State Fight: Space sector is humming in Huntsville, Alabama
Friday, 18 February 2022 15:35
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Rocket city doesn’t intend to give up its title.
The post State Fight: Space sector is humming in Huntsville, Alabama appeared first on SpaceNews.
State Fight: Colorado wages international campaign in space sector
Friday, 18 February 2022 15:33 Write a comment
Competition to attract space companies is going global, and Colorado is waging an international campaign.
The post State Fight: Colorado wages international campaign in space sector appeared first on SpaceNews.
Op-ed | The challenges of space traffic management
Friday, 18 February 2022 14:26 Write a comment
Millions of pieces of orbital debris big enough to harm satellites but too tiny to track threaten "permanent stability and safety in orbit."
The post Op-ed | The challenges of space traffic management appeared first on SpaceNews.
How NASA plans to destroy the International Space Station, and the dangers involved
Friday, 18 February 2022 13:20 Write a comment
NASA has announced plans for the International Space Station (ISS) to be officially decommissioned in 2031. After dozens of launches since 1998 got the station up and into orbit, bringing it down will be a feat of its own—the risks are serious if things go wrong.
NASA's plans for the decommissioning operation will culminate in a fiery plunge into the middle of the Pacific Ocean—a location called Point Nemo, also known as the "spacecraft graveyard," the furthest point from all civilisation.
Finding Point Nemo will be the final stop in a complex and multi-staged mission to transition the operations of the ISS to new commercial space stations, and to bring the remaining structure safely down to Earth.
Originally commissioned for a 15-year lifespan, the ISS is outliving all expectations. It has already been in operation for 21 years, and NASA has given the go-ahead for one more decade, thereby doubling its total planned time in orbit.
Purpose of the ISS
100 days of Cosmic Kiss mission
Friday, 18 February 2022 13:12 Write a comment
On 11 November 2021, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Around 100 days later, we reflect on some highlights from space.
Matthias flew to the Station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside NASA astronauts and fellow first-time fliers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and NASA spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn. Collectively known as Crew-3, they were welcomed as members of Expedition 66 by Commander Anton Shkaplerov, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA's Mark Vande Hei.
While in orbit, Matthias is supporting over 35 European and many more international experiments. The outcomes of these experiments will advance our knowledge in areas ranging from human health to materials science, physics, Earth observation, technology development and more.
Matthias is expected to spend approximately six months in orbit and there are many more highlights to come. Find out more about the science he's supported to date in this 100 days of Cosmic Kiss science round-up.
Explore further
Getting ready for lunar orbit
Friday, 18 February 2022 13:12 Write a comment
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ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst visited Thales Alenia Space in Turin recently to test out and provide feedback on accommodations for the next human outpost in space, the lunar Gateway.
As the name implies, the Gateway will be located within the Moon’s orbit and is being built by Thales Alenia Space on behalf of ESA. Among its components is the International Habitation Module or I-Hab.
As crew quarters are designed with humans in mind, Alex both toured the mock-up and stepped into the crew quarter simulator to provide some experienced feedback. After two missions to the International Space Station – Blue
Gateway virtual reality session
Friday, 18 February 2022 13:12 Write a comment
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Gateway virtual reality session Week in images: 14 - 18 February 2022
Friday, 18 February 2022 13:06 Write a comment
Week in images: 14 - 18 February 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Blue Origin to increase New Shepard launches in 2022
Friday, 18 February 2022 11:53 Write a comment
Blue Origin expects to more than double the number of people it flies on its New Shepard suborbital system this year while adding another vehicle to its fleet.
The post Blue Origin to increase New Shepard launches in 2022 appeared first on SpaceNews.
Earth from Space: Tenerife, Canary Islands
Friday, 18 February 2022 08:00 Write a comment
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Tenerife – the largest of Spain’s Canary Islands.
100 days of Cosmic Kiss science
Friday, 18 February 2022 08:00 Write a comment
Saturday 19 February marks 100 days since ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. He launched on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft with NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn as a member of Crew-3. But even before he was launched to space, he was subject to scrutiny for science.
Giant solar eruption seen by Solar Orbiter
Friday, 18 February 2022 07:30 Write a comment
The ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has captured the largest solar prominence eruption ever observed in a single image together with the full solar disc.
100 days of Cosmic Kiss
Friday, 18 February 2022 07:00 Write a comment
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00:04:40
English - 100 days of Cosmic Kis
On 11 November 2021, ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer was launched to the International Space Station for his first mission, Cosmic Kiss. Around 100 days later, we reflect on some highlights from space.
Matthias flew to the Station on a SpaceX Crew Dragon alongside NASA astronauts and fellow first-time fliers Kayla Barron and Raja Chari, and NASA spaceflight veteran Tom Marshburn. Collectively known as Crew-3, they were welcomed as members of Expedition 66 by Commander Anton Shkaplerov, cosmonaut Pyotr Dubrov and NASA’s Mark Vande Hei.
While in orbit, Matthias is supporting over 35 European
Balloon boom
Friday, 18 February 2022 07:00 Write a comment
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00:01:02
The 3 m-long magnetometer boom of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (Smile) is deployed under helium-filled balloons to simulate the weightlessness conditions of space.
Smile is a joint mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and will aim to build a more complete understanding of the Sun-Earth connection by measuring the solar wind and its dynamic interaction with the magnetosphere.
The structural and thermal model of the Smile payload module is currently undergoing testing at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Missions frequently come ‘home’ to ESA’s technical
Europe needs a crewed space vehicle, astronauts say
Friday, 18 February 2022 05:11 Write a comment
Europe needs its own crewed spaceship to build its space industry and talent, astronauts who gathered in France said in an official manifesto Wednesday.
Dozens of astronauts endorsed the statement that "we need to be able to count on our own autonomous access to space for humans," according to the manifesto presented at the 2022 European Space Summit in Toulouse.
It calls on Euro