Egos clash in Bezos and Musk space race
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49Even the Milky Way seems too small to keep the egos of tech billionaires Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk from colliding as they vie to conquer space. Musk aimed low with a recent tweet saying "can't get it up (to orbit)" in response to a post about Bezos-founded space company Blue Origin protesting NASA's choice of Musk's SpaceX team to build a module that will land the next US astronauts on the mo
Small launchers - big market
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49Many new satellites are smaller and lighter than ever before. They are usually launched as 'co-passengers' together with other, larger satellites whose operators define the launch conditions. But a distinct class of launcher systems have now established themselves as a means to deliver small satellites into their target orbits as a primary payload - the microlauncher. In the USA and China, the m
NASA continues RS-25 engine testing for future Artemis missions
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49NASA conducted a long-duration RS-25 single-engine test April 28, continuing its seven-part test series to support development and production of engines for future missions of the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket. Operators fired the engine for almost 11 minutes (650 seconds) on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, providing valuable data to
NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter to begin new demonstration phase
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49The Red Planet rotorcraft will shift focus from proving flight is possible on Mars to demonstrating flight operations that future aerial craft could utilize. NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has a new mission. Having proven that powered, controlled flight is possible on the Red Planet, the Ingenuity experiment will soon embark on a new operations demonstration phase, exploring how aerial s
DALI experiment searching for axion component of dark matter
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49The detection of the axion would mark a key episode in the history of science. This hypothetical particle could resolve two fundamental problems of Modern Physics at the same time: the problema of Charge and Parity in the strong interaction, and the mystery of dark matter. However, in spite of the high scientific interest in finding it, the search at high radio frequency -above 6 GHz- has
Exoplanet-hunter TESS telescope spots bright gamma-ray burst
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49NASA has a long tradition of unexpected discoveries, and the space program's TESS mission is no different. SMU astrophysicist and her team have discovered a particularly bright gamma-ray burst using a NASA telescope designed to find exoplanets - those occurring outside our solar system - particularly those that might be able to support life. It's the first time a gamma-ray burst has been f
Latest Observations by MUSER Help Clarify Solar Eruptions
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49Prof. YAN Yihua and his research team from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) recently released detailed results of observations by the new generation solar radio telescope-Mingantu Spectral Radio Heliograph (MUSER)-from 2014 to 2019. The study was published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences on March 29. It may help us better unders
GSA commissions RUAG to study more accurate satellite navigation
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49Satellites provide crucial data on climate and environmental changes every day. The European Global Navigation Satellite System Agency GSA has now commissioned RUAG Space to conduct a study to increase the accuracy of real-time satellite navigation. For climate and environmental research, satellites provide extremely important data every day, such as how high sea levels are rising or what
Lithuania to become ESA Associate Member state
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49Lithuania signed an Association Agreement with ESA on 28 April 2021. This Association Agreement between ESA and the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, builds on the successful results achieved under the previous frameworks of cooperation and will enter into force for a duration of seven years. Comprising 18 Articles and two Annexes, it orchestrates the strengthening of Lithuania's relation
China's space station takes shared future concept to space
Sunday, 02 May 2021 03:49China successfully launched the core module of its space station on Thursday, giving humankind a new foothold in space. The space station will become a common outpost for space-faring countries to explore the universe through cooperation. Tianhe, the name of the core module, means "Harmony of the Heavens" in Chinese, and it conveys China's sincere efforts to promote mutual trust and peace
Harris to place “personal stamp” on National Space Council
Saturday, 01 May 2021 16:31Updated 1:55 p.m. Eastern with Nelson statement.
WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris will put her “personal stamp” on the National Space Council as it takes on both existing and new priorities under the Biden administration.
Senior administration officials, speaking on background in a call with reporters May 1, confirmed that the administration will retain the National Space Council, an interagency body used to coordinate space policy across the federal government.
Raytheon gets $228 million contract extension for GPS ground system
Saturday, 01 May 2021 08:46WASHINGTON — Raytheon received a $228 million contract to continue development of a ground system for Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center announced April 30.
The contract is for work on the operational control system for the newest version of GPS 3 satellites made by Lockheed Martin.
NASA extends Mars helicopter mission to assist rover
Saturday, 01 May 2021 02:01NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has been so successful, the space agency on Friday said it would extend the mission so the mini-aircraft can act as a scout for the rover Perseverance. Engineers decided to let the helicopter operate another 30 days for longer flights to new areas of Jezero Crater, they announced in a press conference Friday. NASA originally planned to retire the helicop
Mars Ingenuity helicopter given new scouting mission
Saturday, 01 May 2021 02:01After proving powered, controlled flight is possible on the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter has new orders: scout ahead of the Perseverance rover to assist in its search for past signs of microbial life. The next phase extends the rotocraft's mission beyond the original month-long technology demonstration. Now, the goal is to assess how well flyers can help future exploration of
Ingenuity shifts from technology to operations demo after successful fourth flight
Friday, 30 April 2021 21:35WASHINGTON — With four flights now complete, NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter will transition from being strictly a technology demonstration to a test of its ability to work in cooperation with the Perseverance rover.
Ingenuity performed its fourth flight April 30, staying aloft for 117 seconds.