Exodus Orbitals is developing an open satellite platform
Thursday, 22 July 2021 10:30TAMPA, Fla. — Canadian startup Exodus Orbitals plans to launch its first satellite in March to take the software-defined space trend a step further, providing a platform for third parties to upload and run their applications from orbit.
Picture-frame-sized CubeSat antenna reaches orbit
Thursday, 22 July 2021 09:53An ESA project has developed satellite antenna the size of a small picture frame, intended for miniature CubeSats. Built by Polish company WiRan the antenna found its first customer as soon as it was finalised, and is already serving in space.
Manipulating magnets in the quest for fusion
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58After decades of plasma physics research, Senior Research Scientist Brian LaBombard is taking on magnets for MIT's new fusion effort. "You get the high field, you get the performance." Senior Research Scientist Brian LaBombard is summarizing what might be considered a guiding philosophy behind designing and engineering fusion devices at MIT's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). Begin
Planetary shields will buckle under stellar winds from their dying stars
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58Any life identified on planets orbiting white dwarf stars almost certainly evolved after the star's death, says a new study led by the University of Warwick that reveals the consequences of the intense and furious stellar winds that will batter a planet as its star is dying. The research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, and lead author Dr Dimitri Veras will pres
SuperBIT: A low-cost balloon-borne telescope to rival Hubble
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58Durham, Toronto and Princeton Universities have teamed up with NASA and the Canadian Space Agency to build a new kind of astronomical telescope. SuperBIT flies above 99.5% of the Earth's atmosphere, carried by a helium balloon the size of a football stadium. The telescope will make its operational debut next April and when deployed should obtain high-resolution images rivalling those of the Hubb
Long-period oscillations of the Sun discovered
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58These motions were measured by analyzing 10 years of observations from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Using computer models, the scientists have shown that the newly discovered oscillations are resonant modes and owe their existence to the Sun's differential rotation. The oscillations will help establish novel ways to probe the Sun's interior and obtain information about our star's inn
Britain supports U.S. plan for deep space radar station
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:58A U.S. Space Force plan to position a system in Britain to monitor spacecraft up to 22,400 miles from earth drew the approval of the Royal Air Force chief. Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Wigston, in the United States to examine the plans, said Britain is "very interested" in hosting an element of the Deep Space Advanced Radar Capability, under development by the Space and Missile Systems
Expanding space fuels global growth in patent filings
Thursday, 22 July 2021 08:40The explosive growth in space activity in recent years is observed through a new lens in the pages of a major study of global and European space-related patents. At the same time as membership of the global space club increases, and yearly number of space launches goes on growing, a steepening of patent filings in both Europe and across the world suggest a maturing market, as key players seek to defend their intellectual assets.
Space-based connectivity comes another step closer
Thursday, 22 July 2021 07:59A world in which people can connect to one another instantly and reliably through space-enabled laser communications has just come closer. A study has now identified how to create high-speed broadband in space.
FAA revises criteria for commercial astronaut wings
Thursday, 22 July 2021 01:05EL PASO, Texas — The Federal Aviation Administration has revised its criteria for awarding astronaut wings to those flying on commercial spacecraft, making the requirements stricter while including a significant loophole.
The FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation issued an order July 20 describing its FAA Commercial Space Astronaut Wings Program and the criteria for awarding them.
Russia launches Nauka module to space station after years of delay
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10After years of delays, Russia launched a new multipurpose laboratory module named Nauka to the International Space Station on Wednesday from Kazakhstan. A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying the module lifted off about10:58 a.m. EDT from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome. The mission reached a successful orbit, according to NASA. Besides a laboratory, whose name means "science" in Englis
NASA funds hopper to explore lunar polar craters
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10Arizona State University is partnering with Intuitive Machines on a mini extreme mobility lunar vehicle, called Micro-Nova, that will hop around the moon's surface and take the first-ever pictures inside craters close to the lunar south pole. On July 16, 2021, NASA awarded the project a $41.6 million "Tipping Point" contract to develop, fly and operate a deployable lunar "hopper lander" on
ASU-led LunaH-Map spacecraft safely delivered to NASA's Kennedy Space Center
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10The ASU-led team that built NASA's Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper, or "LunaH-Map" for short, has safely delivered their spacecraft to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for a launch expected later this year on NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) Artemis I rocket. LunaH-Map is a fully functional interplanetary spacecraft about the size of a large cereal box and weighing about 3
NASA Perseverance Mars Rover to acquire first sample
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10NASA is making final preparations for its Perseverance Mars rover to collect its first-ever sample of Martian rock, which future planned missions will transport to Earth. The six-wheeled geologist is searching for a scientifically interesting target in a part of Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough." This important mission milestone is expected to begin within the next
NASA rover preparing to take first Mars rock samples
Thursday, 22 July 2021 00:10The Perseverance Mars rover is preparing to collect its first rock sample from the site of an ancient lake bed, as its mission to search for signs of past life begins in earnest, NASA said Wednesday. The milestone is expected to take place within two weeks in a scientifically interesting region of the Jezero Crater called the "Cratered Floor Fractured Rough." "When Neil Armstrong took t