China's Tianwen-1 probe enters Mars orbit: state media
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
China's Tianwen-1 probe entered the orbit of the planet Mars on Wednesday, state media said, after it launched from southern China last July.
It is the latest step in Beijing's ambitious space programme, which aims to establish a crewed space station by 2022 and eventually put a man on the moon, and has opened up a new, extraterrestrial arena for US-China competition.
Tianwen-1 launched Solar system's most distant planetoid confirmed
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
A team, including an astronomer from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), have confirmed a planetoid that is almost four times farther from the Sun than Pluto, making it the most distant object ever observed in our solar system. The planetoid, nicknamed "Farfarout," was first detected in 2018, and the team has now collected enough observations to pin down the orbit. The Minor Ozmens' SNC delivers prototype lunar crew module to DYNETICS
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national security company owned by Eren and Fatih Ozmen, delivered a prototype crew module for Dynetics' Human Landing System (DHLS), to NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). Dynetics is a wholly owned subsidiary of Leidos. SNC is responsible for providing key technologies and system integration of the crew module as part of the Dynetics-led Ball Aerospace to build spacecraft for NASA Heliophysics Science Mission
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
Ball Aerospace was selected to build the spacecraft for NASA's Global Lyman-alpha Imager of the Dynamic Exosphere (GLIDE) heliophysics science Mission of Opportunity. GLIDE will study variability in Earth's exosphere, the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere where it touches space, by tracking far ultraviolet light emitted from hydrogen.
Dr. Lara Waldrop of the University of Illinois Urbana Astronomers offer possible explanation for elusive dark-matter-free galaxies
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
A team led by astronomers at the University of California, Riverside, has found that some dwarf galaxies may today appear to be dark-matter free even though they formed as galaxies dominated by dark matter in the past.
Galaxies that appear to have little to no dark matter - nonluminous material thought to constitute 85% of matter in the universe - complicate astronomers' understanding of t Embry-Riddle alumna helps unravel key mysteries of rare stars
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 10:51
Within the constellation Cygnus, an elderly star and its massive companion are having one last hurrah, flinging off mass at an incredible rate before they explode as supernovae and collapse into a black hole.
Now, researchers including recent Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University graduate Laura M. Lee have mapped the elderly star's orbit around its oversized and equally ancient partner. In Mars mission inspires growing fan base back in China
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 09:09
Cui Tingting dyed her hair Mars red for the arrival of China's spacecraft at the planet known in Chinese as the Fire Star.
"This is a great era for space, and the future of mankind lies in the exploration of outer space," said Cui, director of the China Mars Society, the local chapter of a global advocacy network.
Tests of Galileo Open Service Navigation Message Authentication underway
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 08:07
Galileo has started testing Open Service Navigation Message Authentication (OSNMA) in its signal-in-space, allowing the first-ever OSNMA-protected position fix to be successfully computed. Testing will continue over the next months, ahead of a so-called ‘public observation’ phase. This is the first-ever transmission of authentication features in open GNSS signals of a global navigation system.
NASA to use commercial launch vehicle for Europa Clipper
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 01:23
WASHINGTON — NASA is no longer considering launching the Europa Clipper mission on the Space Launch System, deciding instead to launch the spacecraft on a commercial rocket it will procure in the next year.
Op-ed | Don’t call it a bubble, more investment in space launch is a good thing
Wednesday, 10 February 2021 00:40
There has been a flurry of speculation recently that too much investment is being poured into risky launch ventures, creating a speculative bubble in the launch services sector. Critics, government consultants, and even some military industry leaders have suggested that the government step in to redirect private investment to a more suitable direction.
Maxar executive: Smallsat industry deserves credit for pushing innovation
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 23:12
WASHINGTON — Technological advances in small satellites are helping improve spacecraft designs and pushing the industry to take more risks, Jim McClelland, vice president of mission architecture at Maxar Technologies, said Feb. 10 at the SmallSat Symposium.
“It’s been a very exciting transformation of the industry,” he said.
Letter to the Editor: Fostering open architecture and partnership on space-based missile warning
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 22:45In a February 1, 2021 SpaceNews article titled, “An open system for missile-warning satellite data is in the works but faces challenges,” a number of assertions were made that were factually incorrect, misleading and taken out of context about Lockheed Martin’s role in our nation’s premiere missile warning systems, including the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) system and the missile warning mission’s next generation ground control system, the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) MDP (Mission Data Processing) and Enterprise Ground Services (EGS).
Letter | Fostering open architecture and partnership on space-based missile warning
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 22:45In a Feb. 1, 2021 SpaceNews article titled, “An open system for missile-warning satellite data is in the works but faces challenges,” a number of assertions were made that were factually incorrect, misleading and taken out of context about Lockheed Martin’s role in our nation’s premiere missile warning systems, including the Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS), the Next Generation Overhead Persistent Infrared (Next Gen OPIR) system and the missile warning mission’s next generation ground control system, the Future Operationally Resilient Ground Evolution (FORGE) MDP (Mission Data Processing) and Enterprise Ground Services (EGS).
Virgin Orbit considering moves into adjacent markets
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 21:33
WASHINGTON — With its first successful launch in the books, Virgin Orbit is considering ways it can expand into adjacent markets, including supporting ventures developing satellite systems.
During a keynote presentation at the SmallSat Symposium Feb.
DoD grapples with how to bring in new space technology to military systems
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 21:24
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military has built “very exquisite” satellites that operate for decades and is now looking to transition to a different space architecture that takes advantage of emerging technologies, Steve Butow, director of the Defense Innovation Unit’s space portfolio, said Feb.