Meet Dieter Pilz, new Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality
Tuesday, 02 May 2023 09:33
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Dr Dietmar Pilz is ESA’s new Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC), and Head of ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Dr Pilz has over 20 years of professional experience in the European and international aerospace industry, in various engineering and programme management positions in the defence and security sectors and the space community.
Meet Dietmar Pilz, new Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality
Tuesday, 02 May 2023 09:33 Write a comment
Video:
00:06:46
Dr Dietmar Pilz is ESA’s new Director of Technology, Engineering and Quality (D/TEC), and Head of ESTEC in Noordwijk, the Netherlands.
Dr Pilz has over 20 years of professional experience in the European and international aerospace industry, in various engineering and programme management positions in the defence and security sectors and the space community.
Court approves plans for Virgin Orbit bankruptcy sale
Tuesday, 02 May 2023 09:27 Write a comment
A federal bankruptcy court has approved plans to conduct a sale of Virgin Orbit’s assets this month that could result in either new ownership for the launch provider or its dissolution.
Join the webinar on Accessibility in Human Spaceflight
Tuesday, 02 May 2023 07:49 Write a comment
What are the next steps for making human spaceflight more inclusive, accessible, and safer? How can designing for space accessibility improve accessibility on Earth? Where does ESA’s parastronaut feasibility project stand?
On Thursday, 11 May 2023 at 15:00-17:00 CEST, join the webinar organised by ESA’s Advanced Concepts Team and ESA’s Chief Diversity Officer, with the support of the non-profit BIRNE7 e.V.
Environmental groups sue FAA over Starship launch license
Monday, 01 May 2023 21:11 Write a comment
Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration May 1, arguing that the agency improperly carried out an environmental review of SpaceX Starship launches from Boca Chica, Texas.
Environmental groups sue FAA over SpaceX Texas rocket launch
Monday, 01 May 2023 19:29 Write a comment
Wildlife and environmental groups sued the Federal Aviation Administration on Monday over SpaceX's launch last month of its giant rocket from Texas.
The next space race starts at our spaceports
Monday, 01 May 2023 19:10 Write a comment
As multiple new rockets move towards testing and some to operations, America’s limited number of coastal spaceports have become the choke point.
Lawmakers raise concerns about new plan to procure national security launch services
Monday, 01 May 2023 17:37
Massive radio array to search for extraterrestrial signals from other civilizations
Monday, 01 May 2023 17:13 Write a comment
One of the world's most powerful radio telescope arrays is joining the hunt for signals from other galactic civilizations. The National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA), situated about 50 miles west of Socorro, New Mexico, is collecting data that scientists will analyze for the type of emissions that only artificial transmitters make, signals that would betray the existence of a technically accomplished society.
"The VLA is the go-to instrument for radio astronomers, but this is the first time we are using it in a wide-ranging and continuous search for technosignatures," said Andrew Siemion, Bernard M. Oliver Chair for SETI at the SETI Institute.
The VLA is one of the most productive radio telescopes in the world and consists of 27 antennas spread over 23 miles of desert real estate. Since 2017, it has been engaged in a project known as VLASS (Very Large Array Sky Survey), a radio reconnaissance of 80% of the sky.
SpaceX Starship effectively grounded by FAA after in-flight explosion
Monday, 01 May 2023 16:29 Write a comment
It was an exciting time when, two weeks ago, SpaceX got the clearance it needed to conduct its first orbital flight test with the Starship and Super Heavy launch system. After years of waiting, SN flight tests, static fire tests, and stacking and unstacking, the long-awaited test of the SN24 Starship and BN7 Booster prototype was on. For this flight, SpaceX hoped to achieve an altitude of at least 150 km (90 mi) above sea level, crossing the 100 km (62 mi) threshold that officially marks the boundary of "space" (aka. the Karman Line) and making a partial transit around the world before splashing down off the coast of Hawaii.
Unfortunately, things began to go awry a few minutes into the flight as the Starship prototype failed to separate from the booster, sending the rocket into a spin that ended in an explosion.
JWST's MIRI instrument is having problems again
Monday, 01 May 2023 16:21 Write a comment
Last week, NASA shared a blog post saying they detected a sensor glitch associated with the James Webb Space Telescope's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). For some reason, the sensor for MIRI's Medium Resolution Spectroscopy (MRS) is receiving less light than expected at the longest wavelengths.
NASA is investigating the cause, and said that the instrument is not at risk and no effect has been seen for images taken by MIRI. According to agency officials, all other modes of JWST and MIRI remain unaffected, and they are searching for the underlying issue.
The glitch was found this month during regular calibration and monitoring of the telescope's performance.
Webb finds water vapor, but from a rocky planet or its star?
Monday, 01 May 2023 13:00 Write a comment
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Astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to study a rocky exoplanet known as GJ 486 b. It is too close to its star to be within the habitable zone, with a surface temperature of about 430 degrees Celsius. And yet, their observations using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) show hints of water vapor. If the water vapor is associated with the planet, that would indicate that it has an atmosphere despite its scorching temperature and close proximity to its star. Water vapor has been seen on gaseous exoplanets before, but to date no atmosphere has been
Webb finds water vapour, but from a rocky planet or its star?
Monday, 01 May 2023 13:00 Write a comment
Image:
Astronomers used the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope to study a rocky exoplanet known as GJ 486 b. It is too close to its star to be within the habitable zone, with a surface temperature of about 430 degrees Celsius. And yet, their observations using Webb’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) show hints of water vapour. If the water vapour is associated with the planet, that would indicate that it has an atmosphere despite its scorching temperature and close proximity to its star. Water vapour has been seen on gaseous exoplanets before, but to date no atmosphere has been
ESA troubleshooting JUICE radar antenna
Monday, 01 May 2023 10:14 Write a comment
A radar antenna on a European mission to Jupiter has yet to fully deploy after launch, although project officials say they still have plenty of options to fix the problem.
SpaceX Falcon Heavy launches first ViaSat-3 satellite
Monday, 01 May 2023 05:20 Write a comment
SpaceX launched the Americas-focused ViaSat-3 broadband satellite on a Falcon Heavy rocket April 30 following delays partly caused by severe weather that included lightning and tornado warnings.