After 60 years, nuclear power for spaceflight is still tried and true
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
Six decades after the launch of the first nuclear-powered space mission, Transit IV-A, NASA is embarking on a bold future of human exploration and scientific discovery. This future builds on a proud history of safely launching and operating nuclear-powered missions in space.
"Nuclear power has opened the solar system to exploration, allowing us to observe and understand dark, distant plane Scientists closer to explaining Mars methane mystery
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
Reports of methane detections at Mars have captivated scientists and non-scientists alike. On Earth, a significant amount of methane is produced by microbes that help most livestock digest plants. This digestion process ends with livestock exhaling or burping the gas into the air.
While there are no cattle, sheep, or goats on Mars, finding methane there is exciting because it may imply tha Japan planning soil sampling mission to Mars' Moon Phobos
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
The Japanese government is considering sending a spacecraft to Mars's Phobos satellite in 2024 to obtain soil samples by 2029, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The agency said that Japan's strategic council has compiled a mid-term report on space policy on Tuesday. According to it, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) intends to launch a probe and reach one of the two satellites o Polymers in meteorites provide clues to early solar system
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
Many meteorites, which are small pieces from asteroids, do not experience high temperatures at any point in their existence. Because of this, these meteorites provide a good record of complex chemistry present when or before our solar system was formed 4.57 billion years ago.
For this reason, researchers have examined individual amino acids in meteorites, which come in a rich variety and m Images emerge of galaxies headed for collision
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
An international group of astronomers has created images with never-before-seen detail of a galaxy cluster with a black hole at its centre, travelling at high speed along an intergalactic 'road of matter'. The findings also support existing theories of the origins and evolution of the universe.
The concept that roads of thin gas connect clusters of galaxies across the universe has been dif Supermassive black holes may generate 'tsunamis' in escaping gas
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
Here on Earth, earthquakes and underwater volcanic eruptions may displace enough ocean water to create a tsunami, a drumbeat of waves reaching huge heights as they approach land. Now, astrophysicists have used computer simulations to show that in deep in space, tsunami-like structures may form on much bigger scales, from gas escaping the gravitational pull of a supermassive black hole.
In Black holes swallow neutron stars like 'Pac Man'
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
Scientists have for the first time detected black holes eating neutron stars, "like Pac Man", in a discovery documenting the collision of the two most extreme and enigmatic objects in the Universe.
The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) in the US and the Virgo gravitational-wave observatory in Italy have captured the gravitational waves from the death spiral and mer Green light given for construction of world's largest radio telescope arrays
Wednesday, 30 June 2021 06:05
SKA Observatory Global Headquarters, UK, Tuesday 29 June 2021 - At a historic meeting of its Council last week, the recently formed SKA Observatory (SKAO) saw its Member States approve the start of construction of the SKA telescopes in Australia and South Africa.
The two telescopes, currently designated SKA-Low and SKA-Mid, names which describe the radio frequency range they each cover, wi Virgin Orbit looks to increase launch rates in 2022
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 23:17
WASHINGTON — On the eve of its second revenue-generating launch, Virgin Orbit is looking to 2022 to ramp up its launch activity and operate from several airports in the United States and Great Britain.
In a call with reporters June 29, Virgin Orbit Chief Executive Dan Hart confirmed that the company was “green for launch” on a LauncherOne mission called “Tubular Bells: Part One.
Analytical Space Inc. hires KSAT’s Monson and Velazco of JPL
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 22:56
SAN FRANCISCO — Satellite communications startup Analytical Space Inc. has named former KSAT Inc. chief executive Katherine Monson as its chief commercial officer and Jose Velazco, former technical supervisor for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Advanced RF and Optical Technology Group, as chief innovation officer.
Falcon 9 launch scrub highlights airspace integration problems
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 21:12
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX launch scrubbed in the final seconds of its countdown when an aircraft violated restricted airspace June 29 has aligned both the launch industry and the airline industry in their criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration.
HASC to scrutinize Space Force budget: Satellites have to be ‘easier to defend’
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 19:19
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said he expects to see a shift in U.S. military spending away from large satellites to a “more survivable infrastructure” of smaller spacecraft.
Spacecom buys part of Nuran Wireless to strengthen Africa operations
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 18:47
TAMPA, Fla. — Israeli satellite operator Spacecom is buying a 9.3% stake in rural connectivity provider Nuran Wireless to deepen its presence across Africa.
The $3.2 million deal includes exclusive rights for providing satellite capacity and bandwidth to Canada-based Nuran’s future operations in Africa, where Spacecom provides services with its Amos-17 spacecraft.
Musk set to invest up to $30 billion in Starlink
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 18:00
Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk said Tuesday he plans to invest up to 30 billion dollars to develop his ambitious Starlink satellite internet service.
Starlink plans to deploy thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide high-speed internet to isolated and poorly connected areas.
It has so far deployed over 1,500 satellites and by August it will be able to provide coverage everywhere in the world except the North and South Poles, Musk told the Mobile World Congress, a telecoms industry conference underway in Barcelona, by video.
The Tesla chief said he expects to invest "at least five billion dollars, and maybe as much as ten billion" in Starlink before the service has a positive cash flow.
"Then over time it is going to be a multiple of that, and that would be 20 or 30 billion dollars. It is a lot basically," he added.
Starlink is currently operating in about a dozen countries, with more being added, and it currently has just over 69,000 active users, Musk said.
"We are on our way I think to having a few hundred thousand users, possibly over 500,000 users, within 12 months," he added.
Op-ed | To solve for Arctic connectivity, governments need a network suited to their unique needs
Tuesday, 29 June 2021 14:50
Space is becoming more congested and communications all over the globe — but particularly in the Arctic region — are often contested.
