MAVEN status update
Friday, 24 February 2023 16:57
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft entered safe mode on Feb. 16 after encountering an issue with its Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which measures the spacecraft rate of rotation for use in determining its pointing. The IMU had been powered up in preparation for a minor maneuver targeted to reduce eclipse durations in 2027.
On Feb.17, MAVEN exited safe mode and is currently operating in all stellar mode, a mode that does not rely on IMU measurements such that the IMU can be powered off to conserve its lifetime. The maneuver will be waived as the team evaluates the path forward. Relay activities and nominal science operations are scheduled to resume on Feb. 23.
MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered Mars' orbit in September 2014. The mission's goal is to explore the planet's upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and interactions with the Sun and solar wind to explore the loss of the Martian atmosphere to space. Understanding atmospheric loss gives scientists insight into the history of Mars' atmosphere and climate, liquid water, and planetary habitability.
Provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
New Chinese commercial spaceport to host first launch next year
Friday, 24 February 2023 14:02
A launch tower for commercial launches will be completed by the end of the year near China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport and begin hosting regular missions in 2024.
Week in images: 20-24 February 2023
Friday, 24 February 2023 13:06
Week in images: 20-24 February 2023
Discover our week through the lens
Russia launches crew-less Soyuz to ISS as replacement
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
Russia launched an unmanned Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station on Thursday to replace one that leaked coolant after it was struck by a meteoroid last year, stranding two cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut in space.
The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was launched with 948 pounds of supplies for the astronauts from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 7:24 p.m. EST, which was br SuperCam's AI capabilities enhanced with AEGIS upgrade
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
As Perseverance celebrates its second anniversary on Mars, our team is reflecting on the rover's remarkable journey so far. In the past two years, Perseverance has collected 18 Martian samples, traversed over 9 miles, transmitted over 200,000 images to Earth, supported the Ingenuity helicopter with its 42 flights, and much more.
Now, after spending nearly 6 weeks creating the Three Forks s Galactic Energy to launch rockets from the sea
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
Galactic Energy, a private space company based in Beijing, plans to make its first sea-based launch this summer, which could be the first by a private Chinese firm if successful. According to Xia Dongkun, a vice-president at Galactic Energy, the company has scheduled the launch of one of its Ceres 1 rockets in the Yellow Sea Ryugu Asteroid sample reveals organic-rich composition, first analysis shows
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
Asteroid Ryugu has a rich complement of organic molecules, according to a NASA and international team's initial analysis of a sample from the asteroid's surface delivered to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa2 spacecraft. The discovery adds support to the idea that organic material from space contributed to the inventory of chemical components necessary for life.
Organic molecules are the building Squishy outer shell may be resurfacing Venus
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
Earth and Venus are rocky planets of about the same size and rock chemistry, so they should be losing their internal heat to space at about the same rate. How Earth loses its heat is well known, but Venus' heat flow mechanism has been a mystery. A study that uses three-decade-old data from NASA's Magellan mission has taken a new look at how Venus cools and found that thin regions of the planet's Colossal sky map shows over one billion glowing galaxies
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
The largest two-dimensional map of the sky ever made has grown even larger with the tenth data release from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys - a monumental six-year survey covering nearly half the sky. This new data release adds increased sky and wavelength coverage to the already completed surveys made with data from NSF's NOIRLab telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona and Cerro The effects of Aurora Borealis on energy grids with the addition of renewables
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
As the world transitions toward more renewable energy resources and deals with the consequences of a changing climate, the resiliency of energy infrastructure is becoming ever more urgent. University of Oklahoma researcher Paul Moses, Ph.D., has received a Faculty Early CAREER Development award from the National Science Foundation to better understand how chaotic grid disturbances from events li Luxembourg taps into SES's O3b mPOWER for defense and disaster recovery
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:50
Luxembourg has selected SES's O3b mPOWER system to serve as the resilient satcom infrastructure for defense, security, and disaster recovery in the country and beyond. The MEO Global Services program, valued at 195 million euro over 10 years, will enable the acquisition and operation of O3b mPOWER services, pending approval by the Luxembourg parliament. Samsung unveils satcom solution for smartphones
Friday, 24 February 2023 12:09
Samsung Electronics said Feb. 23 it had secured a new standardized 5G non-terrestrial network (NTN) modem that enables direct smartphone-satellite communications in locations where there is no cellular network connectivity.
NASA plans to start work this year on first Gateway logistics mission
Friday, 24 February 2023 11:49
NASA anticipates starting work later this year on the first cargo mission for the lunar Gateway, three years after awarding SpaceX a contract for such missions.
ESA invites you to satnav summer school in Sweden
Friday, 24 February 2023 11:17
This year’s ESA/JRC International Summer School on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) will take place in July in Kiruna, Sweden.