NASA Crew-4 preps for launch but liftoff delayed as Ax-1 mission waits to leave ISS
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30NASA's next crew of astronauts planned to launch no earlier than Saturday, but space agency officials are preparing to delay the flight because of weather problems preventing the return of Axiom Space's first mission crew from the International Space Station. The Ax-1 crew originally planned for a 10-day mission, part of the first-ever private astronaut mission to the International Spac
Mars rover searches for evidence of past life at ancient river delta
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30NASA's Perseverance rover, searching for evidence of past life on Mars, has completed a 31-Martian-day journey of roughly 3 miles after collecting eight rock-core samples from its first science campaign. As of April 13, the rover was "at the doorstep of Jezero Crater's ancient Martian river delta" searching for signs of microscopic life, according to NASA. "The delta at Jezero Cr
Space Security Challenge 2022: Hack-A-Sat 3 Registration Opens
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30The U.S. Air and Space Force, in collaboration with the security research community, opened registration April 8 for the qualification round of the third annual Space Security Challenge: Hack-A-Sat satellite hacking competition. Hack-A-Sat enables and encourages security researchers of all levels to focus their skills, creativity and innovative thinking on solving cybersecurity challenges
Will LISA see the gravity waves 10 picoseconds after the Big Bang
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30The early universe may chirp about unknown physics. A University of Helsinki research team has demonstrated how an early universe phase transition will lead to gravitational wave signals potentially visible in the upcoming satellite missions. The research results were recently published in the prestigious journal Physical Review Letters. Phase transitions, such as the boiling of water or t
NASA's X-59 arrives back in California following critical ground tests
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30The X-59, NASA's quiet supersonic experimental aircraft, has arrived back at Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works facility in Palmdale, California, following several months of critical ground tests in Ft. Worth, Texas. Ground tests on the X-59 were done to ensure the aircraft's ability to withstand the loads and stresses of supersonic flight - or flight at speeds faster than Mach 1. The vehicle's
Chinese satellite obtains global gravity field data
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30China's Tianqin-1 satellite has acquired the global gravity field data during its in-orbit operation, according to Sun Yat-sen University in south China's Guangdong Province. The satellite was launched in December 2019 to test the technologies of the space-based gravitational wave detection program "Tianqin." The program Tianqin, meaning "harp in the sky," was initiated by the university i
California field campaign is helping scientists protect diverse ecosystems
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30With a plane crisscrossing the sky and researchers working on land and sea, the Surface Biology and Geology High-Frequency Time Series campaign (SHIFT) combines the ability of airborne science instruments to gather data over widespread areas with the more concentrated observations scientists conduct in the field to study natural environments. SHIFT is jointly led by NASA's Jet Propulsion L
Planet Partners with SynMax to Provide Energy Intelligence and Monitor Dark Vessels
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL), a leading provider of daily data and insights about Earth, has partnered with SynMax, a Houston-based satellite analytics and intelligence company, to provide data-informed insights on the energy industry within the United States and monitor the movements of dark vessels around the globe. With Planet's daily PlanetScope imagery, SynMax monitors the location of h
New satellite to advance research on atmospheric environment, pollution
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30Chinese scientists will soon have a new space-based tool to advance their research on the atmospheric environment and pollution. After in-orbit tests, the Atmospheric Environmental Surveyor satellite will start its monitoring operations and send data to scientists, according to its designers at the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. The 2.6-metric ton satellite was launched
Modeling Earth's Magnetosphere in the Lab
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30A magnetosphere forms around any magnetized object, such as a planet, that is immersed within a stream of ionized gas, called plasma. Because Earth possesses an intrinsic magnetic field, the planet is surrounded by a large magnetosphere that extends out into space, blocks lethal cosmic rays and particles from the sun and stars, and allows life itself to exist. In Physics of Plasmas, by AIP
BlackSky supports customers during Ukraine crisis
Thursday, 21 April 2022 02:30BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) has demonstrated the ability to rapidly shift orbits, launch two new satellites, and collect images over Ukraine all within a 45-day window. In addition to generating a strategic increase in constellation capacity, customers received dawn-to-dusk analytics and imagery products of Ukraine within 24 hours of the company's most recent launch on April 2. "We're setting a
Space Force looking at U.S. needs for ‘responsive space’
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 23:16Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein: The Space Force needs to “understand where we need tactically responsive launch, but more importantly, tactically responsive space.”
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DoD a main proponent of anti-satellite test ban: ‘We are not disarming’
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 19:39"Space related rules and norms of responsible behavior are in our interest,” said deputy assistant secretary of defense John Hill
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The moon, where no satnav has gone before
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 19:36The test version of a unique satellite navigation receiver has been delivered for integration testing on the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft. The NaviMoon satnav receiver is designed to perform the farthest ever positioning fix from Earth, employing signals that will be millions of times fainter than those used by our smartphones or cars.
"This engineering model of our NaviMoon receiver is the very first piece of hardware to be produced in the context of ESA's moonlight initiative, to develop dedicated telecommunications and navigation services for the moon," explains Javier Ventura-Traveset, Head of ESA's Navigation Science Office and managing all ESA lunar navigation activities.
"It will be flown aboard the Lunar Pathfinder mission into orbit around the moon, from where it will perform the furthest satellite navigation positioning fix ever made, at more than 400 000 km away to an accuracy of less than 100 m. This represents an extraordinary engineering challenge, because at such a distance the faint Galileo and GPS signals it makes use of will be barely distinguishable from background noise.
OneWeb signs contract to launch satellites from India in 2022
Wednesday, 20 April 2022 19:35OneWeb has signed a contract to use India’s largest launch vehicle to deploy at least some of its remaining LEO broadband satellites this year, according to a company executive.
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