Astrobotic selects Falcon Heavy to launch NASA’s VIPER lunar rover
Monday, 12 April 2021 13:00WASHINGTON — Astrobotic has signed a contract with SpaceX for the launch of its Griffin lunar lander, carrying a NASA lunar rover, on a Falcon Heavy in 2023.
Astrobotic announced April 13 that it selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy for its Griffin Mission 1 lunar lander mission, which will deliver the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) spacecraft to the south pole of the moon in late 2023.
Slingshot developing graphics tool for missile-warning satellite operators
Monday, 12 April 2021 13:00WASHINGTON — Slingshot Aerospace announced April 13 it won a $1.2 million Space Force contract for the development of software to help satellite operators visualize missile detection.
Slingshot teamed with Zoic Labs to develop a graphics tool that makes it easier for operators to view and interact with complex data collected by the Space Force’s overhead persistent infrared (OPIR) sensor satellites, said Melanie Stricklan, Slingshot’s co-founder and CEO.
First results from Fermilab's Muon g-2 experiment strengthen evidence of new physics
Monday, 12 April 2021 09:48The long-awaited first results from the Muon g-2 experiment at the U.S. Department of Energy's Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory show fundamental particles called muons behaving in a way that is not predicted by scientists' best theory, the Standard Model of particle physics. This landmark result, made with unprecedented precision, confirms a discrepancy that has been gnawing at researchers
Roscosmos has lost several contracts for satellite launches due to 'mean' US sanctions
Monday, 12 April 2021 09:48The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos has lost several potential contracts for launching foreign satellites due to Washington's sanctions, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik on Monday. "I am aware of several similar situations when the customers would like to use our rockets but were forced to refuse because of the mean US sanctions. This happens if the spacecra
China preparing Tianzhou-2 cargo mission to follow upcoming space station launch
Monday, 12 April 2021 08:33HELSINKI — A Long March 7 rocket has arrived at China’s coastal Wenchang spaceport to facilitate the Tianzhou-2 supply mission to a soon-to-launch space station module.
Space Debris
Monday, 12 April 2021 08:00On 20 April 2021, ESA will host the 8th European Conference on Space Debris from Darmstadt, in Germany. Scientists, engineers, industry experts and policy makers will spend the virtual four day conference discussing the latest issues surrounding space debris. They will exchange the latest research, try to come up with solutions for potential problems and define the future direction of any necessary action.
There are currently over 129 million objects larger than a millimetre in orbits around Earth. These range from inactive satellites to flakes of paint. But no matter how small the item of debris, anything travelling up
Four satellites planned to start space-based network
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08The southernmost province of Hainan plans to launch four satellites around the end of this year, thus beginning construction of the island's first space-based network, according to a project official. Yang Tianliang, chief designer of the Hainan Earth-Observation Satellite Constellation System, said recently that four Hainan 1-series optical Earth-observation satellites have been assembled
Chinese rocket for space station mission arrives at launch site
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08China's Long March-7 Y3 rocket, which will launch the cargo craft of China's space station, has arrived at its launch site in southern China's Hainan Province. The rocket, alongside the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft that has already been transported to the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site, will be assembled and tested at the launch site, the China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) said on Mo
On Gagarin anniversary, Putin says Russia must remain 'space power'
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08President Vladimir Putin called on Monday for Russia to remain a great power in space, as the country celebrated the 60th anniversary of the legendary flight that made Yuri Gagarin the first person in orbit. Russia's space industry has struggled in recent years and been hit by a series of mishaps, but the sending of the first human into space on April 12, 1961 remains a major source of natio
Roscosmos Has Lost Several Contracts for Satellite Launches Due to 'Mean US Sanctions'
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos has lost several potential contracts for launching foreign satellites due to Washington's sanctions, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told Sputnik on Monday. "I am aware of several similar situations when the customers would like to use our rockets but were forced to refuse because of the mean US sanctions. This happens if the spacecra
Exolaunch Introduces Eco Space Tug Program
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08Exolaunch, the leading rideshare services provider for the NewSpace industry and trendsetter in deployment solutions, has introduced its space tug program, featuring a new line of revolutionary orbital transfer vehicles (OTVs) that will launch satellites to custom orbits in an environmentally responsible way - the first of its kind in the OTV industry. The company's space tug testing and flight
DARPA Selects Performers for Phase 1 of Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) Program
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08DARPA has awarded contracts for the first phase of the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) program. The goal of the DRACO program is to demonstrate a nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) system above low Earth orbit in 2025. The three prime contractors are General Atomics, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin. Rapid maneuver is a core tenet of modern Department of Defense (D
Life on Venus? First we need to know more about molecules in the atmosphere
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08The search for life on other planets has received a major boost after scientists revealed the spectral signatures of almost 1000 atmospheric molecules that may be involved in the production or consumption of phosphine, a study led by UNSW Sydney revealed. Scientists have long conjectured that phosphine - a chemical compound made of one phosphorous atom surrounded by three hydrogen atoms (P
"Yellowballs" offer new insights into star formation
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08A serendipitous discovery by citizen scientists has provided a unique new window into the diverse environments that produce stars and star clusters, revealing the presence of "stellar nurseries" before infant stars emerge from their birth clouds, according to Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Grace Wolf-Chase. "Yellowballs are small compact features that were identified in infra
Search for sterile neutrinos: It's all about a bend in the curve
Monday, 12 April 2021 07:08There are many questions surrounding the elementary particle neutrino, in particular regarding its mass. Physicists are also interested in whether besides the "classic" neutrinos there are variants such as the so-called sterile neutrinos. The KATRIN experiment has now succeeded in strongly narrowing the search for these elusive particles. The publication appeared recently in the journal Physical