Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced the launch window for its 53rd Electron mission. This mission will be the second of five dedicated launches for the French company Kineis. The mission, named 'Kineis Killed the RadIOT Star,' is set to launch from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia, New Zealand, within a 14-day window starting on September 17, 2024, NZST. Following just th

Boston MA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
The members of the MIT First Nations Launch team had never built a drone before when they faced the 2024 NASA First Nations Launch High-Power Rocket Competition. This year's challenge invited teams to design, build, and launch a high-power rocket carrying a scientific payload that deploys mid-air and safely returns to the ground, integrating Indigenous methodologies. The eight-student team

Paris (AFP) Sept 5, 2024
A spacecraft carrying European and Japanese probes passed closer to Mercury than originally planned overnight after thruster problems delayed the mission to study the little-known, Sun-scorched planet. The BepiColombo mission launched in 2018 on a winding path that had been intended to enter the orbit of the planet closest to the Sun in December 2025. But in April, a glitch with the sp

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Sierra Space, a prominent player in the commercial space sector and defense technology, has announced the successful completion of acoustic testing for its Shooting Star cargo module at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. This achievement marks an important milestone as the spacecraft nears launch readiness. The testing, conducted within the Space Systems Processing Facility (SSPF) for the first time,

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 06, 2024
Since deploying its sail last week, NASA's Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft has been transmitting data and images, helping the mission team assess the performance of the boom technology demonstration. The main objective of the mission is to carry out the deployment operation and gather insights that will inform the future use of large-scale solar sails in space exploration. The te

Seoul (AFP) Sept 5, 2024
South Korea's new space agency said Thursday it was looking to grow its share of the industry and take on Elon Musk's SpaceX, as it unveiled plans to create a "space passageway". The Korea Aerospace Administration (KASA) opened in May with the goal of turning the land of K-pop into a new space powerhouse, following the United States, Russia, and China. Seoul, which is also locked in a sp

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 5, 2024
The beleaguered Boeing Starliner spacecraft that took two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station will attempt to make its uncrewed return to Earth on Friday evening, the company has announced. NASA on Thursday issued a timeline and a set of criteria for the Starliner's departure from the ISS and return to Earth. The space capsule has faced a host of issues since well

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Sep 06, 2024
Mars, once a planet with abundant water, now presents a mystery regarding the fate of its water resources. While scientists believe some water may have gone underground over the past 3 billion years, a significant amount has escaped. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission are now shedding light on this longstanding mystery. "There are o

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 06, 2024
Geological evidence has long shown that volcanic activity occurred on the Moon, but the duration of this activity has remained uncertain. A recent discovery by Prof. LI Qiuli's lab at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IGGCAS), has provided new insights into the Moon's volcanic history. The team identified three volcanic glass beads from lunar soil samples coll

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 05, 2024
Around 4 billion years ago, an asteroid struck Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon, leading to a significant shift in its axis. A researcher from Kobe University has recently confirmed that this impact was caused by an asteroid approximately 20 times larger than the one responsible for the extinction event that ended the age of the dinosaurs on Earth, making it one of the most significant impacts w