Dirty laundry in space? NASA, Tide tackle cleaning challenge
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 14:24
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Space object with orbit stretching into the Oort cloud discovered
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 12:40 Write a comment
Astronomers Pedro Bernardinelli and Gary Bernstein discovered a space object recently that has an orbit around the sun and also stretches into the Oort cloud—they have named it 2014 UN271. The researchers made the discovery while studying archival images collected for the Dark Energy Survey over the years 2014 to 2018. Since its discovery, entities such as the MMPL forum, the Minor Planet Center and JPL Solar System Dynamics have been tracking the object and have found that it will make its closest approach to Earth in 2031.
Measurements of the object put it between the size of a very small planet and a comet—it is believed to have a diameter of 100 to 370 km. If it turns out to be on the larger end of that spectrum, it would mark the largest Oort cloud object discovered to date. But it is the path of the object that has drawn the attention of astronomers—its orbit is nearly perpendicular to the plane created by the nine inner planets and takes it deep into the solar system and into the Oort cloud.
Dropping power levels threaten InSight mission
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 10:49 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Dust accumulation on the solar panels of NASA’s InSight Mars lander is reducing the power to the spacecraft and could force the mission to end within a year.
At a June 21 meeting of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, Bruce Banerdt, principal investigator for the InSight mission at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said dust accumulating on the lander’s two solar panels has drastically reduced the amount of power they produce, requiring some instruments to be turned off at least temporarily.
Ex-Im Bank finances SpaceX launch deal
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 09:48 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Export-Import Bank of the United States has arranged financing for the SpaceX launch of a Hispasat satellite, the first space deal the bank has done in six years.
ESA and EU celebrate a fresh start for space in Europe
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 07:15 Write a comment
Press Release N° 20–2021
After months of constructive negotiations, ESA and EU signed today a new Financial Framework Partnership Agreement (FFPA) in a ceremony to celebrate the launch of the new EU space programme.
Apollo 14 remembered as 'back to space' mission that expanded lunar science
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
Family members of the Apollo 14 crew that landed on the moon in 1971 marked the 50th anniversary of the historic expedition Saturday at Kennedy Space Center.
The three astronauts from Apollo 14 - Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell - have died, but their families and several other Apollo-era figures recalled the trip as a triumphant return to the moon after the Apollo 13 acc USAF, FAA collaborate on commercial space regulations
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
The U.S. Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration entered into an agreement to ensure public safety at Space Force bases, both agencies said on Monday.
The accord, signed on June 15, also offers the reduction of complications in duplicative processes and approvals for the commercial space sector, officials said.
"Assured access to space is vital to our national security, Orolia's GNSS Simulators now support an ultra-low latency of five milliseconds
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
Orolia recently announced the launch of its Real-Time Performance capability that achieves an ultra-low latency of five milliseconds. The feature will be standard on all Skydel-powered GNSS simulators. Skydel is the software-defined simulation engine that powers Orolia's advanced GNSS simulators including its BroadSim (available via Orolia Defense and Security) and GSG product lines.
"Skyd Researchers trace dust grain's journey through newborn solar system
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
A research team led by the University of Arizona has reconstructed in unprecedented detail the history of a dust grain that formed during the birth of the solar system more than 4.5 billion years ago. The findings provide insights into the fundamental processes underlying the formation of planetary systems, many of which are still shrouded in mystery.
For the study, the team developed a ne Japanese, Italian, US physicists reveal new measurements of high-energy cosmic rays
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
New findings published this week in Physical Review Letters, Measurement of the Iron Spectrum in Cosmic Rays from 10GeV/n to 2.0TeV/n with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope on the International Space Station, suggest that cosmic ray nuclei of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen travel through the galaxy toward Earth in a similar way, but, surprisingly, that iron arrives at Earth differently.
A s Crustal block tectonics offer clues to Venus' geology, study finds
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
A new analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. Published in the PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences), the study - which includes contributions by Baylor University planetary physicist Peter James, Ph.D. - found that the movement of these blocks could indicate t 'Pack ice' tectonics reveal Venus' geological secrets
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
A new analysis of Venus' surface shows evidence of tectonic motion in the form of crustal blocks that have jostled against each other like broken chunks of pack ice. The movement of these blocks could indicate that Venus is still geologically active and give scientists insight into both exoplanet tectonics and the earliest tectonic activity on Earth.
"We've identified a previously unrecogn SwRI awarded Lunar lander investigation contract
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
To advance understanding of Earth's nearest neighbor, NASA has selected three new lunar investigations, including a payload suite led by Southwest Research Institute. The Lunar Interior Temperature and Materials Suite (LITMS) is one of two packages that will land on the far side of the Moon, a first for the agency, as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative.
" US, French astronauts make ISS spacewalk
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
A French and an American astronaut completed a six-hour spacewalk Sunday as they installed new solar panels to boost power supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), NASA said.
"It is a huge team effort each time and couldn't be happier to return with @astro_kimbrough," tweeted Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, referring to his American colleague Shane Kimbrough.
Pesquet is with the Eur Russian, US scientists spar over causes of astronauts' headache
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33 Write a comment
US astronauts on board the International Space Station have been complaining of headache, with Russian and US scientists divided on whether an increased concentration of carbon dioxide in the station's atmosphere is the reason, according to a fresh report by Russia's Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre released on Monday.
"NASA put forward in 2008 requirements to reduce the level of car