Astra Space goes private as it recovers from Space Coast launch failures
Monday, 11 March 2024 13:40
The value of publicly traded Astra Space has been falling since it shelved a rocket design that only went for 2 for 7 on launches, including two highly visible failures from the Space Coast. Now the company is going private.
Once valued at more than $2.1 billion, the Alameda, California-based company closed at about $20 a share on the Nasdaq Stock Market in February 2021, months before its first orbital success with its Rocket 3 design. It has since made a steady drop in value. including the threat of delisting from Nasdaq last year and the potential for bankruptcy looming.
The deal announced Thursday calls for a group that includes company cofounder and CEO Chris Kemp and cofounder and CTO Adam London to buy back company shares for $0.50 per share. The stock was trading at $0.55 on Friday morning. The closing price was $0.86 per share on Wednesday.
The takeover transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.
The company managed to reach orbit in November 2021 during a demonstration flight for the Space Force from Alaska and that led to its first launch attempt from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in March 2022.
Webb & Hubble confirm Universe’s expansion rate
Monday, 11 March 2024 13:00
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NGC 5468 – Cepheid host galaxy Joining forces on the complexities of clouds and aerosols
Monday, 11 March 2024 12:30
In just a few months, ESA’s EarthCARE satellite will be lofted into orbit to fill in a piece of the complex climate puzzle – that piece being how clouds and aerosols, small particles such as dust suspended in the air, affect Earth’s energy balance.
With the climate crisis upon us, this information is needed more urgently than ever – so much so, that the science of clouds and aerosols has been prioritised by the European Commission and ESA as part of their new Earth System Science Initiative.
Hera and its CubeSats at Didymos system
Monday, 11 March 2024 12:17
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Hera and its CubeSats at Didymos system 
Contract for new Galileo atomic clock tech signed
Monday, 11 March 2024 11:55
ESA, on behalf of the European Commission, has signed a €12 million contract with Leonardo S.p.A (Italy) and Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica to design and develop a new ultra-precise atomic clock technology for Galileo.
Webinar – Beyond Earth: Blueprint for Small Medium Business (SMB) Innovation
Monday, 11 March 2024 10:18
NASA to accept astronaut applications through April 2
Sunday, 10 March 2024 22:43
NASA will accept applications through April 2 for future Artemis astronauts who could go to the moon and beyond. The opening of the application period concurred with 10 new astronaut graduates completing an initial two years of training.
The space agency said that to apply to become an astronaut, applicants must be U.S. citizens with two years of work in toward a doctoral after already Refined approach to tracking maneuvers of space targets enhances accuracy
Sunday, 10 March 2024 22:43
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have made significant strides in tracking non-cooperative space targets through maneuvering, unveiling a novel methodology that substantially boosts tracking accuracy. Their study, focusing on maneuvering trajectories, introduces a dual-model approach for real-time and precise tracking, marking a leap in space surveillance capabilities.
Th NASA's Europa Jupiter Mission will be packed with humanity's messages
Sunday, 10 March 2024 22:43
NASA said Friday the Europa Clipper Jupiter mission set to launch in October will carry profound messages from humanity as it gathers scientific data to determine if there are life-supporting conditions.
The Europa Clipper spacecraft will be headed for Jupiter's moon, Europa.
In addition to scientific instruments for experiments and data collection, it will include an engraving o Tying Knots Inside Lasers
Sunday, 10 March 2024 22:43
What do you picture in your mind's eye when you hear the word "laser"? A light saber? A cat toy? The sensor at the supermarket reading barcodes as fast as the eye can blink?
These are all lasers, but there are so many more in so many sizes and colors with capabilities that have yet to be tapped or even imagined. Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics Alireza Mara We've been here before: AI promised humanlike machines - in 1958
Sunday, 10 March 2024 22:43
A roomsize computer equipped with a new type of circuitry, the Perceptron, was introduced to the world in 1958 in a brief news story buried deep in The New York Times. The story cited the U.S. Navy as saying that the Perceptron would lead to machines that "will be able to walk, talk, see, write, reproduce itself and be conscious of its existence."
More than six decades later, similar claim False GPS signal surge makes life hard for pilots
Sunday, 10 March 2024 18:37
False GPS signals that deceive on-board plane systems and complicate the work of airline pilots are surging near conflict zones, industry employees and officials told AFP.
A ground collision alert sounds in the cockpit, for instance, even though the plane is flying at high altitude - a phenomenon affecting several regions and apparently of military origin.
This includes the vicinity of Terran Orbital shares in $45M NASA contract for technology enhancement
Sunday, 10 March 2024 18:37
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP) has announced its selection by NASA for an Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract, boasting a ceiling value of $45 million. This contract is aligned with NASA's Space Technology Mission Directorate's goals, which encompasses the Flight Opportunities program and the Small Spacecraft Technology program, pivotal arms in the agency's push for NASA, RIT develop solutions for long-lasting spacecraft in harsh missions
Sunday, 10 March 2024 09:30
RIT's Center for Detectors has been chosen by NASA for two research programs: Early Stage Innovations (ESI) and Strategic Astrophysics Technology (SAT), with the hope of helping future spacecraft find new discoveries in the vast universe.
Under the leadership of Center for Detectors Director Don Figer, the team will be advancing and characterizing single-photon sensing CMOS image sensors t