NASA awards contract to launch initial elements for lunar outpost
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for the agency's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), the foundational elements of the Gateway. As the first long-term orbiting outpost around the Moon, the Gateway is critical to supporting sustainable astronauts missions under the agency's Ar
Ozmens' SNC Dream Chaser spaceplane closer to commercial runway landing
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), the global aerospace and national security company owned by Eren and Fatih Ozmen, is a step closer to landing the world's first commercial spaceplane on U.S. soil. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST) awarded the re-entry site license to Cape Canaveral Spaceport Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) in Florida at requ
Astronauts of India's first human spaceflight will be treated to Indian cuisine
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30"Gaganyaan" - India's first human spaceflight programme - is due to take off in December 2021. Four of its astronauts are currently undergoing rigorous 11-month training in Russia. From lip-smacking upma and poha for breakfast to biryani for lunch, and korma with chapatis for dinner, Indian scientists have prepared a special menu of popular Indian dishes to tickle the tastebuds of Indian a
Water ice resources identified in Martian northern hemisphere
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30Areas featuring subsurface frozen water ice that could benefit future human explorers have been identified in the northern mid-latitudes of Mars, a new paper led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Gareth A. Morgan says. Through the integration of orbital datasets from several NASA spacecraft - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, and Mars Global Surveyor - in concert with new
RUAG Space provides Solar Subsystem for planet hunter PLATO
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30The "planet-hunting" mission PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) of the European Space Agency (ESA) is a space-based observatory to find and study extrasolar planetary systems with emphasis on the properties of terrestrial planets in the habitable zone around solar-like stars. It is scheduled to launch in 2026. Mid-January RUAG Space, a leading supplier to the space indust
Rare blast's remains discovered in Milky Way's center
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30Astronomers may have found our galaxy's first example of an unusual kind of stellar explosion. This discovery, made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, adds to the understanding of how some stars shatter and seed the universe with elements critical for life on Earth. This intriguing object, located near the center of the Milky Way, is a supernova remnant called Sagittarius A East, or Sg
Study of supergiant star Betelgeuse unveils the cause of its pulsations
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30Betelgeuse is normally one of the brightest, most recognizable stars of the winter sky, marking the left shoulder of the constellation Orion. But lately, it has been behaving strangely: an unprecedentedly large drop in its brightness has been observed in early 2020 (Figure 1), which has prompted speculation that Betelgeuse may be about to explode. To find out more, an international team of
NATO picks France's Toulouse for new military space 'Center of Excellence'
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30While the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has disavowed an interest in militarizing space, several members of the alliance, including the US, UK, and France, have oriented themselves toward conflict in the space domain in recent years. The North Atlantic alliance has selected the French city of Toulouse to host its new higher education center for military space affairs. NAT
DARPA pursues plan for robust manufacturing in space
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30As commercial space companies increase the cadence of successful rocket launches, access to space is becoming more routine for both government and commercial interests. But even with regular launches, modern rockets impose mass and volume limits on the payloads they deliver to orbit. This size constraint hinders developing and deploying large-scale, dynamic space systems that can adapt to change
China tests its missile interception equipment
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30China conducted a land-based, midcourse missile interception test on Thursday-the fifth land-based, anti-ballistic missile test the country has publicly announced. The Defense Ministry said in a brief statement late on Thursday that the test had achieved its goals, and the operation was defensive in nature, not targeting any other country. Before the latest operation, China had succe
Russian cosmonauts to test new shielding material for radiation protection
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:30An award-winning composite material that has proven effective against radiation in nuclear submarines will be sent to the orbital outpost for further testing this year, the Russian space agency said on Monday. "Space is known for its elevated radiation levels... The invention has already been tested in nuclear subs. If the space experiment proves to be equally successful the material will
Meet ESA’s R&D department
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:29Our new brochure introduces ESA’s R&D department: the engineers charged with inventing the new technologies needed for Europe to push further out into space, and develop the novel services improving our lives here on Earth.
Meet ESA’s R&D directorate
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:29Our new brochure introduces ESA’s R&D directorate: the engineers charged with inventing the new technologies needed for Europe to push further out into space, and develop the novel services improving our lives here on Earth.
NASA seeks seat on April Soyuz mission to ISS
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 12:28WASHINGTON — NASA announced Feb. 9 it wants to obtain a seat on the next Soyuz mission to the International Space Station, launching in just two months, to ensure a U.S. presence on the station in the event of any commercial crew delays.
NASA selects Falcon Heavy to launch first Gateway elements
Tuesday, 09 February 2021 11:49WASHINGTON — NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX Feb. 9 for the launch of the first two elements of its lunar Gateway on a Falcon Heavy in 2024.
NASA will use a Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) modules of the Gateway, destined for the near-rectilinear halo orbit around moon.