Op-ed | Mind the gap in low Earth orbit
Sunday, 27 June 2021 16:35
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For more than 20 years, the International Space Station (ISS) has supported continuous international crewed operations. An entire generation has never known a world where people aren’t living and working in space.
The success and longevity of the ISS is due in no small part to its international nature.
China’s Zhurong rover returns landing footage and sounds from Mars
Sunday, 27 June 2021 07:40 Write a comment
HELSINKI — China has released landing process footage from its Zhurong rover as well as video and sounds of the vehicle roving on Mars.
SpaceX aiming for July for Starship orbital launch despite regulatory reviews
Saturday, 26 June 2021 20:14 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell says the company is “shooting for July” for the first orbital launch of the company’s Starship vehicle despite lacking the regulatory approvals needed for such a launch.
Speaking at the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference (ISDC) June 25, Shotwell said the company was pressing ahead with plans for an orbital flight involving the Super Heavy booster and Starship upper stage from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, test site.
NASA completes additional tests to diagnose computer problem on Hubble space telescope
Saturday, 26 June 2021 10:44 Write a comment
NASA is continuing to diagnose a problem with the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope after completing another set of tests on June 23 and 24. The payload computer halted on June 13 and the spacecraft stopped collecting science data. The telescope itself and its science instruments remain in good health and are currently in a safe configuration.
The spacecraft has two payload computers, one of which serves as a backup, that are located on the Science Instrument and Command and Data Handling (SI C&DH) unit. There are various pieces of hardware which make up both payload computers, including but not limited to:
- a Central Processing Module (CPM), which processes the commands that coordinate and control the science instruments
- a Standard Interface (STINT), which bridges communications between the computer's CPM and other components
- a communications bus, which contains lines that pass signals and data between hardware
- and one active memory module, which stores operational commands to the instruments. There are three additional modules which serve as backups.
Additional tests performed on June 23 and 24 included turning on the backup computer for the first time in space.
Op-Ed | Who wants to step up to a $10 billion risk?
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:36 Write a comment
International space law and the treaty regime have remained largely theoretical constructs for most of the Space Age. While great for moot-court exercises or the occasional congressional hearing on treaty obligations, their real-world applications were scarce. Yet those of us who have practiced commercial space law have long warned that a time would come when “Space Law 101” would play an important part in opening the high frontier.
Virgin Galactic gets FAA's OK to launch customers to space
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:20 Write a comment
Astronauts complete solar panel work in 3rd spacewalk
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:20 Write a comment
Astronauts finished unfurling a new pair of solar panels outside the International Space Station on Friday, making their third spacewalk in just over a week.
NASA's Shane Kimbrough and France's Thomas Pesquet successfully installed the second in a series of powerful solar wings that should keep the space station running the rest of this decade, as space tourism ramps up with visitors beginning in the fall.
NOAA to replace GOES-17 satellite ahead of schedule
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:08 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans June 25 to move its geostationary weather satellite scheduled to launch in December into an operational role “as soon as possible.”
NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-T, will replace the GOES-17 satellite in the GOES West position because of problems with the satellite’s main instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), according to a NOAA news release.
NOAA to replace GOES17 satellite ahead of schedule
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:08 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans June 25 to move its geostationary weather satellite scheduled to launch in December into an operational role “as soon as possible.”
NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-T, will replace the GOES-17 satellite in the GOES West position because of problems with the satellite’s main instrument, the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), according to a NOAA news release.
Watch (and hear) how NASA's Perseverance rover took its first selfie
Friday, 25 June 2021 16:06 Write a comment
Ever wondered how Mars rovers take a selfie? Color video from NASA's Perseverance shows how the rover captured the historic April 6, 2021, image of itself beside the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter. As a bonus, the rover's entry, descent, and landing microphone captured the sound of the arm's motors whirring during the process.
Military building an appetite for commercial space services
Friday, 25 June 2021 15:59 Write a comment
The U.S. Space Force is eager to tap into the vibrant commercial market for space services enabled by increasingly capable small satellites and cheaper access to orbit.
Commercial services of particular interest to the military include imagery, analytics, weather data and broadband from low-Earth orbit constellations.
Report backs NASA proposal to change astronaut radiation exposure limits
Friday, 25 June 2021 15:58 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A National Academies committee has endorsed a NASA proposal to change the radiation exposure limits the agency sets for its astronauts but cautioned that the revised limit is still insufficient for human Mars missions.
Connecting the Dots | Space after SPACs: Industry could be on the verge of new investment era
Friday, 25 June 2021 14:57 Write a comment
The SPAC investment trend injecting billions of dollars into early-stage space startups appears to have peaked, but in its wake could be larger capital infusions from institutional investors with deeper pockets.
Seven space companies plan to reap more than $3 billion in total later this year by merging with a SPAC — blank check firms that raise money on a public market before combining with businesses to fast-track investor exits.
Week in images: 21 - 25 June 2021
Friday, 25 June 2021 12:27 Write a comment
Week in images: 21 - 25 June 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Mars colonists are going to wish they had an atmosphere above them
Friday, 25 June 2021 11:10 Write a comment
There will be all sorts of risks for any future colonists on Mars, such as extreme weather and temperatures, radiation, and the human physiological problems associated with living in with decreased gravity. But another issue is that colonists on Mars will have to be on a constant lookout above their heads.
While Mars and Earth are both hit by space debris regularly—dust, small rocks and bigger meteoroids—on our planet, meteors usually vaporize in the atmosphere.
"On Mars however, with a surface pressure one 100th that of the Earth, the impactors generally make it to the surface," says the team from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).