Juice mission to Jupiter testing—down to the wire
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 18:39
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Preparing the Juice mission to Jupiter has involved testing for all kinds of contingencies, down to the smallest of scales. This microscopic view shows surface damage to a tiny silver interconnector after being exposed to erosive atomic oxygen known to be found surrounding Jupiter's moon Ganymede.
Due to launch on April 13 to begin an eight-year journey to the largest planet in the solar system, ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, will spend three and a half years in the Jupiter system, and in the final phase of its exploration will go into orbit around the largest Jovian moon, Ganymede.
However, previous observations by the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed auroral glows around Ganymede due to the presence of 'atomic oxygen'—individual atoms of oxygen at the fringes of the moon's scanty atmosphere, the result of standard oxygen molecules being broken apart by the powerful radiation belts surrounding Jupiter.
ESA materials engineer Adrian Tighe explains, "Atomic oxygen is also experienced in Earth orbit, due to oxygen molecules being dissociated by ultraviolet radiation from the Sun, and all Earth-orbiting missions below about 1000 km altitude are designed to resist it.
Dawn flies rocket-powered spaceplane
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 16:30 Write a comment
Dawn Aerospace completed its first series of rocket-powered flights last week of the Mk-II Aurora spaceplane.
The post Dawn flies rocket-powered spaceplane appeared first on SpaceNews.
Improving astronaut vision in long-haul space flights
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 12:06
Juice testing – down to the wire
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 11:14 Write a comment
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Juice testing – down to the wire Updated space safety document outlines rules of the road for avoiding collisions
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 10:33 Write a comment
An updated version of a space safety document endorsed by more than two dozen organizations includes “rules of the road” for avoiding collisions between space objects.
Webb telescope discovers oldest galaxies ever observed
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered the four most distant galaxies ever observed, one of which formed just 320 million years after the Big Bang when the universe was still in its infancy, new research said on Tuesday.
The Webb telescope has unleashed a torrent of scientific discovery since becoming operational last year, peering farther than ever before into the universe's distant Spire Global awarded National Reconnaissance Office contract for radio frequency data
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) has been awarded a contract by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) for commercial radio frequency (RF) remote sensing. Spire won a contract as part of the NRO's Strategic Commercial Enhancements (SCE) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) program in September 2022.
Spire is proud to announce two options were exercised extending the performance period through Space ISAC stands up operational watch center to keep pace with proliferating threats to space systems
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Space ISAC, its founding board of directors and executive director launched Space ISAC's Operational Watch Center and its initial operational capability today. This is a crucial milestone for Space ISAC, whose executive, operational, and administrative functions are operated by the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC), and the global space industry, as they address the growing threats and vulnera Space Development Agency launches Tranche 0 satellites
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
The Space Development Agency (SDA) has announced the successful initial launch of Tranche 0 (T0) of the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA), the Transport and Tracking Layer satellites that will demonstrate the low-latency communication links to support the warfighter with a resilient network of integrated capabilities, including tracking of advanced missile threats, from low-Earth National Reconnaissance Office awards contract extension to Kleos
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Kleos Space Inc. (Kleos), subsidiary of Kleos Space S.A. ASX: KSS, a space-powered defense and intelligence technology company, has been awarded the Stage Two option on its current contract with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) as part of the Strategic Commercial Enhancements Broad Agency Announcement (SCE BAA) Framework.
The NRO is responsible for maintaining global vigilance in t SBIRS GEO-6 Satellite Transfers to SpOC
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Space Operations Command recently took control of the Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) Satellite-6 from
Space Systems Command on March 24, 2023.
"Space Delta 4 and the 2nd Space Warning Squadron are honored to add SBIRS GEO-6 to our repertoire of missile warning and tracking sensors," said Col. Miguel Cruz, Space Delta 4 commander. "Our mission area has Raytheon Technologies selected by US Navy for anti-ship strike weapon
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Raytheon Technologies has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy for phase one of the Hypersonic Air-Launched Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare weapon program, or HALO. HALO is a carrier-based offensive anti-ship strike weapon that supports the U.S. Navy's long range fires strategy.
"The U.S. Navy requires a highly capable and survivable weapon that's adaptable for future relevance," said Thales Alenia Space wins contracts for IRIDE radar and optical satellites
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
Thales Alenia Space, the joint venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), has won contracts from the European Space Agency (ESA) to supply a first batch of six small satellites with synthetic aperture radars (SAR) and one satellite based on optical technology for the Italian Earth observation constellation, IRIDE. This innovative new constellation, based on a number of different sensing in Two views of Las Vegas
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 09:55 Write a comment
These two images show a large part of the city of Las Vegas and parts of its surroundings. One is a true colour representation (left) and one is a false colour representation (right).
The images were acquired by the German environmental satellite EnMAP, which captured a 41-kilometre by 122-kilometre image strip of the region on 12 July 2022. The total area is approximately 5077 square kilo Spotlight on Ganymede, Juice’s primary target
Wednesday, 05 April 2023 07:34 Write a comment
A key focus of ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (Juice) will be Ganymede: Jupiter’s largest moon, and an ideal natural laboratory for studying the icy worlds of the Solar System.