Space aged: wine matured aboard ISS expected to sell for $1mn
Thursday, 06 May 2021 07:02
If a bottle of Petrus 2000 that Christie's is selling tastes out of this world it might be because it aged for 14 months aboard the International Space Station.
Christie's hopes the bottle, now up for grabs in a private sale, will fetch $1 million, which would make it the most expensive wine ever sold.
The bottle is one of a batch of 12 that European startup Space Cargo Unlimited sent in UBCO researcher uses geology to help astronomers find habitable planets
Thursday, 06 May 2021 07:02
Astronomers have identified more than 4,000, and counting, confirmed exoplanets - planets orbiting stars other than the sun - but only a fraction have the potential to sustain life.
Now, new research from UBC's Okanagan campus is using the geology of early planet formation to help identify those that may be capable of supporting life.
"The discovery of any planet is pretty exciting, Juice arrives at ESA’s technical heart
Thursday, 06 May 2021 07:00
The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, Juice, has come ‘home’ to ESA’s technical centre in the Netherlands to undergo an extreme environment test in Europe’s largest thermal vacuum chamber to prepare for its journey to the outer Solar System.
Touchdown! SpaceX successfully lands Starship rocket
Thursday, 06 May 2021 01:52
SpaceX managed to land its prototype Starship rocket at its Texas base without blowing it up on Wednesday, the first time it has succeeded in doing so in five attempts.
The test flight represents a major win for the hard-charging company, which eventually wants to carry crew inside Starship for missions to Mars.
"Starship landing nominal!" tweeted founder Elon Musk triumphantly, after th Blue Origin will fly first crew to space in Julyw
Thursday, 06 May 2021 01:52
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will send its first crew to space on July 20 and is offering one of the seats to the winner of an online auction, the company said Wednesday.
The trip will last a total of ten minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
"We've been perfecting our ability to launch, land Starship survives test flight
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 22:17
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Starship prototype successfully carried out a brief suborbital flight May 5 after four previous vehicles were destroyed during or shortly after landing.
The Starship SN15 vehicle lifted off from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site at 6:24 p.m.
Media Invited to Virtual Briefing as NASA’s Webb Prepares for Launch
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 19:51
Media will have the opportunity to see the iconic golden mirror of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope open for the last time on Earth during a virtual briefing Tuesday, May 11, at 1 p.m. EDT (10 a.m. PDT). Blue Origin will fly first crew to space in July
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 18:35
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin will send its first crew to space on July 20 and is offering one of the seats to the winner of an online auction, the company said Wednesday.
The trip will last a total of ten minutes, four of which passengers will spend above the Karman line that marks the recognized boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space.
"We've been perfecting our ability to launch, land and repeat," a video accompanying the announcement said.
"Our next launch will be the first time astronauts will fly aboard New Shepard."
The reusable suborbital rocket system was named after Alan Shepard, who sixty years ago on Wednesday became the first American in space.
New Shepard has successfully carried out 15 uncrewed test runs launching from its facility in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas.
Blue Origin to fly first people on New Shepard in July
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 17:30
WASHINGTON — Blue Origin announced May 5 that it will fly people on its New Shepard suborbital vehicle for the first time July 20, and will auction off one of the seats on that launch.
The company said that, after years of test flights without anyone on board, it will start flying people on New Shepard.
KSAT rapidly expands KSATlite small satellite network
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 17:28
SAN FRANCISCO — KSAT is rapidly installing antennas around the world to keep pace with the dramatic rise in small satellite activity.
In 2021 alone, Norway-based KSAT is on track to add 42 antennas to KSATlite, its network that supports small satellite constellations.
Hughes and OneWeb get U.S. Air Force contract for Arctic broadband
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 16:12
TAMPA, Fla. — The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has contracted low Earth orbit broadband venture OneWeb to demo managed satcom services in strategic Arctic locations.
Project prime contractor Hughes Network Systems, a OneWeb investor supplying parts of its ground segment, will test the services between certain U.S.
U.S. Air Force to investigate aborted ICBM test flight
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 16:03
WASHINGTON — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile test launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, experienced a ground abort during the terminal countdown, the Air Force Global Strike Command said May 5.
Space Force to clear refurbished Falcon 9 booster for upcoming GPS launch
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 13:49
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force this month will complete a design review of a previously flown SpaceX Falcon 9 booster that flew a military GPS satellite to orbit last fall. The booster is expected to fly another GPS satellite sometime in June.
Main stage of Chinese rocket likely to plunge to Earth soon
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 13:06
3D printing could be used in search for black holes
Wednesday, 05 May 2021 09:53
An X-ray telescope designed to search for supermassive black holes could be built using a novel 3D-printing technique called plasma metal deposition.