Three-man crew docks at ISS after flight honouring Gagarin (Update)
Thursday, 08 April 2021 08:21
A three-man crew blasted off to the International Space Station Friday in a capsule honouring the 60th anniversary of Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becoming the first person in space.
Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov and NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei lifted off from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at the expected time of 0742 GMT, footage broadcast by NASA TV showed, with docking expected at 1107 GMT.
A NASA commentator citing Russian Mission Control reports confirmed that the Soyuz capsule had entered orbit, with all stages of the flight proceeding as expected.
"Hey, Expedition 64 –- set the dinner table... Can't wait to join you on @Space_Station in a few hours!" Vande Hei tweeted to the crew on board the ISS before blast-off.
The launch came just ahead of Monday's anniversary of Gagarin's historic flight on April 12, 1961.
Earth from Space: Bucharest, Romania
Thursday, 08 April 2021 08:00
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Bucharest – the capital and largest city of Romania.
OneWeb continues to study offering navigation services
Thursday, 08 April 2021 00:16
WASHINGTON — The new chief executive of OneWeb says the company is still pursuing some kind of navigation capability for its broadband satellite constellation, although a full-fledged service may have to wait until a second-generation system.
U.S. intelligence report predicts heightened space competition between U.S. and China
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 19:40
WASHINGTON — The Office of the Director of National Intelligence in a new report released April 8 projects that by 2040 China will be the most significant rival to the United States in space, competing on commercial, civil and military fronts.
Rep. Lieu praises move to establish Space Force acquisitions command in Los Angeles
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 17:31
WASHINGTON — Congressman Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) hailed the April 8 announcement that Los Angeles Air Force Base will be the permanent home of the U.S. Space Force procurement command.
“I’m very excited that Space Systems Command will be located at Los Angeles Air Force Base,” Lieu told SpaceNews.
Space Force to create ‘one-stop shop’ for launch procurement and operations
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 17:30
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force is consolidating oversight of space launch activities under a two-star general who will have broad responsibilities for the procurement of launch services and for the operations of the military’s launch ranges.
Space Force to establish a new command to oversee technology development and acquisition
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 17:30
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force on April 8 unveiled new details of its plan to establish a Space Systems Command in Los Angeles to oversee the development of next-generation technologies, and the procurement of satellites and launch services.
Phase Four wins Air Force contract for electric thruster development
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 16:30
WASHINGTON — Phase Four, a startup working on electric propulsion for satellites, has won an Air Force contract to test using an alternative propellant for its thrusters.
Phase Four announced April 8 it received a $750,000 Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) award from the U.S.
Lunar brightness temperature for calibration of microwave humidity sounders
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 16:07
Calibration and validation (CAL/VAL) is a key technology for quantitative application of space-borne remote sensing data. However, the complex space environment can cause many uncertainties and degrade calibration accuracy. In-flight calibration is always needed. The thermal emission of the Moon is stable over hundreds of years because there is no atmosphere and no significant physical or chemical change on its surface. The deep space view of the Microwave Humidity Sounder onboard NOAA-18 has viewed the Moon many times every year. Under solar illumination, the lunar surface shows stable and periodical variation in microwave brightness temperature (TB). The Moon is a potential calibration source for thermal calibration
The related work was published in Science China Earth Sciences as "Calibration of the space-borne microwave humidity sounder based on real-time thermal emission from lunar surface." Based on the heat conductive equation, the temperature profiles of lunar regolith at different regions and local time are simulated numerically with the real-time solar radiance and angle of incidence.
Mars didn't dry up in one go
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 16:00
The Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars. Meanwhile, its precursor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp (officially Aeolis Mons), a mountain several kilometers high at the center of the Gale crater. Using the telescope on the ChemCam instrument to make detailed observations of the steep terrain of Mount Sharp at a distance, a French-US team headed by William Rapin, CNRS researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (CNRS/Université Toulouse III/CNES), has discovered that the Martian climate recorded there alternated between dry and wetter periods, before drying up completely about 3 billion years ago.
New research shows that Mars did not dry up all at once
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 16:00The Perseverance rover has just landed on Mars. Meanwhile, its precursor Curiosity continues to explore the base of Mount Sharp (officially Aeolis Mons), a mountain several kilometers high at the center of the Gale crater. Using the telescope on the ChemCam instrument to make detailed observations of the steep terrain of Mount Sharp at a distance, a French-US team headed by William Rapin, CNRS researcher at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (CNRS/Université Toulouse III/CNES), has discovered that the Martian climate recorded there alternated between dry and wetter periods, before drying up completely about 3 billion years ago.
Op-ed | Attention Silicon Valley: The Exposure of Space Startups to US Export Control Rules
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 15:27
Federal officials warn that many space startups are not aware of their export control obligations and are exposed to punitive sanctions. With five different export control mechanisms, this is no surprise. If your startup has an international client, supplier, expert, investor, or cooperation, you might just need a permit.
Satellites monitor Mount Etna’s unpredictable behaviour
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 14:30
Italy’s Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, has recently been on explosive form, with 17 eruptions in less than three months. Instruments onboard three different satellites orbiting Earth have acquired imagery of the eruptions – revealing the intensity of the lava-fountaining eruptive episodes, known as paroxysms.
Private equity firm GI Partners plans to buy Orbcomm in $1.1 billion deal
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 14:05
TAMPA, Fla. — Private equity firm GI Partners plans to buy satellite operator Orbcomm, which specializes in connecting industrial monitoring devices, for about $1.1 billion including net debt.
Ariane 6 pre-flight 'plumbing' tests
Wednesday, 07 April 2021 13:19
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Ariane 6 pre-flight 'plumbing' tests