Webb Mirror Alignment continues successfully
Sunday, 27 February 2022 02:27
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Webb continues on its path to becoming a focused observatory. The team has successfully worked through the second and third out of seven total phases of mirror alignment. With the completion of these phases, called Segment Alignment and Image Stacking, the team will now begin making smaller adjustments to the positions of Webb's mirrors.
After moving what were 18 scattered dots of starligh Deep neural network to find hidden turbulent motion on the Sun
Sunday, 27 February 2022 02:27 Write a comment
Scientists developed a neural network deep learning technique to extract hidden turbulent motion information from observations of the Sun. Tests on three different sets of simulation data showed that it is possible to infer the horizontal motion from data for the temperature and vertical motion. This technique will benefit solar astronomy and other fields such as plasma physics, fusion science, Xplore banks $16.2 million for space-as-a-service
Saturday, 26 February 2022 17:15 Write a comment
Space-as-a-service startup Xplore has brought in $16.2 million to date including venture capital funding and contracts.
The post Xplore banks $16.2 million for space-as-a-service appeared first on SpaceNews.
Russia halts Soyuz launches from French Guiana
Saturday, 26 February 2022 16:17 Write a comment
Roscosmos announced Feb. 26 that it is halting cooperation with Europe on Soyuz launches from French Guiana and withdrawing its personnel from the launch site in response to European sanctions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sierra Space to study Dream Chaser landings in Japan
Saturday, 26 February 2022 13:00 Write a comment
Sierra Space has signed an agreement to study future landings of its Dream Chaser vehicle at a Japanese airport.
The post Sierra Space to study Dream Chaser landings in Japan appeared first on SpaceNews.
Russia suspends space launches from French Guiana over sanctions
Saturday, 26 February 2022 07:07 Write a comment
Russia is suspending space launches from
French Guiana and withdrawing its technical personnel in response to EU sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the space agency said Saturday.
"In response to EU sanctions against our enterprises, Roskosmos is suspending cooperation with European partners over organizing space launches from the Kourou cosmodrome and withdrawing its technical US-Russia tensions spill into space, but ISS safe -- for now
Saturday, 26 February 2022 01:27 Write a comment
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has placed a question mark over the future of the International Space Station, long a symbol of post Cold War cooperation, where astronauts and cosmonauts proudly live and work side-by-side.
The outpost was the subject of a menacing Twitter thread by Russian space agency head Dmitry Rogozin, who warned Thursday that US sanctions could "destroy our cooperation" an James Webb Telescope adjustments bring stars more into focus
Saturday, 26 February 2022 01:27 Write a comment
NASA announced Friday that it completed another step in its alignment process of the new James Webb Space Telescope, bringing its test images more into focus.
The space agency said it completed the second and third of a seven-phase process to bring the telescope's 18 mirrors into proper alignment. NASA said it will now begin making smaller adjustments to the mirrors to make images even SpaceX launches batch of Starlink satellites from California
Friday, 25 February 2022 21:13 Write a comment
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Friday and carried 50 more satellites into orbit for the Starlink internet constellation.
A SpaceX webcast showed the rocket's upper stage deploying the satellites a little over an hour after the 9:12 a.m. liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base.
The satellites will use their own thrusters to move into their operational orbits over a period of weeks.
The first stage successfully landed on a "droneship" in the Pacific Ocean. It was the fourth successful launch and landing of the reusable booster.
Starlink is a space-based system that SpaceX has been building for years to bring internet access to underserved areas of the world.
Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has close to 2,000 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth at an altitude of 340 miles (550 kilometers).
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SpaceX makes its case for space sustainability with latest Starlink launch
Friday, 25 February 2022 19:45 Write a comment
SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites Feb. 25 as the company argues its satellite constellation is consistent with the safe and sustainable use of low Earth orbit.
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Previous invasion of Ukraine had serious repercussions for the space sector
Friday, 25 February 2022 18:43 Write a comment
While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could have important space policy ramifications, the impact is not likely to be as significant as shifts that occurred in the wake Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
The post Previous invasion of Ukraine had serious repercussions for the space sector appeared first on SpaceNews.
More spaceports, more problems
Friday, 25 February 2022 18:06 Write a comment
State and local authorities pushing new projects seem undeterred by many obstacles or the fact that more than half of 13 FAA-licensed spaceports in the United States have yet to host a launch.
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100
Friday, 25 February 2022 15:33 Write a comment
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Happy 100 days in space to ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer. The first-time space flier marked the milestone on 19 February 2022 and what a busy 100-days it been.
In a Twitter post marking the milestone, Matthias wrote, “100 days may sound like a lot, but it feels like I've only just arrived.”
Even before launching for his Cosmic Kiss mission on a SpaceX Dragon as part of Crew-3, Matthias was on the science, providing researchers with pre-flight measurements for a variety of experiments.
Since arriving, Matthias has continued to be poked and prodded while working, exercising and even sleeping, all in
NASA rules out April for Artemis I launch, could target May
Friday, 25 February 2022 15:10 Write a comment
NASA mission managers updated Artemis I progress ahead of the March rollout of the massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft to Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B for what the agency calls a wet dress rehearsal.
While it's targeting March 16 at 6 p.m. for the 322-foot-tall rocket to make the 4.2-mile journey to the pad, the agency will need a month or more for testing and a rollback to the Vehicle Assembly Building before NASA signs off on a launch attempt. So an April launch window has been taken off the board.
"April is not a possibility. We're still evaluating the tail end of May," said Tom Whitmeyer, NASA's deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development. "But I want to be really careful once again, being straightforward with you. You know, we really need to get through this next few weeks here, see how we're doing."
The next possible windows for launch are from May 7-21, June 6-16 and June 29-July 12.
The majority of work inside the VAB is done ahead of the wet dress rollout, Whitmeyer said, including the last major hardware testing that involved the installation of the explosives on the vehicle that would be used in the event of an abort launch scenario.
Chinese rover finds translucent glass globules on the moon
Friday, 25 February 2022 14:00 Write a comment
Scientists say China's Yutu-2 rover, part of the Chang'E-4 mission, has found several small glass globules on the moon's far side. While tiny glass beads have been found previously in lunar samples brought back by the Apollo astronauts, the ones found by Yutu-2 are much bigger and translucent.
The discovery was made by Dr. Zhiyong Xiao, one of the lead scientific team members of the Chang'E-4 mission. They beads were found by looking at panoramic images taken by the rover. Since the rover doesn't have sampling capabilities and is not a sample return mission like it's older sibling, the Chang-E-5 mission, there is no compositional data on the glass beads, only observational evidence.