Four mission ideas to compete for Earth Explorer 11
Thursday, 10 June 2021 09:20As part of ESA’s commitment to develop and build satellite missions that push the boundaries of satellite technology and Earth science, four new mission ideas – Cairt, Nitrosat, Seastar and Wivern – have been selected to enter pre-feasibility study and compete to be the eleventh Earth Explorer mission.
ESA selects revolutionary Venus mission EnVision
Thursday, 10 June 2021 09:00EnVision will be ESA’s next Venus orbiter, providing a holistic view of the planet from its inner core to upper atmosphere to determine how and why Venus and Earth evolved so differently.
Forest degradation primary driver of carbon loss in the Brazilian Amazon
Thursday, 10 June 2021 08:00Forest degradation has become the largest process driving carbon loss in the Brazilian Amazon, according to a recent study using ESA satellite data.
China set to launch first astronauts to space station with Shenzhou-12
Thursday, 10 June 2021 07:32HELSINKI — China rolled out a Long March 2F rocket Wednesday in preparation to send the Shenzhou-12 spacecraft and three astronauts to an orbiting space station module.
ESA flying payloads on wooden satellite
Thursday, 10 June 2021 06:59The world’s first wooden satellite is on the way, in the shape of the Finnish WISA Woodsat. ESA materials experts are contributing a suite of experimental sensors to the mission as well as helping with pre-flight testing.
Arctic coastal sea ice thinning twice as fast than thought
Thursday, 10 June 2021 06:10Research based on ice-thickness data from ESA’s CryoSat and Envisat missions along with a new model of snow has revealed that sea ice in the coastal regions of the Arctic may be thinning twice as fast as thought.
Rocket in place to send 3 crew to Chinese space station
Thursday, 10 June 2021 06:05Rocket on pad, China ready to send 1st crew to space station
Thursday, 10 June 2021 06:05Perseverance Rover Begins Its First Science Campaign on Mars
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56On June 1, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover kicked off the science phase of its mission by leaving the "Octavia E. Butler" landing site. Until recently, the rover has been undergoing systems tests, or commissioning, and supporting the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's month of flight tests. During the first few weeks of this first science campaign, the mission team will drive to a low-lying scenic
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity flies for 7th time
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity moved to a new landing site about 115 feet away from its original position on the Red Planet during its seventh flight. The space agency announced Tuesday's successful new flight, along with a photo the aerial drone shot of its own shadow during flight. "With each flight we gain additional real world info on the performance of the rotor and its th
Wake Forest engineers win NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56A pair of engineering teams from Wake Forest University took home first and second place in NASA's Vascular Tissue Challenge, the space agency announced Wednesday. Both teams used slightly different techniques to 3D-print vascularized liver tissue in the lab. Now, the two engineering teams will get the opportunity to test their breakthrough tissue models on the International Space Stati
New spacecraft will use lasers to transmit video, data in seconds
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56New space missions being launched this summer will attempt to revolutionize space communications by using laser beams to quickly transmit large amounts of data, including high-definition video from the moon. Two missions by the U.S. government will test such lasers, which use invisible, infrared light beams. NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration will explore the best wa
Manned space mission preps for takeoff
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56China's upcoming manned mission - Shenzhou XII - is expected to set off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China's Gobi Desert to the Tianhe core module of the nation's space station. A Long March 2F carrier rocket with the Shenzhou XII spacecraft on top of it was moved to its launch pad at the space complex on Wednesday evening, according to the China Manned Space Agency
Asteroid 16 Psyche might not be what scientists expected
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56The widely studied metallic asteroid known as 16 Psyche was long thought to be the exposed iron core of a small planet that failed to form during the earliest days of the solar system. But new University of Arizona-led research suggests that the asteroid might not be as metallic or dense as once thought, and hints at a much different origin story. Scientists are interested in 16 Psyche bec
UP42 Expands Optical and SAR Data Offering with SI Imaging Services of Korea
Thursday, 10 June 2021 05:56UP42 and SI Imaging Services (SIIS) of Daejeon, South Korea, have signed an agreement to make imagery from the KOMPSAT satellites available on the UP42 marketplace and developer platform. The deal includes high-resolution optical imagery from KOMPSAT-3 and -3A, and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from KOMPSAT-5. KOMPSAT imagery is a valuable addition to the more than 50 geospatial data