeared first on SpaceNews.
SpaceX moved NROL-85 from the Cape to Vandenberg at no extra cost, in exchange for reusing booster
Friday, 06 May 2022 17:50 Write a comment
The NRO and SpaceX worked out a deal to move NROL-85 to the West Coast at no extra cost to the government and in exchange the NRO agreed to fly the mission on a reused first stage
First rays of sunlight for balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise III
Friday, 06 May 2022 16:30 Write a comment
Approximately a month before it begins its research flight in the stratosphere, the balloon-borne solar observatory Sunrise III has looked at the Sun for the first time from its launch site at the Arctic Circle. In June, Sunrise III will take off from Esrange Space Center, the Swedish Space Agency's (SSC) balloon and rocket base in Kiruna (Sweden), and will climb to an altitude of about 35 kilometers. During its flight of several days, it will then take unique measurements of the Sun. In this way, processes in the chromosphere, the highly dynamic layer between the visible surface and the outer atmosphere of the Sun, will become visible more precisely than ever before. In the remaining weeks until launch, the technical and scientific teams from Germany, Spain, Japan, and the U.S. will prepare all systems and the scientific instruments for their mission and rehearse flight procedures and operations.
NASA's Artemis I launch likely slipping to August with retry of pad test in June
Friday, 06 May 2022 16:27 Write a comment
NASA officials gave an update Thursday on the status of the Artemis I moon rocket launch saying it likely is targeting early- to mid-June before it rolls back out to the launch pad for a wet dress rehearsal at Kennedy Space Center.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson suggested last week that August would be the earliest for a launch attempt, and NASA's Jim Free, the associate administrator for the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, confirmed that.
"As we've been saying, we'll set that official launch date after we get through wet dress," Free said. "But you know based on some of historical challenges from similar programs over the years and the schedule performance we've seen thus far, we are looking at a couple of launch periods through the August time frame."
One of the previously announced launch windows runs from July 26 to Aug. 9.
NASA rolled the Space Launch System rocket topped with the Orion spacecraft to KSC's Launch Pad 39-B back in mid-March and attempted to run through a simulated countdown along with the filling and draining the core and upper stages with 730,000 gallons of super-cooled liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
Avio has successfully tested the new M10 liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine
Friday, 06 May 2022 15:44 Write a comment
Avio has successfully carried out the first test of the new M10 liquid oxygen-liquid/methane engine, the first of its kind to be successfully tested in Europe.
The post Avio has successfully tested the new M10 liquid methane and liquid oxygen engine appeared first on SpaceNews.
New Intelsat CEO builds out leadership team
Friday, 06 May 2022 14:35 Write a comment
Intelsat announced financial, commercial and aviation leadership changes May 5 to guide the satellite operator’s post-bankruptcy future.
The post New Intelsat CEO builds out leadership team appeared first on SpaceNews.
A magnetic bubble could protect astronauts from dangerous space radiation
Friday, 06 May 2022 14:10 Write a comment
Humans have long dreamed of setting foot on Mars or beyond, and the advances by companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin means perhaps the dream could be closer than ever to becoming reality. But as it stands now, sending astronauts on long-duration missions to other worlds would be impossible because of the hazardous radiation levels in space, outside of Earth's protective magnetic field.
However, a new concept offers hope on the horizon, and the researchers behind it have received funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program to build a prototype. Called CREW HaT, the proposal takes advantage of the latest advances in superconducting magnet technology to effectively shield spacecraft—and the astronauts inside—from harmful space radiation.
"We came up with a novel idea about how to shield spaceships from cosmic radiation and energetic solar radiation," said Dr.
Return highlights | Cosmic Kiss
Friday, 06 May 2022 13:52 Write a comment
Video:
00:01:41
The Crew Dragon capsule carrying ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and NASA astronauts Raja Chari, Thomas Marshburn and Kayla Barron home from the International Space Station splashed down off the coast of Florida, USA, on Friday 6 May 2022 at 05:43 BST/06:43 CEST.
Its return marks the end of Crew-3’s almost six-month stay in orbit and the end of Matthias’s first mission, known as Cosmic Kiss.
Crew-3 undocked from the International Space Station in Crew Dragon spacecraft Endurance at 06:20 BST/07:20 CEST Thursday 5 May. When a Crew capsule splashes down, it is met by nearby ships with experts ready
Week in images: 02-06 May 2022
Friday, 06 May 2022 12:03 Write a comment
Week in images: 02-06 May 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Op-ed | Why Army Space?
Friday, 06 May 2022 12:01 Write a comment
Now, more than ever, we must view space operations through a tactical lens. While the Space Force rightfully focuses “up” to where satellites orbit, Army Space looks “down” to the terrestrial sphere, where people live and wars have been fought for millennia.
M10 engine test success marks key step toward Vega-E
Friday, 06 May 2022 10:33 Write a comment
An innovative new rocket engine that is key to ESA’s strategy for ensuring Europe’s independent access to space has successfully completed its first hot-firing test run. M10 is the first of a new generation of “green” rocket motors tested in Europe, at the new SPTF plant (Space Propulsion Test Facility) built by prime contractor Avio in Sardinia.
NASA planning next SLS countdown rehearsal in June
Friday, 06 May 2022 10:17 Write a comment
NASA expects to be ready to perform another countdown rehearsal of the Space Launch System in early June as it pushes back the first launch of the vehicle to at least August.