SOFIA makes case for continued operations
Tuesday, 11 January 2022 03:47
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Officials with a NASA airborne observatory responded to a stinging rebuke in the latest astrophysics decadal survey by arguing that the facility, targeted for termination, is essential to the agency’s broader science program.
SpaceX goes all-in on Starship configuration for second-gen Starlink
Monday, 10 January 2022 21:44 Write a comment
SpaceX has dropped a plan to use Falcon 9 to launch the 30,000 satellites in its proposed second-generation Starlink broadband constellation, and is instead focusing on a configuration leveraging its upcoming Starship vehicle.
Biden nominates Navy admiral to run National Geospatial Intelligence Agency
Monday, 10 January 2022 17:39 Write a comment
President Biden has nominated U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Frank Whitworth to be the next director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, the. Defense Department announced Jan. 10.
Defense Innovation Unit taps Lyten to develop high-performance batteries for small satellites
Monday, 10 January 2022 17:17 Write a comment
Lyten, a battery manufacturer based in California, has prototyped an advanced battery design for small satellites under a contract from the Defense Innovation Unit.
Chang'E-5 lander makes first onsite detection of water on moon
Monday, 10 January 2022 16:10 Write a comment
A joint research team led by Profs. Lin Yangting and Lin Honglei from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS) observed water signals in reflectance spectral data from the lunar surface acquired by the Chang'E-5 lander, providing the first evidence of in-situ detection of water on the Moon.
The study was published in Science Advances on Jan. 7.
Researchers from the National Space Science Center of CAS, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics of CAS and Nanjing University were also involved in the study.
Many orbital observations and sample measurements completed over the past decade have presented evidence for the presence of water (as hydroxyl and/or H2O) on the moon. However, no in-situ measurements have ever been conducted on the lunar surface.
The Chang'E-5 spacecraft landed on one of the youngest mare basalts, located at a mid-high latitude on the Moon, and returned 1,731 g of samples.
What happens when someone dies in space? Space tourism brings new legal and moral issues
Monday, 10 January 2022 13:40 Write a comment
Commercial spaceflight companies such as Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are now offering exclusive opportunities for celebrities and civilians to travel to space.
Traditionally, astronauts have been subject to rigorous training and medical scrutiny before going to space, and the risk of death from natural causes was considered remote.
But in this new era of space tourism, it appears medical screening may not be carried out, and only minimal pre-flight training provided.
With a wide variety of people now going to space, and the prospect in the coming years of humans establishing bases on the Moon and beyond, it raises an important question: what happens if someone dies in space?
Under international space law, individual countries are responsible for authorizing and supervising all national space activity, whether governmental or private. In the United States, commercial tourist spaceflights require a license for launch to be issued by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Should someone die on a commercial tourist mission, there would need to be a determination as to the cause of death.
China's rover checks out that weird cube on the moon—surprise! It's a rock.
Monday, 10 January 2022 11:45 Write a comment
Back in early December 2021, China's Yutu 2 rover made headlines when it spied what looked like a curious cube-shaped object on the moon's surface. Of course, speculations ran rampant. And it didn't help matters any when the China National Space Administration (CNSA) nicknamed the object the "mystery hut."
An update today from Yutu's cameras reveals the true nature of this object. Yup, it's just a rock. And not very cube-shaped, either.
Several planetary geologists and astronomers had logically predicted the object was likely a just bright colored, blocky boulder sitting on the edge of a crater rim. Orbital images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter didn't show anything out of the ordinary—rocks and more rocks on a cratered lunar surface.
Cheops reveals a rugby ball-shaped exoplanet
Monday, 10 January 2022 07:35 Write a comment
ESA’s exoplanet mission Cheops has revealed that an exoplanet orbiting its host star within a day has a deformed shape more like that of a rugby ball than a sphere. This is the first time that the deformation of an exoplanet has been detected, offering new insights into the internal structure of these star-hugging planets.
ESA reignites space-based solar power research
Monday, 10 January 2022 07:30 Write a comment
We urgently need solutions to tackle climate change on Earth. Meanwhile, the space sector is working hard to make space exploration more sustainable. ESA is targeting both ambitions by enabling European academia and industry to take further steps towards space-based solar power (SBSP).
Other ISS partners start planning for extension to 2030
Monday, 10 January 2022 00:10 Write a comment
The White House’s decision to extend operations of the International Space Station through the end of the decade is a “trigger” for other partners to make their own plans to continue participation in the station.
Astrobee robots in 360° | Cosmic Kiss
Sunday, 09 January 2022 16:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:02:16
Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer inside Kibo, the Japanese laboratory module of the International Space Station in 360°, setting up Astrobee robotic free-flyers for the ReSWARM experiment, short for RElative Satellite sWArming and Robotic Maneuvering. The robotics demonstration tests autonomous microgravity motion planning and control for on-orbit assembly and coordinated motion.
Thus, this investigation aims to test coordination between multiple robots, robots and cargo, and robots and their operating environment as developers envision the future of autonomous robot operations in space.
Matthias was launched to the International Space Station on Crew Dragon Endurance as part of Crew-3 at 02:03
Space Force to take a fresh look at communications satellite needs
Sunday, 09 January 2022 14:31 Write a comment
What mix of satellites will be needed to meet rising demand for connectivity will be the subject of a deep-dive study by the U.S. Space Force.
'Amazing milestone' as NASA fully deploys Webb telescope in space
Sunday, 09 January 2022 08:30 Write a comment
The most powerful space telescope ever built completed a tricky two-week-long deployment phase Saturday, unfolding its final golden mirror panel, as it readies to study every phase of cosmic history.
Engineering teams in the James Webb Space Telescope's control room cheered as confirmation came back that its final wing was deployed and latched into place.
"I'm emotional about it - what Assessing Perseverance's Seventh Sample Collection
Sunday, 09 January 2022 08:30 Write a comment
On Wednesday, Dec. 29 (sol 306) Perseverance successfully cored and extracted a sample from a Mars rock. Data downlinked after the sampling indicates that coring of the rock the science team nicknamed Issole went smoothly. However, during the transfer of the bit that contains the sample into the rover's bit carousel (which stores bits and passes tubes to the tube processing hardware inside the r Prestwick Spaceport Files Planning Application Notice
Sunday, 09 January 2022 08:30 Write a comment
South Ayrshire Council has started the process of submitting a formal planning application for the Prestwick Spaceport development. The Proposal of Application Notice (POAN) is the first step in the planning process for Prestwick Spaceport and signals the intent to apply for planning permission in early 2022.
The submission of the POAN follows the Council's submission of an Environmental I