Washington DC (AFP) Apr 08, 2022
The first fully private mission to the International Space Station blasted off from Florida Friday with a four-member crew from startup company Axiom Space. The partnership has been hailed by NASA, which sees it as a key step in its goal to commercialize the region of space known as "Low Earth Orbit," leaving the agency to focus on more ambitious endeavors deeper into the cosmos. A S

SpaceX launched a Crew Dragon spacecraft April 8 carrying four commercial astronauts to the International Space Station for Axiom Space.

The post SpaceX launches commercial mission to ISS appeared first on SpaceNews.

Tune in this Monday 11 April from 15:00-16:30 CEST (13:00-14:30 GMT) for a conversation between ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and media in Europe live on ESA Web TV. 

Image: 3D-printed bone

Washington (AFP) April 8, 2022
The first fully private mission to the International Space Station is set to blast off Friday with a four-member crew from startup company Axiom Space. The partnership has been hailed by NASA, which sees it as a key step in its goal to commercialize the region of space known as "low Earth orbit," leaving the agency to focus on more ambitious endeavors deeper into the cosmos. Takeoff is s

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 08, 2022
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover spent most of March climbing the "Greenheugh Pediment" - a gentle slope capped by rubbly sandstone. The rover briefly summited this feature's north face two years ago; now on the pediment's southern side, Curiosity has navigated back onto the pediment to explore it more fully. But on March 18, the mission team saw an unexpected terrain change ahead and realized

Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany (SPX) Apr 08, 2022
How will astronauts land safely on the Moon in the future? A seamless interaction between pilot and spacecraft is crucial to ensuring a successful Moon landing. Together with partners from industry and research, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has conducted a special experiment. European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut and test pilot Roberto Vittori has

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 08, 2022
An agreement between NASA and the U.S. Space Force recently authorized the public release of decades of data collected by U.S. government sensors on fireball events (large bright meteors also known as bolides) for the benefit of the scientific and planetary defense communities. This action results from collaboration between NASA's Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) and the U.S. Space F

Orlando FL (SPX) Apr 08, 2022
When the first four civilians travel to the International Space Station April 8 they will be working with a team of University of Central Florida doctors to study how space travel affects the human body, particularly the eyes and brain. Three faculty physicians at UCF Health, the College of Medicine's clinical practice, are collaborating with Axiom Space and two Israeli medical centers - S

Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 08, 2022
We successfully drove further down off of the "Greenheugh pediment" as we head toward smoother driving pathways downhill. However, the chaotic jumble of terrain we encountered in the final few rolls of our wheels left a couple of our wheels perched awkwardly. That meant we could not get out the arm for contact science, lest our large arm swinging around cause the rover to shift unexpectedl