ESA and JAXA meet online to agree future cooperation
Thursday, 04 February 2021 18:56
ESA Director General Jan Wörner and President of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) Dr Hiroshi Yamakawa took part in an online bilateral meeting on 4 February, confirming the status of cooperative activities between the two agencies.
NOAA taps L3Harris for space weather command and control
Thursday, 04 February 2021 18:22
SAN FRANCISCO – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded a $43.8 million space weather contract to L3 Harris Technologies.
Under the five-year, cost-plus contract, Melbourne, Florida-based L3Harris will develop, deploy and operate a command and control system for NOAA’s Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 observatory, scheduled to launch in 2025 on NASA’s Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe.
Op-ed | The FAA and SpaceX
Thursday, 04 February 2021 18:15
Fifty years ago, Boeing was the gold standard for aviation and aerospace engineering excellence. And the FAA led the world in setting aircraft and airspace safety standards. No longer.
Today, the fate of the SpaceX Starship offers an example of how government oversight agencies can stifle innovation when they are unable to distinguish between innovation and execution and throw roadblocks in front of the single company that has transformed access to space.
Hope prepares to enter orbit around Mars
Thursday, 04 February 2021 17:44
WASHINGTON — As the United Arab Emirates’ Hope spacecraft arrives at Mars, those involved with the mission have a mix of confidence and concern about the chances of successfully entering orbit.
The Emirates Mars Mission, or Hope, spacecraft will arrive at Mars Feb.
Viasat’s strategy evolves with changing market conditions
Thursday, 04 February 2021 15:45
SAN FRANCISCO – Viasat’s business strategy will evolve as low Earth orbit satellite constellations and the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s Rural Digital Opportunities Fund provide consumers with additional options for broadband service.
Every challenge astronauts will face on a flight to Mars
Thursday, 04 February 2021 14:28
In 1972, the space race officially ended as NASA sent one last crew of astronauts to the surface of the moon (Apollo 17). This was the brass ring that both the US and the Soviets were reaching for, the "moonshot" that would determine who had supremacy in space. In the current age of renewed space exploration, the next great leap will clearly involve sending astronauts to Mars.
This will present many challenges that will need to be addressed in advance, many of which have to do with simply getting the astronauts there in one piece! These challenges were the subject of a presentation made by two Indian researchers at the SciTech Forum 2020, an annual event hosted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA), RUDN University, and the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Week in images: 01 - 05 February 2021
Thursday, 04 February 2021 14:28
Week in images: 01 - 05 February 2021
Discover our week through the lens
SpaceX to launch NASA astrophysics mission
Thursday, 04 February 2021 12:14
WASHINGTON — SpaceX won a NASA contract Feb. 4 to launch a small astrophysics spacecraft, continuing the company’s string of similar agency contracts over the last two years.
NASA awarded a contract to SpaceX for the launch of the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) spacecraft on a Falcon 9 in June 2024.
Earth from Space: Japan in bloom
Thursday, 04 February 2021 09:00
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the algal blooms swirling around the Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Japan.
How Mars became the prize for the new space race
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land on its far side, it has also planted a flag on lunar soil and brought samples back to Earth.
The race between several nations and private companies, however, is far from over. Bringing Mars rocks back to Earth
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
Jim Bell is a professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University and has worked on a number of Mars missions. On Feb. 18, NASA's Mars 2020 mission will be arriving at the red planet, and hopefully will place the Perseverance Rover on the surface. Bell is the primary investigator leading a team in charge of one of the camera systems on Perseverance.
b>What's A Steady DRIP with NASA Satellites
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
When drought hits the Horn of Africa, it's a threat to lives and livelihoods. Communities need access to water for sanitation, hydration, livestock and agriculture -?and in many cases, tapping groundwater supplies is the difference between a "drought" and a "drought emergency." But maintaining the thousands of groundwater pumps that supply fresh water to drought-prone areas in east Africa is a s NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023. The delivery, planned for Mare Crisium, a low-lying basin on the Moon's near side, will investigate a variety of lunar surface conditions and resources. Such investigations will help prepare for human missions to t White House: Biden supports NASA program to send astronauts to moon
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
President Joe Biden supports NASA's plan to return Americans to the surface of the moon, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, relieving some doubt as to the fate of the Trump-era Artemis program under the new administration.
The Trump administration called for NASA to return astronauts to the moon by 2024 as part of an overall mission to ultimately send humans to Mars. But SpaceX launches fourth Starlink mission of 2021
Thursday, 04 February 2021 05:03
Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida early Thursday with the mission to send a cluster of 60 Starlink communication satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The 21-story, two-stage rocket launched at 1:19 a.m. EST Thursday from Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
While weather at the launch site was favorable, officials said they