Researchers develop better ways to culture living heart cells on the International Space Station
Friday, 28 May 2021 19:53
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As part of preparing for an experiment aboard the International Space Station, researchers explored new ways to culture living heart cells for microgravity research. They found that cryopreservation, a process of storing cells at -80°C, makes it easier to transport these cells to the orbiting lab, providing more flexibility in launch and operations schedules. The process could benefit other biological research in space and on Earth.
The investigation, MVP Cell-03, cultured heart precursor cells on the space station to study how microgravity affects the number of cells produced and how many of them survive.
Biden seeks $2 billion funding boost for U.S. Space Force
Friday, 28 May 2021 16:47 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — President Biden’s $715 billion defense budget proposal for 2022 includes $17.4 billion for the U.S. Space Force, about $2.2 billion more than what Congress enacted in 2021.
The proposed $715 billion defense budget is $11.3 billion more than what Congress appropriated in 2021.
Satellite operators near June 1 C-band clearing milestone
Friday, 28 May 2021 15:13 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — As bitter legal disputes and billion-dollar price tags dominate headlines around C-band, work is frantically underway to clear the spectrum for U.S. terrestrial 5G wireless operators.
Satellite operators Intelsat and SES, which stand to gain the most from clearing the frequencies in time, are nearing a June 1 internal housekeeping milestone for vacating part of the band this December.
Researchers prepare to send fungi for a ride around the moon
Friday, 28 May 2021 15:07 Write a comment
Week in images: 24 - 28 May 2021
Friday, 28 May 2021 12:43 Write a comment
Week in images: 24 - 28 May 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Innovative video technology to call for new astronaut candidates
Friday, 28 May 2021 11:00 Write a comment
Video:
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In the midst of COVID restrictions rendering travel close to impossible, ESA had to produce an ambitious video to call for applications to the 2021 astronaut selection.
The challenge of this project was to show locations as varied as a spaceship, a city, a canyon, a forest, ESA's satellite testing or control centres, Europe's space port in Kourou, or even the Moon.
To create the illusion of immersing the protagonists into these various environments, ESA teamed up with Duck Factory to use a "Virtual Set": a new technology, that has not yet been used to the full extent of
Congress asks GAO to investigate NASA cybersecurity
Friday, 28 May 2021 10:20 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The bipartisan leadership of the House Science Committee has asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate NASA’s cybersecurity activities amid growing concerns about hacking of government computer systems.
In a May 27 letter, the top Democrats and Republicans of the committee requested the GAO investigate the “cybersecurity risks to the sensitive data” associated with major NASA programs.
Commanding role for ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
Friday, 28 May 2021 08:32 Write a comment
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is expected to serve as International Space Station commander for Expedition 68, following an in-principle agreement by international partners on 19 May, pending consolidation of the Space Station’s operational plans and launch dates.
Earth from Space: The Great Lakes
Friday, 28 May 2021 07:00 Write a comment
All five of North America’s Great Lakes are pictured in this spectacular image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission: Lake Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario.
Navigation error sends NASA's Mars helicopter on wild ride
Friday, 28 May 2021 06:21 Write a comment
A navigation timing error sent NASA's little Mars helicopter on a wild, lurching ride, its first major problem since it took to the Martian skies last month.
The experimental helicopter, named Ingenuity, managed to land safely, officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported Thursday.
The trouble cropped up about a minute into the helicopter's sixth test flight last Saturday at an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters). One of the numerous pictures taken by an on-board camera did not register in the navigation system, throwing the entire timing sequence off and confusing the craft about its location.
ESA signs contract for new generation of Galileo
Friday, 28 May 2021 06:14 Write a comment
Acting on behalf of the European Commission, ESA has signed two contracts for an overall amount of €1.47 billion, to design and build the first batch of the second generation of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites.
Surviving an in-flight anomaly: what happened on Ingenuity's 6th flight
Friday, 28 May 2021 03:30 Write a comment
On the 91st Martian day, or sol, of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover mission, the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter performed its sixth flight. The flight was designed to expand the flight envelope and demonstrate aerial-imaging capabilities by taking stereo images of a region of interest to the west.
Ingenuity was commanded to climb to an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) before translating 492 PLD Space receives ESA contract to study reusing MIURA 5 boosters
Friday, 28 May 2021 03:30 Write a comment
The new project by PLD Space and the European Space Agency (ESA), known as Liquid Propulsion Stage Recovery 2 (LPSR 2), is a continuation of the previous contract awarded by ESA to PLD Space in 2017. This contract is part of ESA's Future Launchers Programme and focuses on the study of re-entry trajectories and configurations for the safe descent of stage one of MIURA 5, which will be launched fr Space-based capabilities are critical to U.S. National Security: DOD tells House
Friday, 28 May 2021 03:30 Write a comment
Space-based capabilities are vital to U.S. national security in today's era of de-stabilizing challenges from Russia and undeniable strategic competition with China, the Defense Department's principal director for space policy told a House Armed Services Committee panel today.
John D. Hill told the HASC subcommittee on strategic forces that Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III has also AFRL opens SWORD lab for space warfighting operations research
Friday, 28 May 2021 03:30 Write a comment
The Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate held a ribbon cutting ceremony May 20 to celebrate the opening of its newest facility, the Space Warfighting Operations Research and Development, or SWORD, laboratory.
Col. Eric Felt, the director of AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate, hosted the event with AFRL commander, Maj. Gen. Heather Pringle as the presiding officer and key