Senate unanimously confirms Nelson as NASA administrator
Thursday, 29 April 2021 22:36
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Updated 8 p.m. Eastern with NASA statement.
WASHINGTON — The Senate unanimously confirmed Bill Nelson to be NASA’s next administrator, wrapping up a whirlwind confirmation process that was vastly different from that experienced by his predecessor.
The Senate confirmed Nelson’s nomination to be NASA administrator late April 29 via unanimous consent, a mechanism used for the expedited passage of bills and nominations where no senator disapproves.
Fourth flight postponed for Mars Ingenuity helicopter
Thursday, 29 April 2021 19:54 Write a comment
NASA's Mars Ingenuity helicopter missed its fourth scheduled flight on Thursday, with the space agency blaming a software glitch and vowing to try again the next day.
"The helicopter is safe and in good health," said a statement, adding the rotorcraft had failed to transition to "flight mode."
The team plans to attempt the flight once more on Friday at 10:46 am Eastern Time (1446 GMT) with data expected back at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory around three hours later.
The software issue is thought to be the same one that delayed Ingenuity's maiden voyage, the first powered flight on another planet. Initially scheduled for April 11, the historic feat occurred April 19.
Op-ed | Sen. Nelson is strong choice to advance 21st century space priorities
Thursday, 29 April 2021 19:00 Write a comment
When looking to strategically position the United States. as the dominant force in space for the 21st century, it made perfect sense to select a nominee to lead NASA who literally served our nation in space. Former Sen.
'The line is getting fuzzier': Asteroids and comets may be more similar than we think
Thursday, 29 April 2021 13:42 Write a comment
As anyone who has ever tried to clean a home knows, ridding yourself of dust is a Sisyphean effort. No surface stays free of it for long. It turns out that space is somewhat similar. Space is filled with interplanetary dust, which the Earth constantly collects as it plods around the sun—in orbit, in the atmosphere, and if it's large enough, on the ground as micrometeorites.
While specimens may not be large, it turns out such dust particles are reforming scientists' conception of asteroids and comets and are enough to reconstruct entire scenes in the history of the solar system.
Dragon fire
Thursday, 29 April 2021 13:21 Write a comment
Image:
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew Dragon spits fire as it lifts off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, 23 April at 05:49 local time. On board are ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet, NASA astronauts Megan McArthur and Shane Kimbrough, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Akihiko Hoshide.
The crew of four spent around 23 hours orbiting Earth and catching up with the International Space Station after their launch before docking to the Node-2 Harmony module, marking the start of ESA’s six-month mission Alpha.
Thomas is the first European to be launched to space on a US spacecraft in over
The Chinese Mars lander: How Zhurong will attempt to touch down on the red planet
Thursday, 29 April 2021 12:57 Write a comment
For the first few months of 2021, the Martian atmosphere was buzzing with new visitors from Earth. First, it was the UAE Space Agency's Hope probe, followed by the Chinese Tianwen-1 entering orbit.
More recently Nasa landed the biggest-ever rover on Mars and its companion, an ingenious helicopter, both of which have been setting new milestones since.
The next visitor to the planet will be Tianwen-1 mission's lander, which will attempt to reach the surface of the Mars in mid-May. To enter the Martian atmosphere, it will use a slightly different technique to previous missions.
Landing on Mars is notoriously dangerous—more missions have failed than succeeded. A successful Mars landing requires entering the atmosphere at very high speeds, then slowing the spacecraft down just the right way as it approaches its landing location.
This phase of the mission, known as entry-descent-landing, is the most critical.
Lofted by NASA balloons, new experiments will study sun-Earth system
Thursday, 29 April 2021 12:14 Write a comment
A suite of scientific balloons is about to lift off from NASA's Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility's field site in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, carrying instruments that will help scientists understand the connection between the Sun and Earth.
The Sun sizzles at the center of our solar system 93 million miles away, but its influence doesn't end there. It exhales the solar wind, a continuous stream of charged particles that whisks past Earth and continues for more than 4 billion miles. Sudden bursts in the solar wind can trigger beautiful auroras on Earth, but can also disrupt radio and GPS signals, threaten our satellites, and pose a risk to electrical power grids at the surface.
With goals met, NASA to push envelope with Ingenuity Mars helicopter
Thursday, 29 April 2021 12:00 Write a comment
The red planet rotorcraft will extend its range, speed, and flight duration on Flight Four.
Now that NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has accomplished the goal of achieving powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on the red planet, and with data from its most recent flight test, on April 25, the technology demonstration project has met or surpassed all of its technical objectives. The Ingenuity team now will push its performance envelope on Mars.
The fourth Ingenuity flight from "Wright Brothers Field," the name for the Martian airfield on which the flight took place, is scheduled to take off Thursday, April 29, at 10:12 a.m.
ESA to build second deep space dish in Australia
Thursday, 29 April 2021 11:00 Write a comment
- ESA, in cooperation with the Australian Space Agency, will construct a new 35-metre, deep space dish antenna at its existing ground station in New Norcia, Western Australia
- The 620-tonne antenna will help ESA provide crucial communication links to its growing fleet of deep space missions
- It will be ESA’s second 35-metre antenna at the site and its fourth in total
- The joint announcement was made during a virtual meeting held between the heads of ESA and the Australian Space Agency on 29 April
Beyer seeks funding for NASA in infrastructure bill
Thursday, 29 April 2021 10:43 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House space subcommittee says he is working to secure funding for NASA as part of what could be a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure package proposed by the White House.
Speaking at a Washington Space Business Roundtable webinar April 28, Rep.
China launches first module for new space station
Thursday, 29 April 2021 10:19 Write a comment
China launched the first module of its "Heavenly Palace" space station on Thursday, a milestone in Beijing's ambitious plan to establish a permanent human presence in space.
Billions of dollars have been poured into space exploration as China seeks to reflect its rising global stature and growing technological might, following in the footsteps of the United States, Russia and Europe.
The Mars mission team prepares for its toughest challenge
Thursday, 29 April 2021 10:19 Write a comment
As Beijing's residents bask among the spring blossoms, engineers and technicians in the capital's northwestern suburbs are busily preparing for a challenging maneuver involving a spacecraft hundreds of millions of kilometers from Earth.
The team members-spacecraft control professionals at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center-are making all-out efforts to ensure that Tianwen 1, China's firs NASA Data Helps Builds Resilience as Disasters Grow More Intense
Thursday, 29 April 2021 10:19 Write a comment
In a decade filled by record-breaking events including raging wildfires, numerous hurricanes, unseasonal flooding and historically cold temperatures, NASA has continued to learn more about how the planet is changing and the effect it has on Earth's systems.
In the satellite era, a fleet of Earth-observing satellites have gathered data on world-wide rain and snowfall, air and ocean temperat SpaceX launches Starlink satellites
Thursday, 29 April 2021 09:51 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites April 28, its first since the FCC approved a modification that allows the company to operate more satellites in lower orbits.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 11:44 p.m.
With goals met, NASA ready to push the envelope with Ingenuity Mars Helicopter
Thursday, 29 April 2021 07:26 Write a comment
Now that NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has accomplished the goal of achieving powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on the Red Planet, and with data from its most recent flight test, on April 25, the technology demonstration project has met or surpassed all of its technical objectives. The Ingenuity team now will push its performance envelope on Mars.
The fourth Ingenuity flight fro