SpaceX ends nearly two-week lull with Space Coast launch
Friday, 21 June 2024 10:50
A late scrub due to weather on Tuesday that also took a Wednesday attempt off the board continued SpaceX's Cape Canaveral launch attempt woes of late, but it finally managed a liftoff on June 20, going close to 13 days between launches from the Space Coast, the longest run since late 2022.
It was not for a lack of trying, though, as bad weather and a scrub as the countdown clock hit 0 last week took a different SpaceX mission off the board. That led to SpaceX taking down that mission's Falcon 9 rocket and switching it up with a Falcon 9 rocket this week to launch a European TV satellite.
The first try on Tuesday night, though, faced high winds at the launch site, forcing a scrub just minutes before liftoff. SpaceX then called off a Wednesday attempt because of "ongoing unfavorable weather at the launch and recovery sites."
The company then shifted to Thursday, and finally managed the launch of the SES 24 mission, lifting off at 5:35 p.m. Eastern time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station's Space Launch Complex 40.
Rocket Lab launches first Kinéis satellites on 50th Electron
Friday, 21 June 2024 10:32
Space Team Europe for Ariane 6: Laëlla Marimoutou
Friday, 21 June 2024 09:30
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They say it takes a village to raise a child. To launch a rocket, we have the combined expertise and passion of Space Team Europe. Laëlla Marimoutou is one of many making the first Ariane 6 launch possible and has been interviewed as part of a series highlighting some of the people that make up this dream team.
ArianeGroup’s Laëlla Marimoutou works on quality assurance for Ariane 6. As Launch System Quality Assurance Deputy Laëlla ensures the rocket is ready for liftoff. Improvement is infinite and quality is inspiring.
Stay tuned for more from #SpaceTeamEurope: an ESA space community engagement
Week in images: 17-21 June 2024
Friday, 21 June 2024 07:15
Week in images: 17-21 June 2024
Earth from Space: Adam’s Bridge
Friday, 21 June 2024 07:00
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This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows Adam’s Bridge, a chain of shoals linking India and Sri Lanka. Scientists use heart and lung model to calculate potential health threats facing future space tourists in microgravity
Friday, 21 June 2024 03:00
Space exploration has always captivated our imagination, offering the promise of discovering new worlds and pushing the boundaries of human capability. As commercial space travel becomes more accessible, individuals with various underlying health conditions—including heart failure—may soon be among those venturing beyond Earth's atmosphere.
This raises critical questions about the impact of space travel on humans with potential underlying health problems. Recent research, "Computational modeling of heart failure in microgravity transitions," delves into this issue, offering insights that could shape the future of space travel.
Why study heart failure in space?
The demographic of commercial space travelers is shifting, increasingly including older, wealthy individuals who may not be in optimal health. Unlike professional astronauts, these space tourists typically do not undergo rigorous health screenings or physical training. This shift necessitates a broader consideration of health conditions, such as heart failure, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses, in space mission planning.
Heart failure alone affects over 100 million people globally. Traditionally, space medicine has focused on the effects of microgravity on healthy astronauts. However, the inclusion of non-professional astronauts with preexisting health conditions demands a deeper understanding of how microgravity impacts these individuals.
Laying the foundation for lunar base construction
Friday, 21 June 2024 01:26
KICT Studies Microwave Sintering of Lunar Soil for Moon Base Construction
NASA's Artemis program aims to build a lunar base, but transporting construction materials from Earth to the Moon is expensive. To overcome this, researchers are exploring the use of local materials like lunar soil. One method being studied is microwave sintering, which solidifies lunar regolith without melting it. T ASTRA 1P Launched on SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
SES announced that the ASTRA 1P satellite was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 5:35 pm local time.
The Ku-band satellite will enhance SES's TV neighbourhood at 19.2 degrees East, delivering content for broadcasters, sports organizations, and content owners to European TV markets. ASTRA 1P will also deliver HD content to subscribers Marsquakes may help reveal whether liquid water exists underground on red planet
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
If liquid water exists today on Mars, it may be too deep underground to detect with traditional methods used on Earth. But listening to earthquakes that occur on Mars - or marsquakes - could offer a new tool in the search, according to a team led by Penn State scientists.
When quakes rumble and move through aquifers deep underground, they produce electromagnetic signals. The researchers re Laying the foundation for lunar base construction; elucidating lunar soil-microwave interactions
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
KICT Studies Microwave Sintering of Lunar Soil for Moon Base Construction
NASA's Artemis program aims to build a lunar base, but transporting construction materials from Earth to the Moon is expensive. To overcome this, researchers are exploring the use of local materials like lunar soil. One method being studied is microwave sintering, which solidifies lunar regolith without melting it. T Iron meteorites hint that our infant solar system was more doughnut than dartboard
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
Four and a half billion years ago, our solar system was a cloud of gas and dust swirling around the sun, until gas began to condense and accrete along with dust to form asteroids and planets. What did this cosmic nursery, known as a protoplanetary disk, look like, and how was it structured? Astronomers can use telescopes to "see" protoplanetary disks far away from our much more mature solar syst UH scientists discover massive energy imbalance on Saturn
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
A groundbreaking discovery by researchers at the University of Houston has revealed a massive energy imbalance on Saturn, shedding new light on planetary science and evolution and challenging existing climate models for the solar system's gas giants. The findings appear in the scientific publication Nature Communications.
"This is the first time that a global energy imbalance on a seasonal Titan's lakes may be shaped by waves
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is the only other planetary body in the solar system that currently hosts active rivers, lakes, and seas. These otherworldly river systems are thought to be filled with liquid methane and ethane that flows into wide lakes and seas, some as large as the Great Lakes on Earth.
The existence of Titan's large seas and smaller lakes was confirmed in 2007, with image French-Chinese probe to hunt universe's biggest explosions
Thursday, 20 June 2024 23:09
A French-Chinese telescope satellite will blast off this weekend on a mission to hunt down gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe.
The light from these almighty blasts has travelled billions of light years to reach Earth, so scientists believe they could hold answers to some mysteries of the universe's youth.
But these flashes are so brief they have proved difficu