Momentus SPAC merger seeking extension
Friday, 07 May 2021 16:47
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WASHINGTON — The blank-check company proposing to merge with in-space transportation company Momentus is going down to the wire in its effort to convince shareholders to give it more time to close the deal.
Defense appropriators ‘disappointed’ with management of Space Force acquisitions
Friday, 07 May 2021 16:38 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has moved quickly to organize its operational units since it was established 16 months ago. But Congress would also like to see the service make headway in acquisition programs, the chair of the House Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee said May 7.
A barred galaxy's massive molecular inflow
Friday, 07 May 2021 13:50 Write a comment
Image: First Ariane 6 fairing at Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana
Friday, 07 May 2021 12:30 Write a comment
Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is carrying out combined tests to prepare for the arrival of Ariane 6, Europe's next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The first Ariane 6 fairing has already arrived at the Spaceport from Europe. It is 20 m high and 5.4 m in diameter and is being integrated with a mockup payload to test equipment and procedures inside the assembly building.
Ruag Space in Emmen, Switzerland manufactures each entire large half-shell in one piece from carbon-fiber composite which is 'cured' in an industrial oven. This reduces cost and speeds up production. Fewer parts allow horizontal as well as vertical assembly of the closed fairing and the launch vehicle, which is particularly important for Ariane 6.
A blue metal scaffold on the right of the picture, called the 'strongback," encases the fairing. There is one for each half-shell to hold each steady and to maintain the shape of the fairing while it is being raised vertical, and during assembly.
The mockup payload stands on its payload adaptor—the black cone. This is the interface between the bottom of the payload and the rocket.
Week in images: 03 - 07 April 2021
Friday, 07 May 2021 12:13 Write a comment
Week in images: 03 - 07 April 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Week in images: 03 - 07 May 2021
Friday, 07 May 2021 12:13 Write a comment
Week in images: 03 - 07 May 2021
Discover our week through the lens
NASA Wallops May 8 rocket launch may be visible in eastern United States
Friday, 07 May 2021 11:55 Write a comment
A mission to explore energy transport in space using a NASA suborbital sounding rocket launching May 8, 2021, from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia may provide a brief light show for residents of the eastern United States and Bermuda.
The mission is scheduled for no earlier than 8:02 p.m. EDT with a 40-minute launch window, Saturday, May 8. Backup launch days run through May 16. The launch may be visible, weather permitting, in much of the eastern United States from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River.
A four-stage Black Brant XII rocket will be used for the mission that includes the release of barium vapor that will form two green-violet clouds that may be visible for about 30 seconds. The barium vapor is not harmful to the environment or public health
The mission, called the KiNETic-scale energy and momentum transport eXperiment, or KiNet-X, is designed to study a very fundamental problem in space plasmas, namely, how are energy and momentum transported between different regions of space that are magnetically connected?
Star formation is triggered by cloud-cloud collisions, study finds
Friday, 07 May 2021 11:48
Op-ed | Big Data gaining ground with Earth Observation operators
Friday, 07 May 2021 11:32 Write a comment
Big Data is boosting Earth Observation demand, creating new applications and changing traditional business models. As a disruptive innovation, it keeps changing the way EO data is being used.
Technologies are no longer the only driver of innovation; this is about how, with innovations being combined, the ecosystem is rapidly maturing — and so are the solutions.
Sierra Nevada Corporation to advertise space spinoff on Saturday Night Live
Friday, 07 May 2021 11:00 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is taking a novel approach to publicizing the spinoff of its space business: buying ads linked to Elon Musk’s appearance on the television show “Saturday Night Live.”
SNC will run “pre-roll” ads on clips from Musk’s appearance on the show May 8 on YouTube.
Virgin Orbit schedules next LauncherOne mission for June
Friday, 07 May 2021 09:53 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Virgin Orbit has scheduled its next LauncherOne mission for June, carrying a mix of defense and commercial cubesats.
Virgin Orbit said May 6 that it will launch six cubesats on its next flight of its LauncherOne vehicle in June, flying out of the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
Higher Power in space | Thomas Pesquet & Coldplay
Friday, 07 May 2021 09:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:06:56
To celebrate the premiere of Coldplay's latest single 'Higher Power’, the band linked up for an extraterrestrial video chat with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, who is currently on a six-month mission on board the International Space Station. A specially recorded performance of Higher Power - featuring dancing alien holograms - was beamed up to Thomas, who gave the track its very first play on board the Station. The song’s premiere followed a conversation which took in similarities between life on tour and life on the Space Station, how planet Earth looks from space and its fragility;
China wants to send spacecraft to edge of solar system to mark 100th year of PRC
Friday, 07 May 2021 08:37 Write a comment
Chinese scientists are evaluating the feasibility of a project to send spacecraft to the edge of the solar system, said Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration program.
According to the project, the Chinese spacecraft will cover a distance about 100 times than that between the sun and Earth by 2049, when the People's Republic of China celebrates its 100th founding anniversar BlackSky demonstrates growth and scalability with planned launch of additional satellites
Friday, 07 May 2021 08:37 Write a comment
BlackSky, a leading provider of real-time geospatial intelligence and global monitoring services that recently announced a planned business combination with Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp., has revealed it expects to launch two satellites on Rocket Lab's twentieth mission, "Running Out of Toes." The launch, which is scheduled to take place no earlier than May 15, 2021, will deploy BlackSky's Coldplay beam new song into space in chat with French astronaut
Friday, 07 May 2021 07:43 Write a comment
Coldplay gave new meaning to the idea of a single launch, playing new song "Higher Power" for the first time during a video link-up with French astronaut Thomas Pesquet.
Pesquet spoke with the British group from the International Space Station.
"We sent you some music, because right now we aren't able to play for anyone on Earth, so we thought we would just play for you," singer Chris Martin said before playing the song late Thursday.
"This is the premiere for the whole... galaxy," he added, saying the song was about "trying to find the astronaut in all of us, the person who can do amazing things.