U.S. military space commanders expect broad continuity in DoD space policy
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 19:08
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WASHINGTON — It’s now been confirmed that the Biden administration is fully behind the U.S. Space Force. And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin noted in congressional testimony that he views space as a national security concern.
White House endorses Artemis program
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 18:19 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The White House gave its support for NASA’s Artemis program of lunar exploration, but offered no details on potential changes it may make in the scope and schedule of the effort.
At a Feb.
Inside a martian canyon
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 17:00 Write a comment
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Inside a martian canyon Japan scientists to study source of high heat on asteroid
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How Mars became the prize for the new space race – and why China is hellbent on winning it
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 14:59 Write a comment
Looking at its achievements over the past decade, nobody would doubt China is aiming to win the new space race. Not only has it been the only country to land on the Moon in about 40 years, and the first to soft land on its far side, it has also planted a flag on lunar soil and brought samples back to Earth.
The race between several nations and private companies, however, is far from over. China is now approaching Mars with its Tianwen-1 mission, due to arrive on February 10. A successful insertion into orbit—the rover won't land until May—will mark another crucial milestone for more than one reason.
Mars may be close to Earth, but it is a challenging target. Nothing demonstrates this better than the figures. Out of 49 missions up to December 2020, only about 20 have been successful. Not all these failures were attempts by newbies or early endeavors.
How Mars 2020 will help bring part of the red planet back to Earth
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 14:04 Write a comment
Out in the cold, empty void beyond Earth, NASA's latest Mars mission is hurtling at 43,000 miles per hour toward the Red Planet. The mission, Mars 2020, passed the halfway point of its journey in October 2020 and is expected to touch down on solid ground on February 18.
The mission is the first part of an audacious plan to do something humanity has never done before: bring a piece of another planet back to Earth. (NASA has retrieved rocks from the Moon, but it is not considered a planet.) This plan, known as Mars Sample Return, will involve three missions spanning a decade.
For Ken Farley, Caltech's W. M. Keck Foundation Professor of Geochemistry and the mission's project scientist, Mars 2020 is the culmination of years of dreaming and careful planning.
"The idea of bringing a sample back from Mars goes back decades," he says.
Democratic senators ask White House to continue Artemis lunar lander program
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 12:32 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Eleven Democratic members of the U.S. Senate have asked President Joe Biden to maintain “robust funding” of NASA’s Human Landing System (HLS) program given uncertainties about how the agency will proceed with that effort.
Aeolus shines a light on polar vortex
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 10:45 Write a comment
As this winter’s polar vortex currently sends extreme icy blasts of Arctic weather to some parts of the northern hemisphere such as the northeast of the US, scientists are using wind information from ESA’s Aeolus satellite to shed more light on this complex phenomenon.
US voices concern on Iran satellite rocket launch
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
The United States on Tuesday voiced concern about Iran's launch of a satellite-carrying rocket, saying the test could boost missile work at a moment when the two nations are inching back to diplomacy.
"The United States remains concerned with Iran's efforts to development space launch vehicles (SLVs), given these programs' ability to advance Iran's ballistic missile development," a State Dep Iran tests new solid fuel satellite launch vehicle
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
Tensions between the US and Iran have been especially high ever since Trump in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and reinstated harsh sanctions against Iran. The JCPOA stipulated that Iran would receive waivers from sanctions if it agreed to limit its nuclear programme.
Iran on Monday shared a video of its new domes SpaceX plans two communications satellite cluster launches in a day
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
Elon Musk's SpaceX plans to launch two Starlink communications satellite cluster missions from Florida in one day Thursday - the first time in history for such a feat by a launch company.
The first launch is planned at 1:19 a.m. EST from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, followed by another just over four hours later at 5:36 a.m. EST from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Ce Digital platform helps rescue services during natural disasters
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
In the event of a forest fire, flash flooding or a landslide, how can firefighters and rescue workers get to the disaster site as quickly as possible? What measures need to be taken? What lessons can be learned from past disasters? The HEIMDALL project provides answers via a digital platform that collects all of this information.
At the virtual final presentation of the project, the benefi A fine-grained view of dust storms
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:55 Write a comment
A satellite-based dataset generated by KAUST researchers has revealed the dynamics of dust storm formation and movements over the last decade in the Arabian Peninsula. Analysis of this long-term dataset reveals the connection between the occurrence of extreme dust events and regional atmospheric conditions, a finding that could help improve weather forecasting and air-quality models.
Dust Falcon 9 launches Starlink satellites
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 07:27 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX successfully launched another set of Starlink satellites Feb. 4 in the first of back-to-back Falcon 9 launches scheduled from Cape Canaveral.
The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 1:19 a.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Lunar traffic to pick up as NASA readies for robotic commercial moon deliveries
Wednesday, 03 February 2021 04:48 Write a comment
NASA is working on various science instruments and technology experiments from the agency that will operate on the Moon once American companies on Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contracts deliver them to the lunar surface. Through CLPS flights, NASA is buying a complete commercial robotic lunar delivery service and does not provide launch services, own the lander or lead landing operat