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Crew-3 astronauts with their Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft in Hangar 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

At 07:21 CET (06:21 GMT) Sunday 31 October ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer will be launched to the International Space Station to begin his Cosmic Kiss mission. Tune in to ESA Web TV channel two from 03:00 CET (01:00 GMT) for live coverage of the launch.

Launch and landing dates under review

Friday, 29 October 2021 08:20
Crew-3 astronauts with their Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft in Hangar 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

NASA and SpaceX continue to review launch and return opportunities for the upcoming flights to and from the International Space Station. 

Crew-3 astronauts with their Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft in Hangar 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center

Update: Undocking of Crew-2 with Thomas Pesquet now planned for Sunday, 7 November, 18:05 GMT/19:05 CET for a splashdown on Monday, around 12:14 GMT/13:14 CET. Next launch opportunity for Crew-3 with Matthias Maurer is planned for Thursday, 11 November, 02:03 GMT/03:03 CET.

Low-gravity simulator design offers new avenues for space research and mission training
Left: A schematic of the magnet system designed by Sanavandi and Guo. Right: Contour plot of the trapping energy of a water sample placed in the proposed magnet, which shows the size and the shape of the region where the gravity is one percent of the Earth’s gravity. Credit: Wei Guo/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

As humanity continues its exploration of the universe, the low-gravity environment of space presents unusual challenges for scientists and engineers.

Researchers at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and the Florida State University-headquartered National High Magnetic Field Laboratory have developed a new tool to help meet that challenge—a for a low-gravity that promises to break new ground for future space research and habitation.

A new, scaled-back version of a spending package released Oct. 28 sharply reduced the money allocated to NASA infrastructure and climate change projects, while continuing to exclude funding for a second Artemis lunar lander.

SpaceNews

Earth from Space: Glasgow

Friday, 29 October 2021 07:00
Glasgow

Glasgow, host of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.

Boreal Forest Above Ground Biomass Density

Today, ESA and NASA have publicly released the first globally-harmonised assessment of above ground biomass – information that is vital for managing global climate change. The Multi-Mission Algorithm and Analysis Platform (MAAP) provides seamless access to above ground biomass information from both NASA and ESA Earth observation data. The revolutionary open-science tool is now fully operational and accessible online.

UAE astronauts

The space center responsible for the United Arab Emirates’ human spaceflight program is looking at a range of flight options for its astronaut corps.

SpaceNews

Indonesia has ordered a high-throughput communications satellite from Thales Alenia Space for a 2024 delivery to fill a gap left by last year’s loss of Nusantara-2 to a Chinese launch failure.

SpaceNews

Terran Orbital, the parent company of Tyvak and PredaSAR, announced plans Oct. 28 to go public through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

SpaceNews

New findings from NASA’s Juno probe orbiting Jupiter provide a fuller picture of how the planet’s distinctive and colorful atmospheric features offer clues about the unseen processes below its clouds.

In response to a protest filed by Maxar Technologies, the Defense Department’s Space Development Agency is canceling a solicitation issued Aug. 30 seeking bids for 144 satellites and will start over with a new procurement.

Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Hyten warned that bureaucratic inertia and fear of failing are thwarting innovation in the Department of Defense while China continues to roll out new military and space technologies.

Alpha Mission Overview

Thursday, 28 October 2021 15:00
Video: 00:03:00

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from France began Alpha - his second mission to the International Space Station - on 23 April 2021. Launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, on the second operational flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon, he has now spent around six months in orbit on mission Alpha. In addition to science experiments, he has taken part in four spacewalks and countless scientific investigations. On 4 October Thomas became the fourth European International Space Station Commander. He is now the ESA astronaut with the most total time spent in space and on spacewalks.

Solar wing jammed on NASA spacecraft chasing asteroids
This image provided by the Southwest Research Institute depicts the Lucy spacecraft approaching an asteroid. It will be first space mission to explore a diverse population of small bodies known as the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. NASA reported Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2021, that one of the craft's two giant, circular solar panels is only between 75% and 95% extended.
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