Copernical Team
NASA's Psyche mission moves forward, passing key milestone
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Now just a year and a half from launch, the mission to explore a metal-rich asteroid will soon begin assembling and testing the spacecraft.
NASA's Psyche mission has passed a critical milestone that moves it a step closer to launch. After an intense review of the mission's progress in building its science instruments and engineering systems, Psyche won clearance to progress into what NASA calls Phase D of its life cycle—the final phase of operations prior to its scheduled launch in August 2022.
Until now, the mission has focused on planning, designing, and building the body of the spacecraft, its solar-electric propulsion system, the three science instruments, electronics, the power subsystem, and the like. The successful review of those elements means the mission can now begin delivering components to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission and will test, assemble, and integrate each piece.
SpaceX Starship prototype rocket crashes in fireball ... again
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A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to Mars crashed in a fiery explosion as it tried to land upright after a test flight Tuesday.
It was the second such explosion after the last prototype of Starship met a similar fate in December.
"We had again another great flight," said a SpaceX announcer on live footage that was broadcast online.
"We've just got to work on that landing a little bit," he added.
The company's founder Elon Musk was uncharacteristically quiet on social media, having announced the night before he was "Off Twitter for a while.
Satellite observations prove crucial in new climate science report
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With impacts from climate change threatening major disruption to society in the coming years, leading scientists have released a compilation of the 10 most important insights on climate to help inform collective action on the ongoing climate crisis, in which satellites have played a crucial role in aiding scientific understanding.
Spacewalkers complete 4 years of power upgrades for station (Update)
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A pair of spacewalking astronauts completed a four-year effort to modernize the International Space Station's power grid on Monday, installing one last battery.
SpaceX aims to launch 'all-civilian' trip into orbit
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SpaceX announced Monday it's aiming to launch this year the first all-civilian mission into Earth's orbit, led by a tech billionaire who plans to raffle off one of the spots aboard the craft.
Entrepreneur Jared Isaacman is to be joined by three other novice astronauts for a multi-day journey into space, including one lucky winner of a drawing.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime adventure: a journey into outer space on the first all-civilian space flight," according to a website dedicated to the mission.
SpaceX, the company started by Elon Musk, said Isaacman is "donating the three seats alongside him.
See the European Service Modules taking humankind forward to the Moon
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Live from the Airbus integration halls in Bremen, Germany, get a sneak peek of the two European Service Modules that will power astronauts to the Moon and back as part of NASA’s Orion spacecraft.
Juice Up Your Rocket! art competition
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Juice Up Your Rocket! art competition
Three more service modules for Artemis to be built in Europe
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ESA signed a further contract with Airbus for the construction of three more European Service Modules for Orion, NASA’s spacecraft that will fly astronauts to the Moon and lunar Gateway as part of the Artemis programme.
Earth observation vital in monitoring wetland waters
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Celebrated annually on 2 February, World Wetlands Day aims to raise global awareness about the importance of wetlands for our planet. This year’s theme shines a light on wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages actions to restore them. From their vantage point of 800 km high, Earth-observing satellites provide data and imagery on wetlands that can be used to monitor and manage these precious resources sustainably.
Zero-G and gravity effects in Low Earth Orbits
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A common misconception about astronauts orbiting the earth is that they are in a gravity-free environment. Unfortunately, according to Newtonian physics, gravity is everywhere present in the universe. Generally, the phenomenon of weightlessness is associated with the term, "zero-G" which would apply to situations in which there is an absence of forces on a body.
Weight as we know it is the