New maps help developers plan lunar road trip for VIPER's Artemis Mission
Friday, 16 July 2021 12:33
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As any seasoned road-tripper knows, to get the most out of an adventure, a good map helps. It's no different for NASA's first lunar robotic rover planned for delivery to the Moon in late 2023 to search for ice and other resources on and below the lunar surface. The Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is part of the agency's Artemis program. Without a Moon travel guide, VIP Lockheed Martin opens advanced manufacturing facility to expand Orion production
Friday, 16 July 2021 12:33 Write a comment
Lockheed Martin has opened its Spacecraft Test, Assembly and Resource (STAR) Center. The STAR Center features business and digital transformation innovations that will expand manufacturing, assembly and testing capacity for NASA's Orion spacecraft program and ultimately, future space exploration.
Lockheed Martin currently assembles the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis I and II Moon mission DARPA announces researchers to exploit infrared spectrum for understanding 3D scenes
Friday, 16 July 2021 12:33 Write a comment
DARPA has selected four industry and university research teams for the Invisible Headlights program, which seeks to determine if it's possible for autonomous vehicles to navigate in complete darkness using only passive sensors.
Current autonomous systems require active illumination to navigate in the dark (headlights, lidar, or some other emitting sensor), but these active signatures can b House appropriators approve NASA spending bill with revised lunar lander and nuclear propulsion language
Friday, 16 July 2021 09:10 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The House Appropriations Committee passed a spending bill July 15 that leaves intact overall funding for NASA but tweaks language regarding the Human Landing System and nuclear thermal propulsion.
The committee voted 33–26 to advance the commerce, justice and science (CJS) appropriations bill to the full House.
ERS: 30 years of outstanding achievements
Friday, 16 July 2021 08:30 Write a comment
ESA’s first Earth observation mission dedicated to understanding our planet, the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-1), was launched into orbit on 17 July 1991 – almost 30 years ago today. At the time of its launch, the ERS satellite was one of the most sophisticated spacecraft ever developed and launched by Europe, paving the way for satellite technology in the areas of atmosphere, land, ocean and ice monitoring. Today, we look back at some of the mission’s key accomplishments.
Week in images: 12 - 16 July 2021
Friday, 16 July 2021 07:56 Write a comment
Week in images: 12 - 16 July 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Lima, Peru
Friday, 16 July 2021 07:00 Write a comment
Lima, the capital and largest city of Peru, is featured in this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image.
Dutch teenager to fly on New Shepard
Thursday, 15 July 2021 21:10 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — An 18-year-old Dutch man will fly on Blue Origin’s first crewed New Shepard suborbital flight, taking the place of the unidentified winner of an auction last month for the seat.
Blue Origin announced July 15 that Oliver Daemen will be the fourth and final member of the crew of the New Shepard flight launching July 20 from the company’s West Texas spaceport.
Facebook underlines satellite commitment after team joins Amazon’s Project Kuiper
Thursday, 15 July 2021 16:59 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Facebook said it remains committed to using space-based technology for improving global connectivity, after agreeing to transfer a group of satellite experts to work on Amazon’s low-Earth-orbit megaconstellation Project Kuiper.
Blue Origin says will fly 18-year-old to space on July 20
Thursday, 15 July 2021 14:18 Write a comment
Blue Origin said Thursday an 18-year-old paying customer will fly to space on board the company's maiden crewed spaceflight on July 20, becoming the youngest ever astronaut.
Oliver Daemen, who graduated from high school in 2020 and holds a private pilot's license, is not the winner of a $28 million auction, who has asked to remain anonymous and will fly on a future mission, the company said.
"This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space," said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin.
Flying on New Shepard will fulfill a lifelong dream for Daemen, who has been fascinated by space, the Moon, and rockets since he was four, a statement said.
He plans to attend the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands to study physics and innovation management this September.
Daemen joins Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, Jeff's brother Mark, and Wally Funk aboard the first human flight involving the New Shepard spaceship.
At 18-years-old and 82-years-young, Daemen and Funk will be the youngest and oldest astronauts to travel to space.
18-year-old joining Blue Origin's 1st passenger spaceflight
Thursday, 15 July 2021 14:18 Write a comment
Blue Origin said Thursday an 18-year-old paying customer will fly to space on board the company's maiden crewed spaceflight on July 20, becoming the youngest ever astronaut.
Oliver Daemen, who graduated from high school in 2020 and holds a private pilot's license, is not the winner of a $28 million auction, who has asked to remain anonymous and will fly on a future mission, the company said.
"This marks the beginning of commercial operations for New Shepard, and Oliver represents a new generation of people who will help us build a road to space," said Bob Smith, CEO of Blue Origin.
Flying on New Shepard will fulfill a lifelong dream for Daemen, who has been fascinated by space, the Moon, and rockets since he was four, a statement said.
He plans to attend the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands to study physics and innovation management this September.
Daemen joins Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos, Jeff's brother Mark, and Wally Funk aboard the first human flight involving the New Shepard spaceship.
At 18-years-old and 82-years-young, Daemen and Funk will be the youngest and oldest astronauts to travel to space.
Video: 30 years go, the ERS-1 sent its first image back to Earth
Thursday, 15 July 2021 13:11 Write a comment
ESA's first Earth observation mission dedicated to understanding our planet, the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-1), was launched into orbit on 17 July 1991. At the time, it was the most sophisticated Earth observation spacecraft developed and launched by Europe.
Thirty years ago, as the team went through the launch and early-orbit phase, the first synthetic aperture radar images were awaited in Kiruna and Fucino. Featuring video footage taken in 1991, the team involved tells the story of the anxious moments and important breakthroughs they made as the first images arrived.
Explore further
Astranis accelerates production with four more small GEO satellites
Thursday, 15 July 2021 11:58 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis has started building four very small geostationary orbit satellites as it gears up to produce dozens and later hundreds of them simultaneously.
“This is the beginning of a ramp-up of our production rate,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark said.
China’s Zhurong Mars rover visits own parachute
Thursday, 15 July 2021 11:18 Write a comment
HELSINKI — China’s Zhurong rover has approached and imaged the parachute and backshell which helped the vehicle land safely on Mars.
Blue Origin donates New Shepard auction proceeds to space nonprofit groups
Thursday, 15 July 2021 10:43 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — With less than a week before its first crewed suborbital spaceflight, Blue Origin is distributing some of the proceeds from an auction for one of the seats on that flight to a group of space-related nonprofit organizations.