Air Force’s rocket propulsion arm looking to invest in technologies for ‘responsive launch’
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 22:45
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The Air Force Research Laboratory’s rocket propulsion arm is asking space companies to help identify technologies and capabilities the military will need to launch missions on short timelines.
The post Air Force’s rocket propulsion arm looking to invest in technologies for ‘responsive launch’ appeared first on SpaceNews.
Satellogic to launch 68 satellites with SpaceX
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 22:25 Write a comment
Earth imaging company Satellogic announced May 4 it signed a contract with SpaceX to launch 68 more satellites as it continues to build out its constellation.
The post Satellogic to launch 68 satellites with SpaceX appeared first on SpaceNews.
DARPA moving forward with development of nuclear powered spacecraft
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 20:31 Write a comment
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on May 4 issued a solicitation for proposals for the next phase of a demonstration of a nuclear powered spacecraft.
The post DARPA moving forward with development of nuclear powered spacecraft appeared first on SpaceNews.
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna reaches a crucial milestone
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 19:00 Write a comment
LISA, the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, has reached an important milestone: it has passed the comprehensive "Mission Formulation Review" (MFR) and now enters the next phase of development. The review team, consisting of experts from ESA, NASA, the scientific community and industry, identified no showstoppers and confirmed that LISA has successfully reached a maturity sufficient to proceed to the next stage of development.
The MFR confirms the feasibility of the LISA mission and identifies a clear path of technology developments needed to reach the next major milestone: the mission adoption. The MFR is a checkpoint to ensure that the technology and planning for LISA is sufficiently mature; this is a prerequisite for mission development to continue. In an ESA mission lifetime cycle, the MFR is the formal end of Phase A (mission feasibility). LISA now enters Phase B1, which is focused on the preliminary definition of the mission.
"LISA is well underway. We are now entering phase B1, during which we do more detailed design work to establish the complete set of mission requirements and the verifications approach," says Prof. Karsten Danzmann, lead of the LISA Consortium.
Astroscale debris-removal demo makes close approach despite thruster issues
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 17:19 Write a comment
Astroscale said May 4 it made another close-approach rendezvous between its two ELSA-d spacecraft last month but ongoing thruster problems continue to hold up a capture demonstration delayed from January.
The post Astroscale debris-removal demo makes close approach despite thruster issues appeared first on SpaceNews.
Watch live – Matthias Maurer returns to Earth
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 16:50 Write a comment
After almost six months aboard the International Space Station, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is coming home. Watch all the action, from undocking to splashdown, live on ESA Web TV.
Sun releases moderate solar flare
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 16:29 Write a comment
The Sun emitted a moderate solar flare on May 4, 2022, peaking at 5:00 a.m. ET. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the Sun constantly, captured an image of the event.
Mission Minerva meets Cosmic Kiss | Two astronauts in orbit
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 11:30 Write a comment
Video:
00:04:42
For the first time since mid 2011, ESA has two astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station. Watch a conversation between Samantha Cristoforetti and Matthias Maurer in this rare moment for Europe in space.
The astronauts’ meeting marks a brief crossover between the start of Samantha’s second space mission, Minerva, and Matthias’s final days in orbit for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss.
Samantha arrived with Crew-4 on 28 April in SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom, while Matthias will depart with Crew-3 in SpaceX Crew Dragon Endurance in May after almost six months on the Station.
In this video
Nelson criticizes “plague” of cost-plus NASA contracts
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 10:48 Write a comment
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson offered a surprisingly strong endorsement of fixed-price contracts and competition at a congressional hearing May 3, calling traditional cost-plus contracts a “plague” on the agency.
The post Nelson criticizes “plague” of cost-plus NASA contracts appeared first on SpaceNews.
LISA mission moves to final design phase
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 08:00 Write a comment
ESA’s Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) passed an important review that marks the mission as feasible for final technology development and design before adoption.
Stanford scientists describe a gravity telescope that could image exoplanets
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 07:49 Write a comment
In the time since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, astronomers have detected more than 5,000 planets orbiting other stars. But when astronomers detect a new exoplanet, we don't learn a lot about it: we know that it exists and a few features about it but the rest is a mystery.
To sidestep the physical limitations of telescopes, Stanford University astrophysicists have been workin NASA's Mars Helicopter scouts ridgeline for Perseverance science team
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 07:49 Write a comment
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter recently surveyed an intriguing ridgeline near the ancient river delta in Jezero Crater. The images - captured on April 23, during the tiny helicopter's 27th flight - were taken at the request of the Perseverance Mars rover science team, which wanted a closer look at the sloping outcrop.
"Ingenuity not only provides imagery from an aerial perspective, but a GomSpace to supply mission control system for KSAT Arctic satellites
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 07:49 Write a comment
GomSpace to deliver the Mission Control System that KSAT will use to operate the Arctic Weather Satellite
Today, GomSpace signed a contract to develop, deliver and support the Mission Control System that KSAT will use to operate the Arctic Weather Satellite mission.
The contract value is 10 MSEK and the majority of work will be done this year and next year.
The Arctic Weather S BRICS forum on big data for sustainable development held in Beijing
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 07:49 Write a comment
The BRICS Forum on Big Data for Sustainable Development was held both in Beijing and online on April 26, 2022. The two-day event was hosted by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Academy of Science of South Africa, Brazilian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, and Indian National Science Academy.
The forum was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his remarks at the UNC blood clot expert working with NASA to study blood and clots in zero gravity
Wednesday, 04 May 2022 07:49 Write a comment
Are astronauts more likely to develop blood clots during space missions due to zero gravity? That's the question NASA is trying to answer with help from UNC School of Medicine's Stephan Moll, MD, professor in the UNC Department of Medicine. A new publication in Vascular Medicine shows the results of an occupational surveillance program spurred by the development of a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) i