Mars: Perseverance rover takes a sample, Ingenuity notches 13th flight
Wednesday, 08 September 2021 06:36
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NASA's Mars rover Perseverance has drilled and encapsulated the first rock sample ever taken on another planet, while the accompanying helicopter Ingenuity has completed its 13th flight.
The mission reached both milestones over the Labor Day Weekend - the flight was completed Saturday and the drilling Monday.
The rock sample was imaged by the rover's instruments and stored in an Rocket flight to sharpen NASA's study of the Sun
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It's best not to look directly at the Sun, unless you're one of NASA's Sun-observing instruments. And even then, doing so will cause some damage. Exposure to the Sun degrades light sensors of all kinds, from the retinas in the human eye to instruments aboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite, or SDO. Fortunately, with periodic calibrations, the latter can continue transmitting high-qua China develops prototype Mars helicopter
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The newly developed and recently unveiled prototype miniature helicopter drone, a possible means to support China's Mars missions, is designed to become a navigator for the Mars rover. It will greatly boost the latter's ability to explore valuable targets on the surface of the Red Planet, the project leader said on 6 September.
The newly developed and recently unveiled prototype miniature Gaofen 5-02 satellite launched from Taiyuan
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China launched the Gaofen 5-02 Earth-observation satellite on Tuesday morning at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province, according to the China National Space Administration.
The administration said the satellite was carried by a Long March 4C carrier rocket that blasted off at 11:01 am and then successfully entered orbit, marking the deployment of the 24th Gaofen-series sp Space Health Institute launches the first commercial spaceflight medical research program
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The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) at Baylor College of Medicine has announced the first-of-its-kind research platform to study human health and performance in private spaceflight participants. Working with commercial spaceflight providers and their passengers, TRISH's EXPAND (Enhancing eXploration Platforms and Analog Definition) Program will collect in-flight health Diamonds in the sky
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Scientists from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST) and Rutgers University have used simple concepts from granular physics to explain the curious diamond shapes of two "near Earth" asteroids.
Asteroids are rocky bodies that orbit the sun. What makes them fascinating to researchers is that they are made up of leftover materials-the matter that didn't g Bradford’s Comet production moves to Luxembourg
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 22:42 Write a comment
Bradford Space is updating its Comet electrothermal propulsion technology and transferring production of the small satellite thrusters from the United States to Luxembourg.
Exotrail to provide thrust for York cislunar mission
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:54 Write a comment
York Space Systems plans to rely on Exotrail electric propulsion for a mission to provide Earth-to-moon communications services from cislunar orbit.
Space Force awards ManTech $476 million contract for launch systems engineering services
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:34 Write a comment
The U.S. Space Force’s launch enterprise awarded ManTech a $476 million contract to provide systems engineering and integration services for the next 10 years.
DARPA awards Lockheed Martin $25 million contract modification for integration of Blackjack satellites
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 21:15 Write a comment
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency increased Lockheed Martin’s contract for satellite integration work for the Blackjack program by $25.3 million.
Inmarsat Q&A: Orchestrating a new multi-orbit broadband constellation
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 20:38 Write a comment
British satellite operator Inmarsat plans to spend $100 million over the next five years preparing to enter the increasingly competitive low-Earth-orbit market. SpaceNews caught up with Todd McDonell, Inmarsat’s president of global government, to find out what these plans mean for government customers that make up about a third of the company’s revenues.
Starbridge raises $12M in fresh capital for application-focused space startups
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 20:09 Write a comment
Starbridge Venture Capital is set to announce Sept. 8 that it has closed its second fund with $12.1 million in new capital.
UN space office seeks consensus on space traffic management
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 19:39 Write a comment
The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is poised to assist the international community in tackling the challenges posed by an increasingly diverse set of actors launching and operating spacecraft.
SpaceX to increase Starlink antenna production rate
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 19:22 Write a comment
SpaceX plans to introduce a new version of its user terminal for its Starlink system later this year that will be less expensive to produce while also scaling up production.
Launch providers argue against a “magic number” for price to orbit
Tuesday, 07 September 2021 18:34 Write a comment
Companies offering smallsat launch services argue there is no “magic” price per kilogram that allows them to unlock greater demand, with customers willing to trade off price for responsiveness or other capabilities.