Airbus Prepares EUTELSAT 36D Satellite for Launch with Innovative BelugaST Transport
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 17:58
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The Airbus-built geostationary telecommunications satellite, EUTELSAT 36D, was recently transported from Toulouse, France, to Sanford, Florida, USA, utilizing the Airbus BelugaST, marking a significant step towards its launch at the Kennedy Space Center later this month on a SpaceX Falcon 9. This move underscores the full global freight transport capabilities of the Airbus BelugaST fleet, partic A New Dawn in Satellite Technology: MDA Space Unveils AURORA
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 17:58 Write a comment
MDA Space (TSX: MDA), a leader in the global space sector, introduced its innovative software-defined satellite series named AURORA at the Satellite 2024 Conference in Washington, D.C. The AURORA line signifies a leap forward in satellite technology, offering a mix of flexibility and advanced functionality to enhance satellite constellation performance, while minimizing both costs and time to de MatSing Elevates Satellite Communications with Advanced Lens Antenna Technology
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 17:58 Write a comment
MatSing, the leading developer of Luneburg Lens antennas, unveiled its latest innovation aimed at transforming satellite communications. The company has expanded its range of multibeam lens solutions, historically renowned in the telecom sector, to accommodate a wide array of satellite applications. This strategic advancement leverages the unique multibeam and high-performance capabilities of it Pentagon’s innovation unit steps up role in Space Force’s responsive launch program
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 17:36
NASA's Swift temporarily suspends science operations
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 16:27 Write a comment
Operations begin to de-ice Euclid's vision
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 16:20 Write a comment
A few layers of water ice—the width of a strand of DNA—are starting to impact Euclid's vision; a common issue for spacecraft in the freezing cold of space, but a potential problem for this highly sensitive mission that requires remarkable precision to investigate the nature of the dark universe.
NASA delivers science instrument to JAXA's Martian Moons mission
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 15:54 Write a comment
On March 14, NASA handed over its gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer instrument to JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) for integration onto JAXA's MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) mission spacecraft and final system-level testing.
NASA's Mars-moon Exploration with Gamma Ray and Neutrons (MEGANE) instrument, developed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, in collaboration with colleagues from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California, will play a major role in the MMX mission, which aims to characterize and determine the origin of Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos and deliver a sample from Phobos to Earth.
Scientists suspect the asteroid-sized bodies either are remnants of an ancient collision between Mars and a large impactor or are themselves asteroids captured by Mars' gravity.
Advanced imager ready for installation on IMAP spacecraft
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 14:37 Write a comment
Another of the instruments planned for flight aboard NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is ready for installation on the spacecraft.
IMAP-Ultra is a particle imager capable of capturing energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), particularly hydrogen atoms and is the third instrument to be delivered for integration. Engineers will now perform a series of tests to ensure Ultra can properly communicate with the spacecraft before it is fully integrated into the IMAP structure and into the onboard electronics system.
IMAP-Ultra is one of three imagers on IMAP that capture ENAs traveling from the boundary of our solar system. When charged particles from the solar wind reach our outer heliosphere, they interact with interstellar neutral particles and transform into ENAs. ENAs still retain information about the original charged particles, but losing their charge allows them to travel through space unbounded by the sun's magnetic field and eventually reach IMAP.
Microgravity found to cause marked changes in gene expression rhythms in humans
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 14:26 Write a comment
Simulated effects of microgravity, created by 60 days of constant bed rest, severely disrupts rhythmic gene expression in humans, according to a new study from the University of Surrey published in iScience.
Astronauts exposed to microgravity experience changes to physiology, including immune suppression, increased inflammation, and reduced muscle mass and bone density. With the increase in human spaceflight, it is important to understand changes in the molecular mechanisms underlying these changes.
Lead author Professor Simon Archer, Professor of Molecular Biology of Sleep at the University of Surrey, said, "This unique study represents the largest longitudinal dataset of time series gene expression in humans. Human gene expression varies rhythmically over the 24-hour day, and it is important to collect time series data rather than from just single time points to get a full picture of what occurs in the body when exposed to simulated microgravity.
"It also raises questions about the impact of constant bed rest on our bodies as we have identified a dramatic effect on the temporal organization of human gene expression.
SpaceX planning rapid turnaround for next Starship flight
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 13:46
Creeping ice clouding vision of Europe space telescope Euclid
Tuesday, 19 March 2024 12:51 Write a comment
Scientists are trying to melt a thin layer of ice that is increasingly clouding the vision of the "dark universe detective" space telescope Euclid, the European Space Agency said on Tuesday.
It is the latest of several technical setbacks for the wide-eyed telescope, which blasted off into space in July on a mission to chart a third of the sky.
By doing so, the ESA hopes Euclid will reveal out more about the nature of dark matter and dark energy, which are thought to make up 95 percent of the universe but remain shrouded in mystery.
During checks in November, the team on the ground first noticed that they were losing a little light coming into the telescope's visible light imager, Euclid instrument operations scientist Ralf Kohley told AFP.
