China begins construction of new survey telescope to detect space debris
Friday, 02 July 2021 07:41
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The construction of a survey telescope array, which will be mainly used to detect space debris in medium and high orbits, has begun in northwest China's Qinghai Province, taking advantage of the plateau region's clear night skies.
The multi-application survey telescope array, MASTA, developed by the Purple Mountain Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is under construction in th New approach could change how we track extreme air pollution events
Friday, 02 July 2021 07:41 Write a comment
When extreme and dangerous air pollution events strike and blanket the air with hazardous levels of pollution, it causes a major threat to public health and safety. It's also exceedingly challenging to monitor. The pollutants move quickly through the atmosphere, and can undergo chemical transformations from one form to another, leaving it difficult to predict the level of human exposure.
I Seasoned US pilot Wally Funk to fulfill space dream 60 years on
Friday, 02 July 2021 07:39 Write a comment
Sixty years after joining a private program with the hope of one day becoming an astronaut, US pilot Wally Funk will finally see her dream come true at age 82.
On Thursday, Amazon's billionaire founder Jeff Bezos invited her to join him on his spaceflight company Blue Origin's July 20 launch.
The flight will not just make her the oldest person ever to travel in space, but also a walking, breathing symbol of the rewards of audacity and perseverance.
"I like to do things that nobody's ever done," she said in a video posted on Instagram by Bezos.
Mercury 13
Funk grew up in the western United States in Taos, New Mexico. As a child she was passionate about aviation and took her first flying lesson at age nine. In high school, she was barred from taking mechanics, a subject reserved for boys.
Such rules did not prevent her from obtaining a pilot's license and graduating from Oklahoma State University, known for its aviation program. By now she has logged 19,600 hours of flight time.
At the very beginning of the 1960s she joined a privately-funded, innovative flight program called Mercury 13—which put women through the same training and tests as the male astronauts undergoing the official NASA program.
Richard Branson announces trip to space, ahead of Jeff Bezos
Friday, 02 July 2021 07:02 Write a comment
![Richard Branson announces trip to space, ahead of Jeff Bezos](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2021/richard-branson-announ.jpg "In this undated image from video provided by Blue Origin on Thursday, July 1, 2021, Mercury 13 astronaut trainee Wally Funk, right, meets with Jeff Bezos. On Thursday, Blue Origin announced the early female aerospace pioneer will be aboard the company's July 20 launch from West Texas, flying as an "honored guest." Credit: Blue Origin via AP")
Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson is aiming to beat fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos into space by nine days.
Earth from Space: North Frisian Islands
Friday, 02 July 2021 07:00 Write a comment
Part of the Frisian Islands, a low-lying archipelago just off the coast of northern Europe, is visible in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Branson to be on next SpaceShipTwo flight July 11
Thursday, 01 July 2021 22:22 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson will be on the company’s next flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle July 11, going to space days before fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos.
Virgin Galactic announced late July 1 that it had scheduled its next flight of SpaceShipTwo, called “Unity 22,” for July 11 at no earlier than 9 a.m.
Astra completes first day as a public company ahead of launch ramp-up
Thursday, 01 July 2021 21:16 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Astra’s shares closed up 4.5% to $12.90 July 1 after the launch vehicle developer’s first day on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which raised nearly $500 million ahead of its first commercial mission this summer.
NASA taking “careful and deliberate” approach to repairing Hubble computer
Thursday, 01 July 2021 20:11 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — NASA is taking a slow and deliberate approach to restoring operations of the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been out of service since mid-June when a payload computer malfunctioned.
OneWeb hits coverage goal with latest launch, sets sights on southern regions
Thursday, 01 July 2021 19:41 Write a comment
expands TAMPA, Fla. — OneWeb is shifting focus to the southern hemisphere after completing coverage north of 50 degrees latitude, following the launch of its latest batch of broadband satellites July 1.
Canada–US heatwave
Thursday, 01 July 2021 13:49 Write a comment
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The heatwave now hitting parts of western Canada and the US has been particularly devastating. This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image shows land surface temperature. Blue Origin to fly Mercury 13 woman on first crewed New Shepard flight
Thursday, 01 July 2021 13:35 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Blue Origin announced July 1 that it will fly one of the “Mercury 13” women who underwent astronaut training in the early years of the space program on the company’s first crewed New Shepard suborbital flight.
Russian rocket launches UK telecom satellites
Thursday, 01 July 2021 13:25 Write a comment
A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying 36 UK telecommunication and internet satellites blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia's Far East on Thursday, the Roscosmos space agency said.
Images released by Roscosmos showed the Soyuz rocket, launched by Europe's Arianespace, taking off against dark skies at 1248 GMT.
"We have lift-off," OneWeb, a London-headquartered company, said on Twitter.
OneWeb is working to complete the construction of a constellation of low earth orbit satellites providing enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the world.
The company is competing against billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the race to provide fast internet for the world's remote areas via satellites.
The UK company plans for its global commercial internet service to be operational by next year, supported by some 650 satellites.
Arianespace, which has worked with Russia for close to two decades, is under contract to make 16 Soyuz launches between December 2020 and the end of 2022.
This year launches of 36 satellites took place in March, April and May.
"Taking our constellation to a total of 254 satellites, this launch will allow us to provide complete coverage north of 50 degrees latitude by the end of the 2021," OneWeb said.
Jeff Bezos picks female aerospace pioneer to launch with him
Thursday, 01 July 2021 13:11
Asteroid-hunting space telescope gets two-year mission extension
Thursday, 01 July 2021 12:40 Write a comment
NEOWISE has provided an estimate of the size of over 1,850 near-Earth objects, helping us better understand our nearest solar system neighbors.
For two more years, NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) will continue its hunt for asteroids and comets—including objects that could pose a hazard to Earth. This mission extension means NASA's prolific near-Earth object (NEO) hunting space telescope will continue operations until June 2023.
Webb passes key launch clearance review
Thursday, 01 July 2021 12:00 Write a comment
The international James Webb Space Telescope has passed the final mission analysis review for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.