...the who's who,
and the what's what 
of the space industry

Space Careers

news Space News

Search News Archive

Title

Article text

Keyword

Write a comment

TAMPA, Fla. — The frenzy of activity swirling around SPACs is pushing space into a new era of risk-taking, according to two satellite industry veterans. 

The past decade’s flow of private capital into megaconstellations and launch startups was a sedate “tea party” in comparison to what’s happening now, Iridium Communications CEO Matt Desch told SpaceNews in an interview.

Write a comment
Nelson Senate hearing 2018

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s nomination of former senator Bill Nelson as the next administrator of NASA has won widespread support from both members of Congress and the broader space community.

The White House announced March 19 its formal intent to nominate Nelson, a Democrat who served three terms in the Senate from Florida, as NASA administrator.

Write a comment
nasa
Credit: CC0 Public Domain

President Joe Biden has chosen a former senator from Florida who flew on the space shuttle just days before the Challenger launch accident to lead NASA.

Biden on Friday announced his intent to nominate Bill Nelson as the 's administrator.

Nelson, 78, grew up near Cape Canaveral and was serving as a Democratic congressman when he launched aboard Columbia in January 1986. His commander was Charles Bolden Jr., who later served as NASA administrator under President Barack Obama—at Nelson's urging.

Nelson was elected in 2000 to the Senate, where he served until his defeat in 2018.

If confirmed by the Senate, Nelson will become NASA's 14th administrator, succeeding another former member of Congress, Jim Bridenstine, a Republican from Oklahoma.

This is a critical time for NASA as momentum accelerates in the commercial space program.

SpaceX is about to launch its third flight of astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA; Boeing is expected join the crew delivery effort later this year. Space station supply runs, meanwhile, have been handled by private companies under contract to NASA for nearly a decade.

Write a comment

WASHINGTON — SpaceX has agreed to maneuver any of its Starlink satellites that come close to the International Space Station or other NASA spacecraft in low Earth orbit as part of an agreement between the agency and the company.

Week in images: 15 - 19 March 2021

Thursday, 18 March 2021 14:03
Write a comment

Dynamic dunes

Week in images: 15 - 19 March 2021

Discover our week through the lens

Write a comment
The InSight Lander
This artist's concept shows the InSight lander, its sensors, cameras and instruments. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

An international team of researchers studying seismic data collected by NASA's Insight spacecraft has used the data to calculate the size of Mars' core. The group plans to discuss their findings at this year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, which will be held virtually due to the pandemic. As a prelude to the conference, team member Simon Stähler has made available a prerecorded presentation for those interested. The team intends to submit their results to a peer-reviewed journal in the near future.

Up until now, the only celestial bodies that have had their cores measured were Earth and the moon. To make such measurements, scientists have used seismic data from sensors that detect the sounds made by quakes. Eager to do the same for Mars, NASA sent Insight to the —it landed near the planet's equator back in 2018 and began listening for Marsquakes soon thereafter. To date, sensors aboard the craft have captured seismic data for approximately 500 quakes.

Researchers tackle Mars topographic systems

Thursday, 18 March 2021 13:08
Write a comment
Researchers tackle Mars topographic systems
An image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, acquired May 13, 2018 during winter at the South Pole of Mars, shows a carbon dioxide ice cap covering the region and as the sun returns in the spring, “spiders” begin to emerge from the landscape. Credit: NASA

Researchers at Trinity College Dublin have been shedding light on the enigmatic "spiders from Mars," providing the first physical evidence that these unique features on the planet's surface can be formed by the sublimation of CO2 ice.

Spiders, more formally referred to as araneiforms, are strange-looking negative topography radial systems of dendritic troughs; patterns that resemble branches of a tree or fork lightning.

Write a comment

The European Space Agency is currently looking for a new Director of Earth Observation Programmes, to join its Executive Board and support the Director General, with responsibility for relevant ESA programmes and overall objectives.

Write a comment
If skies are clear, don’t miss a chance to catch sight of these distant orbital sentinels over the coming weeks.
A flare from the IGS 1B satellite in GEO orbi. Credit: Marco Langbroek

You can spot "GEOSat' satellites in far-flung orbits… if you know exactly where and when to look.

Watch the sky long enough, and you're bound to see one.

Seasoned observers are familiar with seeing satellites in low Earth , as these modern artificial sky apparitions lit by sunlight grace the dawn or dusk sky. Occasionally, you might even see a flare from a passing , as a reflective solar panel catches the last rays of sunlight passing overhead.

But look closely along either side of the celestial equator (the imaginary line that the Earth's equator traces on the sky) at certain times of the year, and you might just see the ghostly flare of a distant GEOSat (geosynchronous satellite) as it briefly brightens into visibility and fades away.

Right around equinox in March or September is a good time to try and in GEO as they reach near 100% illumination opposite to the sun, before entering the Earth's shadow and winking out.

Write a comment
The Chang'e-5 ascent vehicle shortly after separation from the Chang'e-5 orbiter while in lunar orbit.

HELSINKI — A spacecraft involved in China’s 2020 lunar sample return mission has entered orbit around Sun-Earth Lagrange point 1 as part of an extended mission.

Write a comment
Airplane aisle during flight

Flight passengers will soon be able to connect to their families and colleagues on Earth via low-orbit telecommunications satellites.

Earth from Space: Amazon rainforest

Thursday, 18 March 2021 09:00
Write a comment
Amazon rainforest

Ahead of the International Day of Forests, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over part of the Amazon rainforest in the Amazonas – the largest state in Brazil.

Write a comment
NASA completes engine test firing of moon rocket on 2nd try
In this image from video made available by NASA, the core stage of the Space Launch System, NASA's planned moon rocket, is tested at the Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Miss., on Thursday, Mar. 18, 2021. With this critical test finally finished, NASA now will send the rocket segment to Kennedy Space Center for launch preparations. (NASA via AP)

NASA completed an engine test firing of its moon rocket Thursday, after the first attempt in January ended prematurely.

Write a comment
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 19, 2021
NASA and SpaceX have signed a joint agreement to formalize both parties' strong interest in the sharing of information to maintain and improve space safety. This agreement enables a deeper level of coordination, cooperation, and data sharing, and defines the arrangement, responsibilities, and procedures for flight safety coordination. The focus of the agreement is on conjunction avoidance
Write a comment
Washington (AFP) March 19, 2021
NASA successfully carried out a key static test of its troubled Space Launch System rocket on Thursday, a win for the agency as it prepares to return to the Moon. The second "hot fire" test saw all four of the rocket's RS-25 engines fire simultaneously at 4:40 pm Eastern time (2040 GMT) for the full duration of eight minutes, producing a maximum of 1.6 million pounds of thrust (7.1 million n
Page 1779 of 1902