AI helps improve NASA's eyes on the Sun
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12
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A group of researchers is using artificial intelligence techniques to calibrate some of NASA's images of the Sun, helping improve the data that scientists use for solar research. The new technique was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on April 13, 2021.
A solar telescope has a tough job. Staring at the Sun takes a harsh toll, with a constant bombardment by a never-ending German Space Operations Center commands satellite with software of the future
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12 Write a comment
At 11:58 CEST, the command lines on the screen lit up green: 'COMPLETED_SUCCESS'. The software specialists at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) had been working towards this satellite signal for months. On 22 July 2021, Space Operations at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) succeeded in commanding a satellite using the 'European Ground Segment - SpaceX to launch NASA's Europa Clipper on Falcon Heavy rocket in 2024
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12 Write a comment
NASA on Friday awarded SpaceX the $178 million contract to launch the agency's Europa Clipper mission to study Jupiter's fourth-largest moon.
The mission is expected to depart October 2024 on the private aerospace company's Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
"Europa Clipper will conduct a detailed survey of Europa and use a sophisticated suite of scienc Scientists unveil European Mars rover's meteorite-hunting instruments
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The ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, scheduled to launch in 2022, is tasked with hunting for past life on the Red Planet.
Most of the rover's scientific probing will be focused on the first six inches of Mars' crust, but the spacecraft will also be programmed to identify, sample and analyze meteorites strewn across the Martian surface.
Mission scientists unveiled the rover's mete Falcon Heavy to launch Europa Clipper
Saturday, 24 July 2021 14:48 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch its Europa Clipper mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter, a choice that appeared inevitable once NASA was no longer required to use the Space Launch System.
Artificial intelligence helps improve NASA's eyes on the Sun
Saturday, 24 July 2021 07:34 Write a comment
A group of researchers is using artificial intelligence techniques to calibrate some of NASA's images of the Sun, helping improve the data that scientists use for solar research. The new technique was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on April 13, 2021.
NASA selects SpaceX for mission to Jupiter moon Europa
Saturday, 24 July 2021 07:26 Write a comment
NASA on Friday said it had selected SpaceX to launch a planned voyage to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, a huge win for Elon Musk's company as it sets its sights deeper into the solar system.
The Europa Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the total contract worth $178 million.
The mission was previously supposed to take off on NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, with critics calling it a "jobs program" for the state of Alabama where much of the development work is taking place.
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Europa Clipper Mission
Friday, 23 July 2021 17:18 Write a comment
NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for Earth’s first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter's moon Europa. Court denies Viasat attempt to halt Starlink launches pending legal action
Friday, 23 July 2021 14:32 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — A federal appeals court denied a motion from satellite operator Viasat to stop SpaceX from enlarging its Starlink megaconstellation.
Viasat had requested a stay on a SpaceX license modification that allows it to continue building out the low-Earth-orbit constellation, while legal action seeking to compel a thorough environmental review of the broadband network plays out through the court.
Laser research to boost deep space missions
Friday, 23 July 2021 12:54 Write a comment
Canberra is one step closer to being Australia's home to deep space laser communication, thanks to a government funding for researchers at The Australian National University (ANU).
Two ANU projects have received funding from The Australian Moon to Mars Demonstrator Feasibility Grants from the Australian Space Agency to help test new activities that will drive space exploration.
The first project will build a prototype deep space laser communications transmitter compatible with optical communication technology developed by NASA for missions including the Optical to Orion (O2O) demonstration, at a specialist facility in the ACT.
The facility could eventually be used by NASA to support deep space missions.
"This funding is going to allow us to build a prototype system compatible with future NASA missions which are going to deep space," project lead, ANU Associate Professor Francis Bennet, said.
Keen to sign up for space tourism? Here are 6 things to consider (besides the price tag)
Friday, 23 July 2021 12:53 Write a comment
It's been a momentous month for space-faring billionaires. On July 11, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's Unity "rocket-plane" flew him and five fellow passengers about 85 kilometers above Earth. And this week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' New Shepard capsule reached an altitude of 106km, carrying Bezos, his brother, and the oldest and youngest people ever to reach such a height. Passengers on both flights experienced several minutes of weightlessness and took in breathtaking views of our beautiful and fragile Earth.
Both flights created an avalanche of media coverage and brand recognition for Branson's Virgin Galactic and Bezos's Blue Origin. There is renewed anticipation of a lucrative commercial space tourism industry that could eventually see thousands of paying passengers journey into space (or not quite into space, depending on your preferred level of pedantry).
This year marks 60 years since Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
Duneside view of ESA's technical heart
Friday, 23 July 2021 11:41 Write a comment
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Duneside view of ESA's technical heart With cutting-edge hypersonics, Russia leads in new arms race
Friday, 23 July 2021 11:37 Write a comment
The Avangard, the Kinzhal and now the Zircon - Russia is leading the race to develop a range of new hypersonic weapons that President Vladimir Putin has dubbed "invincible".
Moscow's latest step came this week with another successful test of the Zircon, a ship-launched hypersonic missile.
Fired from one of Russia's most powerful warships, the Admiral Gorshkov frigate, a Zircon travellin ALMA images moon-forming disk around alien world
Friday, 23 July 2021 11:37 Write a comment
Astronomers have for the first time imaged a moon-forming disk around an exoplanet.
Scientists expect the discovery - made using the Atacama Large Millimetre/submillimeter Array and detailed Thursday in the journal Astrophysical Journal Letters - to aid the study of planet and moon formation in young solar systems.
"Our work presents a clear detection of a disc in which satelli Meet the Martian meteorite hunters
Friday, 23 July 2021 11:37 Write a comment
A team at the Natural History Museum (NHM), London is paving the way for future rovers to search for meteorites on Mars. The scientists are using the NHM's extensive meteorite collection to test the spectral instruments destined for the ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, and develop tools to identify meteorites on the surface of the red planet. The project is being presented today (23 July) at the