CSU researcher links real encounter with 'milky seas' to satellite pictures
Saturday, 23 July 2022 12:41Milky seas - the rare phenomenon of glowing areas on the ocean's surface that can cover hundreds of square miles - are not new to scientists at Colorado State University. They have previously demonstrated the use of satellites to see these elusive phenomena. What was missing were photographic observations of milky seas observed from the Earth's surface and from space at the same time. Unti
UK launches consultation on Virgin Orbit launch
Friday, 22 July 2022 20:06The U.K. announced a public consultation July 22 to assess the environmental impact of the country’s first space launch, as part of the licensing process for clearing Virgin Orbit’s mission this year.
SCOUT wins defense contract to demonstrate utility of commercial data from sensors in space
Friday, 22 July 2022 18:40Startup SCOUT Space won a Phase 2 Small Business Innovation Research contract from the U.S. Space Force to augment military systems with commercial data from space-based sensors
The post SCOUT wins defense contract to demonstrate utility of commercial data from sensors in space appeared first on SpaceNews.
Vega-C launch in slow motion
Friday, 22 July 2022 12:56ESA’s new Vega-C rocket lifted off for its inaugural flight VV21 on 13 July 2022 at 15:13 CEST/13:13 UTC/10:13 local time from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. This video features shots of the launch from different angles.
With new first and second stages and an uprated fourth stage, Vega-C increases performance to about 2.3 t in a reference 700 km polar orbit, from the 1.5 t capability of its predecessor, Vega.
For flight VV21, Vega-C’s payload is LARES-2, a scientific mission of the Italian space agency ASI and six research CubeSats from France, Italy and Slovenia.
Week in images: 18-22 July 2022
Friday, 22 July 2022 12:10Week in images: 18-22 July 2022
Discover our week through the lens
SpaceX delays 32nd launch of year, putting off attempt at record for one more day
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08SpaceX will delay Thursday's Starlink launch, an attempt by the company to beat its record of 31 launches in 2021 with a 32nd launch this year, until Friday because of fog. The countdown to launch was aborted seconds ahead of the Falcon 9 rocket's planned launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The lift off
Northrop Grumman and NASA test SLS booster
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08Northrop Grumman and NASA have conducted a full-scale static fire of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster-2. The five-segment solid rocket booster is the world's largest solid rocket motor and will provide more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket's initial thrust during launch. Over 300 measurement channels assessed the 154-foot-long solid rocket boo
Russian, European astronauts make rare joint spacewalk at ISS
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08A Russian cosmonaut and European Space Agency engineer made a several-hour spacewalk at the International Space Station on Thursday to work on a robotic laboratory arm. The pair began the spacewalk around 10 a.m. EDT and it was scheduled to last about six hours. The objective of the mission is to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the ISS Nauka laboratory. Com
New method increases lunar mapping accuracy to unprecedented levels
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08TOPOGRAPHY: The surface of the moon and rocky planets, Mars in particular, are of huge interest to anyone trying to explore our solar system. The surface must be known in as much detail as possible, for missions to land safely, or for any robotic vessel to drive across the surface. But until now, the methods to analyze images from e.g. orbiting spacecraft have entailed a huge work load and immen
NASA selects Draper to for Lunar Far Side mission
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08NASA has awarded Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts a contract to deliver Artemis science investigations to the Moon in 2025. The commercial delivery is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under Artemis. Draper will receive $73 million for the contract, and is responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, delivery from Earth to
Why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08Because it's bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new UC Riverside research shows Jupiter's massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night sky. "It's long bothered me why Jupiter doesn't have even more amazing rings that would put Saturn's to shame," said UCR astrophysicist Stephen Kane, who led the research. "If Jupiter did
Laser marking on Mars
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08If your name begins with "L" you will like this post about the first letter to be laser engraved on Mars. Every once in a while, we see cartoons in which a Mars rover is driven in a pattern to make letters in the sand with its wheel tracks. The letters spell out a silly phrase, and the cartoon usually has aliens on the side, laughing or puzzling over the meaning. The use of lasers on board Mars
Johns Hopkins APL assembles first global map of lunar hydrogen
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08Using data collected over two decades ago, scientists from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, have compiled the first complete map of hydrogen abundances on the Moon's surface. The map identifies two types of lunar materials containing enhanced hydrogen and corroborates previous ideas about lunar hydrogen and water, including findings that water likely played
Novel way to 'see' the first stars through the fog of the early Universe
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08A team of astronomers has developed a method that will allow them to 'see' through the fog of the early Universe and detect light from the first stars and galaxies. The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, have developed a methodology that will allow them to observe and study the first stars through the clouds of hydrogen that filled the Universe about 378,000 years after the B
Terran Orbital Commissions Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 Payload
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has announced the commissioning of the Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 payload. The payload provides Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to ground terminals and is an improved version of the payloads flown on CENTA