Seoul (Sputnik) Sep 17, 2021
South Korea's Institute for Defense Analyses managed to carry out successful firing tests of a solid-propellant engine for a new space launch vehicle already on 29 July, paving way for commercial launches of this type of rockets to start as early as in 2024, the defense ministry said on 16 September. The new engine will allow launching small satellites and groups of extra-small satellites

El Segundo CA (SPX) Sep 16, 2021
ABL Space Systems announced that is has been selected as the launch provider for the NASA Cryogenic Demonstration Mission. Developed under a NASA Tipping Point contract awarded in 2020, the Cryogenic Demonstration Mission will launch in 2023 and demonstrate in-space transfer of cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2), the most challenging but highest-performing propellant for lunar and deep space explor

Washington (AFP) Sept 17, 2021
Four space tourists orbiting the Earth in a SpaceX capsule at 17,500 miles per hour (28,162 kph) talked to movie star Tom Cruise on Friday and provided a live update about life aboard the spacecraft. The first space tourism mission by Elon Musk's SpaceX blasted off from Florida on Wednesday for a three-day voyage that is to end with a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean at 4:06 pm Pacific time

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 17, 2021
The crew of the first all-civilian orbital space mission, Inspiration4, plans to splash down off the coast of Florida on Saturday evening. SpaceX plans a 7:06 p.m. EDT return to Earth, but hasn't announced the exact location. That will depend on weather and wave heights in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean. "We're seeing the world every 90 minutes. That's how fast we're trave

Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 17, 2021
A new record for the maximum number of people present in low Earth orbit at the same time was set on 16 September, as 14 individuals were there. This breaks the previous record set in March 1995, when 13 astronauts were in space. Currently, there are seven people on the International Space Station (ISS): Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, US astronauts Mark Wande Hai,

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Sep 17, 2021
Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is performing the first combined test in preparation for the inaugural flight of Ariane 6, Europe's new generation launch vehicle. This test confirms the operations and electrical and mechanical equipment required for integration of the upper part of the launch vehicle. The procedures are carried out in conditions representative of a launch campaign. A m

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 17, 2021
In the months since we flew for the first time, we have learned a great deal about operating a helicopter on Mars. We have explored Ingenuity's strengths and limitations in detail, leveraging the former and working around the latter to operationalize it as a highly capable reconnaissance platform. With the benefit of the knowledge acquired, conducting flights on Mars has in most ways becom

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 20, 2021
Two interactive web experiences let you explore the Martian surface, as seen by cameras aboard the rover and orbiters flying overhead. It's the next best thing to being on Mars: Two online interactive experiences let you check out Jezero Crater - the landing site and exploration locale for NASA's Perseverance rover - without leaving our planet. One new experience, called "Explore wit

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 20, 2021
The Johnson Space Center scientist was tasked with helping guide the way for mission's first cored Mars rock sample. The evening of Aug. 1 felt a lot like a birthday to NASA planetary scientist Justin Simon. On that night, Simon attended a virtual watch party for researchers preparing to use NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to conduct the first detailed study of a candidate rock target

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2021
Scientists found evidence that a region of northern Mars called Arabia Terra experienced thousands of "super eruptions," the biggest volcanic eruptions known, over a 500-million-year period. Some volcanoes can produce eruptions so powerful they release oceans of dust and toxic gases into the air, blocking out sunlight and changing a planet's climate for decades. By studying the topography