Japanese billionaire Maezawa to travel to ISS in December
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano will be the next tourists to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Maezawa and Hirano will travel aboard a Russian "Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft that is scheduled for launch on December 8, 2021 from the Baikonur cosmodrome" in Kazakhstan, the agency said in a sta First Ariane 6 fairing at Europe's Spaceport
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is carrying out combined tests to prepare for the arrival of Ariane 6, Europe's next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The first Ariane 6 fairing has already arrived at the Spaceport from Europe. It is 20 m high and 5.4 m in diameter and is being integrated with a mockup payload to test equipment and procedures inside the assembly building.
Rua Seeing NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Fly in 3D
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
When NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took to the Martian skies on its third flight on April 25, the agency's Perseverance rover was there to capture the historic moment. Now NASA engineers have rendered the flight in 3D, lending dramatic depth to the flight as the helicopter ascends, hovers, then zooms laterally off-screen before returning for a pinpoint landing. Seeing the sequence is a bit li Going up is the new move on Venus
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
The largest ever quest for atmospheric wave patterns on the night side of Venus, and a new window onto vertical winds, are the two recent major insights into the super rotating cloud level of the planet, made by researchers of the Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco (IA).
13th May 2021 - On a slow rotating planet such as Venus, but with constant winds beyond the most devastating Glenn researchers study new, futuristic concept to explore Titan
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Science and technology advancements start with big ideas and creativity. Researchers at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland have imagined a new, early-stage concept for a lander to Saturn's moon Titan. The team is exploring technologies capable of collecting surface samples and returning them to Earth for laboratory analysis.
The team's futuristic idea was selected for a $125,000 NAS Scientists invent a method for predicting solar radio flux for two years ahead
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Scientists at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) and their colleagues from the University of Graz and the Kanzelhohe Observatory (Austria) and the ESA European Space Operations Centre developed a method and software called RESONANCE to predict the solar radio flux activity for 1-24 months ahead. RESONANCE will serve to improve the specification of satellite orbits, re- Xplore opens 22,000 sq ft satellite manufacturing facility to advance satellite production
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Xplore Inc., a commercial space company providing Space as a Service has announced they are opening a satellite manufacturing facility in Redmond, Washington. Their new, state-of-the-art campus is a key step in the company's mission to expand mass manufacturing of the XCraft the company's highly-capable, ESPA-class satellite, and the LightCraft, Xplore's highly-maneuverable spacecraft for deep s Laser communications powers more data than ever before
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Launching this summer, NASA's Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) will showcase the dynamic powers of laser communications technologies. With NASA's ever-increasing human and robotic presence in space, missions can benefit from a new way of "talking" with Earth.
Since the beginning of spaceflight in the 1950s, NASA missions have leveraged radio frequency communications to send Shareholders approve extension of Momentus deal
Thursday, 13 May 2021 19:03
WASHINGTON — Shareholders in the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) seeking to merge with in-space transportation company Momentus have narrowly approved a three-month extension of a deadline to complete the deal.
Stable Road Acquisition Corporation said May 13 a little more than 65% of the company’s shareholders had voted in favor of extending the deadline for closing a deal by three months, to Aug.
Starlink teams up with Google for ground infrastructure
Thursday, 13 May 2021 17:21
TAMPA, Fla. — SpaceX will install ground stations within Google’s data centers for its Starlink broadband satellites under a new cloud partnership.
The alliance aims to expand the reach of Google Cloud customers to their data, services and applications without the need for nearby cell towers.
Japanese tycoon planning space station visit, then moon trip
Thursday, 13 May 2021 16:06
Crashing Chinese rocket highlights growing dangers of space debris
Thursday, 13 May 2021 15:20
This weekend, a Chinese rocket booster, weighing nearly 23 tons, came rushing back to Earth after spending more than a week in space—the result of what some critics, including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, have attributed to poor planning by China. Pieces of the rocket, dubbed Long March 5B, are believed to have splashed down in the Indian Ocean near the Maldives, and no one was injured.
But the event has shown the potential dangers that come from humanity's expanding presence in space, said Hanspeter Schaub, professor in the Ann and H.J. Smead Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences.
Schaub is an engineer with an eye for the myriad bits of junk that circle our planet—from meteors the size of grains of dust to manmade rocket stages as big as school buses. As humans launch more objects into space, he said, this debris may increasingly threaten the safety of satellites and human astronauts in orbit. In 2009, a decommissioned Russian satellite crashed into an active satellite called Iridium 33, sending a cloud of shrapnel hurtling around the planet.
OneWeb agrees SoftBank alliance to get Japanese regulatory approvals
Thursday, 13 May 2021 14:25
TAMPA, Fla. — Japanese internet giant SoftBank has agreed an alliance with OneWeb to expand its low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband services in Japan and worldwide.
The collaboration with SoftBank, which has invested in OneWeb, is an important step toward getting regulatory approvals and setting up ground stations in Japan for the startup’s growing constellation.
Ariane 5 issue could delay JWST
Wednesday, 12 May 2021 23:08
WASHINGTON — Ongoing work to address a problem seen on two previous Ariane 5 launches has kept that launch vehicle grounded for months and could delay the high-profile launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope later this year.
Senate bill would direct NASA to select a second HLS company
Wednesday, 12 May 2021 21:08
WASHINGTON — An amendment to a Senate bill would require NASA to select a second company for its Human Lander System program, a provision some fear could upend the overall effort to return humans to the moon as soon as 2024.