Op-ed | South Africa’s Space Journey Charts a Course for the Continent
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 18:00
Today, South Africa is an evident center of gravity in the African space community. It hosts some of the world’s most sophisticated ground-based space infrastructure, its space supply chain is strong, and its public sector institutions are oriented toward growing the space industry and national capabilities.
Jessica Watkins makes history as first Black woman launched to ISS for extended space mission
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 17:35
Jessica Watkins made history on Wednesday by becoming the first Black woman launched into space for an extended mission on the International Space Station.
Watkins, 33, and three other astronauts rocketed into space from the Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida at 3:52 a.m. EDT.
"I think it really is just a tribute to the legacy of the Black women astronauts that have come before me, as well as to the exciting future ahead," Watkins said during an NPR interview.
Last November, NASA announced Watkins would be the fourth and final seat on Crew Dragon for SpaceX's Crew-4 mission.
The assignment meant she would be the first Black woman to join an ISS crew for scientific research, station maintenance, training and more over a six-month period. Previously, Victor Glover, part of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission that launched in November 2020, became the first Black astronaut to join a station crew.
Out of 248 astronauts who have visited the ISS, only seven have been Black and none were included in expeditions lasting several months.
In 1983, Guion Bluford became the first Black astronaut to travel to space.
Government trying to streamline procurement of commercial space data
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 13:10
NGA is trying to match requirements with commercially available technology, said Frank Avila, commercial and business operations deputy director at the National Geospatial-intelligence Agency
The post Government trying to streamline procurement of commercial space data appeared first on SpaceNews.
DoD intelligence chief: U.S. made ‘gutsy decision’ to release sensitive imagery to counter Russia’s deception ops
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 12:43
Undersecretary of Defense Ronald Moultrie: The decision to release satellite imagery and other intelligence on Russia’s movements 'was not taken lightly'
The post DoD intelligence chief: U.S. made ‘gutsy decision’ to release sensitive imagery to counter Russia’s deception ops appeared first on SpaceNews.
China to build a lunar communications and navigation constellation
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 10:28
China plans to set up a constellation around the moon to provide communication and navigation services for future complex operations on the lunar surface.
ESA DG talks about the future of human space exploration
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 09:00
Video:
00:03:26
ESAWebTV caught up with the DG while he was in Florida for the Crew-4 launch. Here’s what he had to say.
SpaceX launches its latest crew to ISS for NASA
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 08:01
Days after a SpaceX Dragon capsule crewed by wealthy adventurers splashed down off Florida's coast, another launched Wednesday, this time for a NASA mission to the International Space Station.
The Crew-4 mission blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center at 3:52 am (0752 GMT), carrying Americans Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, as well as Italian Samantha Cristoforetti of the Eu Xi Focus: Invigorating China's space exploration dream
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 08:01
On April 24, 1970, a young man in a village in Northwest China's Shaanxi province was thrilled to get the news that China sent its first satellite Dongfanghong 1 into space.
That young man, Xi Jinping, later became Chinese President.
Still having his eyes on stars today, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Mil Scientists model landscape formation on Titan, revealing an Earth-like alien world
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 08:01
Saturn's moon Titan looks very much like Earth from space, with rivers, lakes, and seas filled by rain tumbling through a thick atmosphere. While these landscapes may look familiar, they are composed of materials that are undoubtedly different - liquid methane streams streak Titan's icy surface and nitrogen winds build hydrocarbon sand dunes.
The presence of these materials - whose mechani Falcon 9 launches Crew-4 mission to space station
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:32
Four American and European astronauts are on their way to the International Space Station after their launch on a Crew Dragon spacecraft April 27, less than two days after another spacecraft returned from the station.
Watch live: Crew-4 docking to the International Space Station
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:00
Follow the live coverage as the SpaceX Crew Dragon docks on the International Space Station, marking the beginning of ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s Minerva mission.
Liftoff of Crew-4 to the International Space Station
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:00
Video:
00:03:55
The Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule carrying ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Robert “Bob” Hines and Jessica Watkins to the International Space Station lifts off from Launchpad 39A.
Collectively known as Crew-4, the four astronauts were launched at 08:52 BST/09:52 CEST Wednesday 27 April from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida USA. Transit to the Station is expected to take under 24 hours.
Samantha is the third ESA astronaut to travel to the orbital outpost in a Crew Dragon. During the journey she and Jessica will serve as mission specialists. Kjell is Crew-4
Watch live: Crew-4 enter the International Space Station
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 07:00The SpaceX Crew Dragon docked with the International Space Station at 01:37 CEST on Thursday 28 April, marking the beginning of ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti’s Minerva mission.
SpaceX launches 4 astronauts for NASA after private flight
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 06:57
SpaceX launched four astronauts to the International Space Station for NASA on Wednesday, less than two days after completing a flight chartered by millionaires.
It's the first NASA crew comprised equally of men and women, including the first Black woman making a long-term spaceflight, Jessica Watkins.
"This is one of the most diversified, I think, crews that we've had in a really, really long time," NASA's space operations mission chief Kathy Lueders said on the eve of launch.
Solar beats nuclear at many potential settlement sites on Mars
Wednesday, 27 April 2022 06:48
The high efficiency, light weight and flexibility of the latest solar cell technology means photovoltaics could provide all the power needed for an extended mission to Mars, or even a permanent settlement there, according to a new analysis by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Most scientists and engineers who've thought about the logistics of living on the surface of the Red Planet have assumed that nuclear power is the best alternative, in large part because of its reliability and 24/7 operation. In the past decade, miniaturized Kilopower nuclear fission reactors have advanced to the point where NASA considers them to be a safe, efficient and plentiful source of energy and key to future robotic and human exploration.