China Focus: China to explore lunar polar regions, mulling human landing: white paper
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China will explore the moon's polar regions and is mulling over a manned lunar landing in the coming five years, according to a white paper released on Friday. The white paper, titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective," said China will continue its studies and research "on the plan for a human lunar landing." A new-generation manned spacecraft will be developed to support it
Rocket Lab to provide Venture Class Launch Services for NASA
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30Rocket Lab has been selected by NASA as one of twelve companies to provide launch services for the agency's Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) missions, providing new opportunities for science and technology payloads and fostering a growing U.S. commercial launch market. VADR is a five-year program with a maximum total budget for $300 million in launch contracts. R
Astra Awarded VADR Contract by NASA
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30Astra Space, Inc. has been awarded of the Venture-Class Acquisition of Dedicated and Rideshare (VADR) Launch Services Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for future task orders, which have not yet been issued. This contract has a five-year ordering period with a maximum total value of $300 million and will be
Skyroot Aerospace to fly its rocket from mobile launch pad in 2022
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30Rocket maker Skyroot Aerospace Private Ltd's Vikram-1 rocket is slated to lift off from a mobile launch pad or transporter, erector and launcher (TEL), a top company official said. The Hyderabad-based company is planning to test launch its rocket with a couple of satellites by the end of this year, he added. "Our maiden rocket launch will be with a couple of satellites from a mobile launc
China, Russia to start building lunar research station by 2026
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China said Friday that it expects to sign a space agreement with Russia by the end of this year that will include construction of a joint lunar research facility. "We are intensively engaged in negotiations and have basically reached a consensus. The agreement is quite possible to be signed as soon as possible this year," China National Space Administration Vice Administrator Wu Yanhua
Extremely harsh volcanic lake shows how life might have existed on Mars
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30A few specialist microbes survive conditions analogous to those of Mars' early history, reports a new publication in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science-and this may be thanks to a broad range of adaptations. The hydrothermal crater lake of the Poas volcano in Costa Rica is one of the most hostile habitats on the planet. The water is ultra-acidic, full of toxic metals and the temperat
Extreme exoplanet has a complex and exotic atmosphere
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30An international team including researchers from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva as well as the National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) PlanetS analyzed the atmosphere of one of the most extreme known planets in great detail. The results from this hot, Jupiter-like planet that was first characterized with the help of the CHEOPS space
Shining a light on synthetic dimensions
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30Humans experience the world in three dimensions, but a collaboration in Japan has developed a way to create synthetic dimensions to better understand the fundamental laws of the Universe and possibly apply them to advanced technologies. They published their results on January 28, 2022 in Science Advances. "The concept of dimensionality has become a central fixture in diverse fields o
China's cooperation with int'l space community fruitful
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China has been engaged with the international space community over the past five years, yielding fruitful results in space science, technology and application, a Chinese official said Friday. China launched a lunar research station project with Russia, and carried out extensive international cooperation in manned spaceflights, lunar exploration projects, Mars explorations and other mission
China to improve space debris monitoring: white paper
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China will improve space debris monitoring in the next five years to ensure the safe, stable and orderly operation of the space system, according to a white paper on the country's space activities released Friday. The white paper titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective" was released by the State Council Information Office. According to the white paper, China will strengthen
China Focus: China to explore space science more: white paper
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China will carry out more space science exploration in the next five years, said a white paper on the country's space activities released Friday. The white paper, titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective," was released by the State Council Information Office. It says that China will continue with the research and development of programs such as the satellite for space gravit
China to boost satellite services, space technology application: white paper
Saturday, 29 January 2022 11:30China will continue to boost public services with satellites and promote the application and transfer of space technology in the next five years, according to a white paper on the country's space program. The white paper, titled "China's Space Program: A 2021 Perspective," was issued Friday by the State Council Information Office. China will intensify the integration of satellite app
Hello and goodbye in 360° | Cosmic Kiss
Saturday, 29 January 2022 06:35Spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin were welcomed to the International Space Station on 8 December 2021 for a 12 day stay in space. Experience their arrival and farewell in 360° as captured by ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer from within the Russian segment.
Also seen in this video are Expedition 66 Commander Anton Shkaplerov, Roscosmos cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronauts Mark Vande Hei, Raja Chari, Tom Marshburn, and Kayla Barron.
Matthias was launched to the International Space Station for his six-month ESA mission known as Cosmic Kiss on 11 November 2021. During
Expanded UH asteroid tracking system can monitor entire sky
Saturday, 29 January 2022 06:22A state-of-the-art asteroid alert system operated by the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) can now scan the entire dark sky every 24 hours for dangerous bodies that could plummet toward Earth.
The NASA-funded Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) has expanded its reach to the southern hemisphere, from two existing northern-hemisphere telescopes on Haleakalā and Maunaloa. Construction is now complete and operations are underway on two additional telescopes in South Africa and Chile.
"An asteroid that hits the Earth can come at any time from any direction, so ATLAS is now all the sky, all the time," said John Tonry, IfA professor and ATLAS principal investigator.
The new telescopes are located at Sutherland Observing Station in South Africa and El Sauce Observatory in Chile. These locations were selected not only for their access to the southern part of the sky but also their time difference from Hawaiʻi—they are able to observe at night when it is daytime in Hawaiʻi.
SpaceX again scrubs launch of Italian satellite
Friday, 28 January 2022 23:39SpaceX again scrubbed its launch of an Italian Earth-observation satellite, the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation 2, on Friday. The aerospace company ran into weather problems for a second day in a row. "Standing down from today's launch of COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation FM2 due to poor weather conditions at the launch site tonight; next opportunity is tomorrow, January 29 at 6:11 p.m.