NASA's stakeholder collaborations help inform Moon to Mars planning
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 10:44
NASA released a revised version of its Moon to Mars objectives Tuesday, forming a blueprint for shaping exploration throughout the solar system. These guideposts in the agency's Moon to Mars exploration approach will help shape NASA's investments, as well as those of the agency's industry and international partners, toward the Moon and beyond.
Starting with 50 draft objectives developed by InSight hears its first meteoroid impacts on Mars
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 10:44
NASA's InSight lander has detected seismic waves from four space rocks that crashed on Mars in 2020 and 2021. Not only do these represent the first impacts detected by the spacecraft's seismometer since InSight touched down on the Red Planet in 2018, it also marks the first time seismic and acoustic waves from an impact have been detected on Mars.
A new paper published Monday in Nature Geo First 3D renders from JunoCam data reveal "frosted cupcake" clouds on Jupiter
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 10:44
Animations of the relative heights of the cloud tops of Jupiter reveal delicately textured swirls and peaks that resemble the frosting on top of a cupcake. The results have been presented by citizen scientist and professional mathematician and software developer, Gerald Eichstadt, at the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) 2022 in Granada.
The animation uses data from JunoCam, the visible-l Lawmakers press Air Force for final decision on U.S. Space Command
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 09:00
Colorado’s senators in a Sept. 27 to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall argue that a final basing decision on U.S. Space Command needs to be made as soon as possible in light of the Ukraine conflict and China’s expansion in the Pacific
TransAstra and Celestron to modify telescopes for spaceflight
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 08:00
Space logistics startup TransAstra announced an agreement Sept. 27 with telescope manufacturer Celestron to develop a space-qualified version of a popular ground-based telescope.
The post TransAstra and Celestron to modify telescopes for spaceflight appeared first on SpaceNews.
ESA business boosts small space companies
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:50
ESA continues to break down barriers and create more opportunities for small companies to get involved in space. Start-up companies and small enterprises offer agile and bespoke development adding value to Europe’s future space economy.
After DART comes Hera
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 06:00
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The night of 26 September 2022 will make space history - as the moment when NASA's DART spacecraft impacts the Dimorphos asteroid in an attempt to divert its course - humankind's first planetary defence test. Next, in 2024, ESA launches its Hera spacecraft to investigate the post-impact asteroid. In fact, Hera is not one spacecraft but three: it carries with it ESA's first deep-space CubeSats to make extra observations of its target.
With the Hera mission, ESA is assuming even greater responsibility for protecting our planet and ensuring that Europe plays a leading role in the common effort
Webb’s icy instrument reveals complex structures
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 05:00
Image:
These spectacular images feature the spiral galaxy IC 5332, taken by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope (left) and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope (right). The images display the powerful capabilities that both world-leading space telescopes provide, especially when combining their data.
The Webb image shows the spiral galaxy in unprecedented detail thanks to observations from its Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI). IC 5332 lies over 29 million light-years from Earth, and has a diameter of roughly 66 000 light-years, making it a little larger than the Milky Way. It is notable for being almost perfectly face-on with respect
'A new era': NASA strikes asteroid in key test of planetary defense
Tuesday, 27 September 2022 00:14
NASA's DART spaceship on Monday struck the asteroid Dimorphos in a historic test of humanity's ability to prevent a cosmic object from devastating life on Earth.
Impact occurred at 7:14 pm Eastern Time (2314 GMT), 10 months after the Double Asteroid Redirection Test probe blasted off from California to carry out its first-of-a-kind experiment.
"We're embarking on a new era, an era in whi NASA’s DART Mission Hits Asteroid in First-Ever Planetary Defense Test
Monday, 26 September 2022 23:09
After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration – successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space. DART collides with asteroid in planetary defense test
Monday, 26 September 2022 22:59
A NASA spacecraft collided with a moon orbiting a near Earth asteroid Sept. 26 in a demonstration of a technology that could one day be used to protect the Earth from a hazardous object.
The post DART collides with asteroid in planetary defense test appeared first on SpaceNews.
Hera team congratulates NASA asteroid impactors
Monday, 26 September 2022 22:35
ESA’s Hera mission team congratulates their counterparts in NASA’s DART mission team for their historic impact with the Dimorphos asteroid. Moving at 6.1 km per second, the vending-machine-sized Double Asteroid Redirect Test spacecraft struck the 160-m diameter asteroid at 01:15 CEST (00:15 BST) in the early hours of Tuesday morning, in humankind’s first test of the ‘kinetic impactor’ method of planetary defence.
UK shortlists Astroscale and ClearSpace for multi-debris removal mission
Monday, 26 September 2022 17:45
The UK Space Agency said Sept. 26 it has shortlisted groups led by startups Astroscale and ClearSpace for a mission to remove two spacecraft from low Earth orbit in 2026.
The post UK shortlists Astroscale and ClearSpace for multi-debris removal mission appeared first on SpaceNews.
Direct impact or nuclear weapons? How to save Earth from an asteroid
Monday, 26 September 2022 17:39
NASA's DART mission to test deflecting an asteroid using "kinetic impact" with a spaceship is just one way to defend planet Earth from an approaching object - and for now, the only method possible with current technology.
The operation is like playing billiards in space, using Newton's laws of motion to guide us.
If an asteroid threat to Earth were real, a mission might need to be lau In new setback, hurricane forces Moon rocket into storage
Monday, 26 September 2022 17:39
NASA's Artemis 1 rocket - waiting to blast off on a delayed mission to the Moon - will be rolled back into its storage hangar Monday night, the space agency said, as Florida braces for Hurricane Ian.
The move, to protect the rocket from strong winds and heavy rain forecast for the Kennedy Space Center, will cause further setbacks for the uncrewed Moon mission, which was scheduled to launch