Space Norway restores redundancy for Svalbard ground stations
Friday, 21 January 2022 19:02
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Space Norway has restored communications on an undersea fiber-optic cable it operates between its Svalbard satellite station and mainland Norway, which had left the Arctic region without a backup connection after failing Jan. 7.
Plus Ultra’s lunar comsats to hitch rides on ispace moon landers
Friday, 21 January 2022 18:56 Write a comment
Spanish-German startup Plus Ultra Space Outposts plans to deploy the bulk of its proposed lunar communications and navigation constellation with ispace, the Japanese lunar transportation venture selling accommodations on its moon-bound landers.
ULA launches two space surveillance satellites for U.S. Space Force
Friday, 21 January 2022 18:17 Write a comment
In its first mission of 2022, a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on Jan. 21 launched a pair of space-monitoring satellites for the U.S. Space Force.
ExoMars on schedule for September launch
Friday, 21 January 2022 17:27 Write a comment
After missing its initial launch window in 2020 in part because of the pandemic, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars mission is on schedule for a launch in September.
Mid-level flare erupts from sun
Friday, 21 January 2022 16:46 Write a comment
The sun emitted a mid-level solar flare on Jan. 20, 2022, peaking at 1:01 a.m. EST. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy. Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
This flare is classified as a M5.5 class flare.
Explore further
NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center: spaceweather.gov/
NASA emergency beacons save 330 lives in 2021
Friday, 21 January 2022 16:35 Write a comment
In 2021, NASA technology saved 330 lives in the U.S. network region of the international satellite-aided search and rescue effort, Cospas-Sarsat. NASA has lent technical expertise to the Cospas-Sarsat program since its founding, aiding in the rescue of over 48,000 individuals globally.
Users purchasing commercially available 406 MHz frequency Cospas-Sarsat beacons have free access to the network, which provides accurate and reliable emergency location services. When users activate these beacons, they send signals through satellite instruments to ground stations that can calculate their position. The network then alerts first responders to the location and nature of the emergency.
Beacons are available in three types: Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs), for use by hikers and other explorers; Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs), designed for maritime use; and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) for aviation. In 2021, 106 rescues were PLBs, 195 were EPIRBS, and 29 were ELTs.
In recent years, NASA's Search and Rescue (SAR) office has helped Cospas-Sarsat to enhance its network with aviation studies, next-generation beacon technology, and new capabilities for Artemis astronauts. The office is also working on a lunar search and rescue concept, or LunaSAR, as part of NASA's lunar network development effort, LunaNet.
Former NASA administrator Bridenstine endorses candidate in Virginia congressional race
Friday, 21 January 2022 16:00 Write a comment
Former NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine is wading into one of Virginia’s congressional races, backing a Republican candidate with a background in national security space.
NASA's TESS hits milestone of 5,000 exoplanet candidates
Friday, 21 January 2022 14:14 Write a comment
The catalog of planet candidates found with NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) recently passed 5,000 TOIs, or TESS Objects of Interest.
Week in images: 17 - 21 January 2022
Friday, 21 January 2022 13:09 Write a comment
Week in images: 17 - 21 January 2022
Discover our week through the lens
New location, same ASIM
Friday, 21 January 2022 11:58 Write a comment
Image:
The first-of-its-kind complement of instruments dubbed the ‘space storm hunter’ hangs out in its new location outside the International Space Station in this image taken by on of the Station’s external cameras.
The Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor, or ASIM for short, measures electric events in Earth’s upper atmosphere with cameras, photometers and X- and gamma-ray detectors.
Last week ASIM was switched off and moved by robotic arm to another spot outside the Columbus module to make room for an American payload. Now in its new location, the instrument is being activated and so far things are going well.
From its new
Bigelow Aerospace transfers BEAM space station module to NASA
Friday, 21 January 2022 11:34 Write a comment
NASA has hired a new company to provide engineering support for an inflatable module on the International Space Station originally built and managed by Bigelow Aerospace.
Ariane 6 upper stage readies for tests at Europe's Spaceport
Friday, 21 January 2022 09:00 Write a comment
The central core of ESA’s new generation Ariane 6 launch vehicle arrived at Europe’s Spaceport on 18 January and is now inside the launch vehicle assembly building.
ESA/WEF panel discussion and call with Matthias Maurer
Friday, 21 January 2022 08:00 Write a comment
Video:
01:00:30
Watch the replay of ‘Live from Space: The Next Frontier for Knowledge and Action’. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer, live from the from the International Space Station discussed with a panel of prominent experts and industry leaders, including ESA’s Director General Josef Aschbacher, about how space research can improve life on our planet.
Earth from Space: Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, Germany
Friday, 21 January 2022 08:00 Write a comment
Part of Mecklenburg–West Pomerania, also known as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a state in northeast Germany is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. A portion of the northwest coast of Poland can be seen in the right of the image.
NASA Offers $1 Million for Innovative Systems to Feed Tomorrow's Astronauts
Friday, 21 January 2022 04:44 Write a comment
As NASA prepares to send astronauts further into the cosmos than ever before, the agency aims to upgrade production of a critical fuel source: food. Giving future explorers the technology to produce nutritious, tasty, and satisfying meals on long-duration space missions will give them the energy required to uncover the great unknown.
In coordination with the Canadian Space Agency, NASA is