The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency awarded Parsons a $10.8 million contract to prototype a ground operations center for the agency’s Blackjack constellation.

SpaceNews

Video: 00:03:28

Even astronauts in orbit cannot escape housework. Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer as he vacuums the European Columbus and Japanese Kibo modules of the International Space Station in this 360° video.

Unlike on Earth, dust on the Space Station does not settle. Astronauts vacuum regularly to prevent floating dust from getting in their eyes and noses, causing irritation and allergic reactions. Pan to explore the different modules and follow Matthias’s work.

Matthias was launched to the International Space Station on Crew Dragon Endurance as part of Crew-3 at 02:03 GMT/03:03 CET Thursday 11 November. His ESA mission on board

Launch Site One, United States (AFP) Dec 11, 2021
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company blasted its third private crew to space on Saturday, this time including the daughter of the first American astronaut. The stubby white spacecraft with a round tip blasted off into clear blue skies over West Texas for a roughly 11 minute trip to just beyond the internationally-recognized boundary of space, 62 miles (100 kilometers) high. The six-member cre

Beijing (Sputnik) Dec 10, 2021
As China's Yutu-2 lunar rover set off to investigate a peculiar shape dubbed the "moon cube," which the craft spotted earlier this month, the rover will take its time travelling to it. According to VICE, however, there's a good reason why it may take about two to three lunar days, "or two to three months on Earth," for the rover to reach the object supposedly located about 80 metres away.

Beijing (XNA) Dec 10, 2021
A Long March-4B rocket on Friday morning successfully sent a new group of satellites into space, marking the 400th launch mission of the China-developed Long March carrier rocket series. Since the first launch in 1970, the Long March carrier rocket series has carried out 92.1 percent of China's space launch mission, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC)

Orlando FL (UPI) Dec 10, 2021
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin rocket company plans to launch six people, its largest crew yet, including the daughter of late astronaut Alan Shepard and ABC News anchor Michael Strahan, into space Saturday from Texas. Blue Origin plans liftoff of the New Shepard rocket on its NS-19 mission at 8:45 a.m. CST from its Corn Ranch spaceport 160 miles east of El Paso. Launch personnel postponed a laun

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 10, 2021
Technavio analyzes the space habitat market by technology (inflatable and non-inflatable) and geography (North America, Europe, APAC, and ROW). The report expects the market to witness an incremental growth of USD 94.92 million between 2020 and 2025, accelerating at a CAGR of 8.41% during the forecast period. By technology, the market generated maximum revenue in the inflatable segment in

Washington DC (UPI) Dec 10, 2021
NASA's Mars helicopter may have to wait days to overcome a blocked radio signal caused by hills between it and the Perseverance rover in Jezero Crater, a NASA official said. Until then, the tiny helicopter that has captured the imagination and attention of people around the globe will sit quietly, charging its solar-powered batteries, Teddy Tzanetos, Ingenuity program lead, said in an i

Morgantown WV (SPX) Dec 10, 2021
Engineers at West Virginia University are propelling exploration forward by creating control software for a group of aerial robots (aerobots) that will survey the atmosphere of Venus, the second planet from the sun. According to researchers, Venus went through a climate change process that transformed it from an Earth-like environment to an inhospitable world. Studying Venus can help model