Connecting the Dots | Achieving sustainable space
Thursday, 02 September 2021 11:53
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The visibility and attention space missions often get work to the industry’s advantage, from helping to attract top engineering talent to top investment dollars. But it also comes with heightened scrutiny that risks tripping up young space companies rushing to the commercial market.
Firefly emphasizes first Alpha launch a test flight
Thursday, 02 September 2021 10:28 Write a comment
Firefly Aerospace is ready for the first orbital launch attempt of its Alpha rocket on a flight that is as much about collecting vehicle data as it is about reaching orbit.
NASA plans yearlong Mars simulation to test limits of isolation
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NASA wants four people to test the limits of human isolation by placing them in a simulated Mars habitat for a year, cut off from the world except for delayed communication and possible simulated spacesuit walks.
The simulation, planned for Johnson Space Center in Houston, won't be the first time the space agency attempts to mimic a stay on Mars, but it will be one of the longest. The forecast for Mars? Otherworldly weather predictions
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As scientists prepare for crewed research missions to nearby planets and moons, they've identified a need for something beyond rovers and rockets.
They need accurate weather forecasts. Without them, any trip to the surface may be one dust storm away from disaster.
A new Yale study helps lay the foundation for more accurate, otherworldly forecasts by taking a phenomenon related to Ear The case of the missing mantle
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In the early solar system, terrestrial planets like Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are thought to have formed from planetesimals, small early planets. These early planets grew over time, through collisions and mergers, to make them the size they are today.
The material released from these violent collisions is commonly thought to have escaped and orbited around the sun, bombarding the grow Astronomer recruiting volunteers in effort to quadruple number of known active asteroids
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The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails.
Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them. Rou Chemical clues to the death of massive stars
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The Universe has countless stars, which come in different masses. The most common ones are the low-mass stars, including our Sun. Massive stars refer to those whose mass is more than eight times the mass of the Sun. The life of low-mass stars is quite long. For instance, our Sun can live for 10 billion years. However, massive stars can only live up to tens of millions of years.
Some of the Astronomers find new clue that heavy stars don't go supernova
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Conventional theory states that light stars like our Sun gently blow off their layers when they die, while heavy stars explode as a supernova. But for some reason, we are so far failing to find supernovae from stars heavier than eighteen solar masses. Now a team led by SRON astronomers finds a new clue that fuels this apparent mystery. Publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters.
The rese What can a young star teach us about the birth of our solar system
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The familiar star at the center of our solar system has had billions of years to mature and ultimately provide life-giving energy to us here on Earth. But a very long time ago, our sun was just a growing baby star. What did the sun look like when it was so young? That's long been a mystery that, if solved, could teach us about the formation of our solar system-so-named because sol is the Latin w Anchoring single atoms
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There is a dictum to "never change a running system". New methods can however be far superior to older ones. While to date chemical reactions are mainly accelerated by catalytic materials that comprise several hundreds of atoms, the use of single atoms could provide a new approach for catalysis.
An international research team, led by the TU Wien, Austria, has now developed a new method for Meteosat Third Generation takes major step towards its first launch
Thursday, 02 September 2021 06:30 Write a comment
After many technical and programmatic challenges, the first satellite of the next generation of the Meteosat family has taken a major step towards its first flight, currently scheduled for launch in autumn 2022.
House Armed Services Committee approves Space National Guard, challenges DoD on space programs
Thursday, 02 September 2021 00:22 Write a comment
The House Armed Services Committee in its version of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed several provisions on national security space policy and DoD procurement of space technologies.
DLR opens applications for free launch services aboard Isar Aerospace demo missions
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 21:01 Write a comment
German space agency DLR began accepting applications this week for institutional payloads to fly aboard a pair of Isar Aerospace Spectrum launches free of charge.
SpaceX says Amazon’s call to dismiss Starlink amendment is a delay tactic
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SpaceX has hit back at Amazon over its attempt to block amended plans for a second-generation Starlink constellation, calling it a delay tactic to slow down competition.
China is developing its own Mars helicopter
Wednesday, 01 September 2021 20:10 Write a comment
China is looking at ways of expanding its space exploration capabilities including through a vehicle similar in appearance to NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter.