Chinese Kuaizhou-1A rocket launch fails
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 08:31
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A Kuaizhou-1A solid rocket failed after liftoff late Tuesday with the loss of a pair of commercial satellites to test navigation enhancement for autonomous driving.
NASA: Webb telescope launch delayed by communication problem
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 08:21 Write a comment
Webb Telescope placed on top of Ariane 5 rocket
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 08:17 Write a comment
On Saturday, Dec. 11, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope was secured on top of the Ariane 5 rocket that will launch it to space from Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana.
After its arrival in the final assembly building, Webb was slowly hoisted nearly 130 feet and then perfectly aligned on top of the Ariane 5, after which technicians bolted Webb's launch vehicle adapter down to the rocket. This whole process was performed under strict safety and cleanliness policies, as it was one of the most delicate operations during the entire launch campaign for Webb. A custom 'shower curtain,' already installed between the two platforms where technicians worked to connect Webb to its launch vehicle, served as the walls of a clean room to keep the observatory dirt-free.
The next step ahead is to encapsulate Webb inside the Ariane 5's specially adapted fairing.
Webb will be the largest, most powerful telescope ever launched into space. As part of an international collaboration agreement, the European Space Agency (ESA) is providing the telescope's launch services using the Ariane 5 launch vehicle.
NASA selects second private astronaut mission to Space Station
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
NASA has selected Axiom Space for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. NASA will negotiate with Axiom on a mission order agreement for the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) targeted to launch between fall 2022 and late spring 2023.
Ax-2 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mission of no more than 14 days docked to the space station. NASA an
NASA has selected Axiom Space for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. NASA will negotiate with Axiom on a mission order agreement for the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) targeted to launch between fall 2022 and late spring 2023.
Ax-2 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mission of no more than 14 days docked to the space station. NASA an BWXT Delivers Fuel to NASA to Support Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Lynchburg VA (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
BWX Technologies, Inc. has reached a critical milestone in the nation's pursuit of space nuclear propulsion by delivering coated reactor fuels to NASA in support of its space nuclear propulsion project within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is one of the technologies that is capable of propelling a spacecraft to Mars and back. Innovative
BWX Technologies, Inc. has reached a critical milestone in the nation's pursuit of space nuclear propulsion by delivering coated reactor fuels to NASA in support of its space nuclear propulsion project within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is one of the technologies that is capable of propelling a spacecraft to Mars and back. Innovative Tiny meteors leave smoke in the atmosphere
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Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
It's time for the Geminids, the annual December meteor shower! Every year, Earth passes through the debris trail from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The pea-sized rocks it leaves behind burn up in our atmosphere, producing glowing trails in the night sky. People around the world will stare skyward and marvel at these meteors, also known as shooting stars.
What we can't see with the naked eye
It's time for the Geminids, the annual December meteor shower! Every year, Earth passes through the debris trail from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The pea-sized rocks it leaves behind burn up in our atmosphere, producing glowing trails in the night sky. People around the world will stare skyward and marvel at these meteors, also known as shooting stars.
What we can't see with the naked eye NASA begins testing robotics to bring first samples back from Mars
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Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 15, 2021
Testing has already begun on what would be the most sophisticated endeavor ever attempted at the Red Planet: bringing rock and sediment samples from Mars to Earth for closer study. The multi-mission Mars Sample Return campaign began when NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars this past February to collect Martian rock samples in search of ancient microscopic life.
Out of Perseverance's 4
Testing has already begun on what would be the most sophisticated endeavor ever attempted at the Red Planet: bringing rock and sediment samples from Mars to Earth for closer study. The multi-mission Mars Sample Return campaign began when NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars this past February to collect Martian rock samples in search of ancient microscopic life.
Out of Perseverance's 4 Scientists envision what Mars would look like as an exoplanet
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Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
In science fiction movies and television shows, real-life locations on Earth, such as California's Redwood National Forest and the Sahara Desert, have long been used to represent alien worlds. But recently, in a Star Trek-style twist, a group of scientists, including researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, have been using a pl
In science fiction movies and television shows, real-life locations on Earth, such as California's Redwood National Forest and the Sahara Desert, have long been used to represent alien worlds. But recently, in a Star Trek-style twist, a group of scientists, including researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, have been using a pl Sols 3326-3327: Backing away from the cliff
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Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 15, 2021
As we continue exploring Maria Gordon notch, we are planning a touch and go with lots of remote sensing activities between the "touch" and the "go."
MSL is parked near the base of the cliff to the west, and the science team is interested in investigating the bedrock in this area.
Unfortunately, none of the bedrock targets shown near the top of the image above are suitable for close A
As we continue exploring Maria Gordon notch, we are planning a touch and go with lots of remote sensing activities between the "touch" and the "go."
MSL is parked near the base of the cliff to the west, and the science team is interested in investigating the bedrock in this area.
Unfortunately, none of the bedrock targets shown near the top of the image above are suitable for close A Rocket Lab to acquire SolAero Holdings for its space solar power products
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Long Beach CA (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
Rocket Lab USA has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SolAero Holdings, Inc. (SolAero), a premier supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures for the global aerospace market, for $80 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
The acquisition aligns with Rocket Lab's growth strategy of vertical integration to deliv
Rocket Lab USA has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SolAero Holdings, Inc. (SolAero), a premier supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures for the global aerospace market, for $80 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022.
The acquisition aligns with Rocket Lab's growth strategy of vertical integration to deliv Solely European supply chain for space-qualified Alexandrite laser crystals on the horizon
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Hannover, Germany (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
The European Union wants to use the unique properties of Alexandrite crystals in Earth observation satellites in the future. To make the EU independent of non-European suppliers, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Altechna Coatings, and Optomaterials work on a purely European supply chain for space-qualified Alexandrite laser crystals in the EU project GALACTIC. The project partners have mad
The European Union wants to use the unique properties of Alexandrite crystals in Earth observation satellites in the future. To make the EU independent of non-European suppliers, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Altechna Coatings, and Optomaterials work on a purely European supply chain for space-qualified Alexandrite laser crystals in the EU project GALACTIC. The project partners have mad Challenging Einstein's greatest theory with extreme stars
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Norwich UK (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein's theory of general relativity.
The international team looked to the stars - a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise - through seven radio telescopes across the globe.
And they used them to challenge Einstein's most famous theo
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein's theory of general relativity.
The international team looked to the stars - a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise - through seven radio telescopes across the globe.
And they used them to challenge Einstein's most famous theo Super-bright stellar explosion is likely a dying star giving birth to a black hole or neutron star
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Boston MA (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
In June of 2018, telescopes around the world picked up a brilliant blue flash from the spiral arm of a galaxy 200 million light years away. The powerful burst appeared at first to be a supernova, though it was much faster and far brighter than any stellar explosion scientists had yet seen. The signal, procedurally labeled AT2018cow, has since been dubbed simply "the Cow," and astronomers have ca
In June of 2018, telescopes around the world picked up a brilliant blue flash from the spiral arm of a galaxy 200 million light years away. The powerful burst appeared at first to be a supernova, though it was much faster and far brighter than any stellar explosion scientists had yet seen. The signal, procedurally labeled AT2018cow, has since been dubbed simply "the Cow," and astronomers have ca Closing in on the first light in the Universe
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
Research using new antennas in the Australian hinterland has reduced background noise and brought us closer to finding a 13-billion-year-old signal
The early Universe was dark, filled with a hot soup of opaque particles. These condensed to form neutral hydrogen which coalesced to form the first stars in what astronomers call the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR).
"Finding the weak signal of thi
Research using new antennas in the Australian hinterland has reduced background noise and brought us closer to finding a 13-billion-year-old signal
The early Universe was dark, filled with a hot soup of opaque particles. These condensed to form neutral hydrogen which coalesced to form the first stars in what astronomers call the Epoch of Reionisation (EoR).
"Finding the weak signal of thi Stellar "ashfall" could help distant planets grow
Wednesday, 15 December 2021 06:42 Write a comment
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
The world's first 3D simulation simultaneously considering dust motion and growth in a disk around a young star has shown that large dust from the central region can be entrained by and then ejected by gas outflows, and eventually fall back onto the outer regions of the disk where it may enable planetesimal formation.
This process can be likened to volcanic "ashfall" where ash carried up b
The world's first 3D simulation simultaneously considering dust motion and growth in a disk around a young star has shown that large dust from the central region can be entrained by and then ejected by gas outflows, and eventually fall back onto the outer regions of the disk where it may enable planetesimal formation.
This process can be likened to volcanic "ashfall" where ash carried up b