Copernical Team
NASA Allocates DALI Grants to Foster Lunar Science and Exploration Innovations
In a significant push to enhance lunar research and exploration, NASA has awarded Development and Advancement of Lunar Instrumentation (DALI) grants to five leading scientists and engineers. These grants are a cornerstone of NASA's initiative to advance lunar science through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services and the Artemis campaign.
The announcement was made at the 55th Lunar and Plan Final Mission: Delta IV Heavy Rocket Set for Historic Launch with NROL-70 Payload
The Space Systems Command (SSC) of the U.S. Space Force, in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) and United Launch Alliance (ULA), has announced the scheduled launch of the NROL-70 mission. This event, set for no earlier than March 28, will mark the final flight of the Delta IV Heavy rocket. The launch is planned from Space Launch Complex-37B at Cape Canaveral Space Force St China Advances on Reusable Rocket Technology with Launches Planned for 2025 and 2026
In a significant move towards sustainable space exploration, China is fast-tracking the development of two large reusable rockets, with diameters of 4 meters and 5 meters, slated for their first launches in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
This initiative by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation marks a pivotal response to the burgeoning demand within the commercial space sect SpaceX poised for third launch test of Starship megarocket
SpaceX plans on Thursday to attempt another launch of Starship, the world's most powerful rocket that is vital to NASA's plans for landing astronauts on the Moon later this decade - and Elon Musk's hopes of eventually colonizing Mars.
Two previous attempts have ended in spectacular explosions, though that's not necessarily a bad thing: the company has adopted a rapid trial-and-error approac From Munich to the Moon
The European mission control centre near Munich, Germany, is set to undergo a transformation into a Moon mission control centre, tasked with supporting operations for missions to a lunar space station, the lunar surface and beyond.
SpaceX's Starship-Super Heavy Cleared for Takeoff: FAA Grants Launch License
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has officially granted Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) the authorization to launch the Starship-Super Heavy vehicle. This permission, detailed in license number VOL23-129 Rev.2, allows for a series of launches from the SpaceX Boca Chica Launch Complex in Texas.
As of March 13, 2024, SpaceX is sanctioned to carry out both pre-flight gr Study brings scientists a step closer to successfully growing plants in space
New, highly stretchable sensors can monitor and transmit plant growth information without human intervention, report University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers in the journal Device.
The polymer sensors are resilient to humidity and temperature, can stretch over 400% while remaining attached to a plant as it grows and send a wireless signal to a remote monitoring location, said chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying Diao, who led the study with plant biology professor and department head Andrew Leakey.
SpaceX targets sunset launch from KSC using booster for record-tying 19th time
SpaceX is set to send up another batch of Starlink satellites targeting one minute before sunset from the Space Coast on Wednesday night using a first-stage booster for a record-tying 19th time.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of SpaceX's internet satellites is set to launch at the opening of a four-hour window that runs from 7:29-11:29 p.m. flying from Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-A. Backup opportunities are available during a four-hour window Thursday that opens at 7:04 p.m. With daylight saving time in play since last weekend, sunset hours have been pushed later. Sunset is set for 7:30 p.m.
Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts a 60% chance for good conditions with upper level wind shear a concern. That improves to 95% in the event of a one-day delay.
The first-stage booster could equal the total number of flights by two of SpaceX's other boosters, one of which, though, was destroyed when it toppled over at sea.
This booster's resume includes two human spaceflights, the Inspiration4 orbital mission flown by billionaire Jared Issacman and the first private spaceflight for Axiom Space on its Ax-1 mission to the International Space Station.
Do astronauts experience 'space headaches'?
Space travel and zero gravity can take a toll on the body. A new study has found that astronauts with no prior history of headaches may experience migraine and tension-type headaches during long-haul space flight, which includes more than 10 days in space. The study was published in Neurology.
"Changes in gravity caused by space flight affect the function of many parts of the body, including the brain," said study author W. P. J. van Oosterhout, MD, Ph.D., of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands.
"The vestibular system, which affects balance and posture, has to adapt to the conflict between the signals it is expecting to receive and the actual signals it receives in the absence of normal gravity. This can lead to space motion sickness in the first week, of which headache is the most frequently reported symptom. Our study shows that headaches also occur later in space flight and could be related to an increase in pressure within the skull."
The study involved 24 astronauts from the European Space Agency, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.
Evolved adapter for future NASA space launch system flights readied for testing
A test version of the universal stage adapter for NASA's more powerful version of its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket arrived at Building 4619 at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Feb. 22 from Leidos in Decatur, Alabama. The universal stage adapter will connect the rocket's upgraded in-space propulsion stage, called the exploration upper stage, to NASA's Orion spacecraft as part of the evolved Block 1B configuration of the SLS rocket.
It will also serve as a compartment capable of accommodating large payloads, such as modules or other exploration spacecraft. The SLS Block 1B variant will debut on Artemis IV and will increase SLS's payload capability to send more than 84,000 pounds to the moon in a single launch.
In Building 4619's Load Test Annex High Bay at Marshall, the development test article will first undergo modal testing that will shake the hardware to validate dynamic models. Later, during ultimate load testing, force will be applied vertically and to the sides of the hardware. Unlike the flight hardware, the development test article has flaws intentionally included in its design, which will help engineers verify that the adapter can withstand the extreme forces it will face during launch and flight.