Concordia's Contained Confinement
Thursday, 15 April 2021 10:16
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ESA-sponsored medical doctor Nick Smith snapped this photo of the storage containers at Concordia research station in Antarctica shortly before sunset, 8 April 2021. The dark blue line at the horizon is the shadow of the Earth.
The containers store food, recycling and the scientific samples of blood, saliva, and stool that Nick routinely takes. The units on the right are part of the summer Black holes like to eat, but have a variety of table manners
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All supermassive black holes in the centres of galaxies appear to have periods when they swallow matter from their close surroundings. But that is about as far as the similarities go. That's the conclusion reached by British and Dutch astronomers from their research with ultra-sensitive radio telescopes in a well-studied region of the universe. They publish their findings in two articles in the Stellar feedback and an airborne observatory; scientists determine a nebula younger than believed
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In the southern sky, situated about 4,300 light years from Earth, lies RCW 120, an enormous glowing cloud of gas and dust. This cloud, known as an emission nebula, is formed of ionized gases and emits light at various wavelengths.
An international team led by West Virginia University researchers studied RCW 120 to analyze the effects of stellar feedback, the process by which stars inject e India's telecom regulator assessing Starlink system before accepting beta
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Elon Musk's space company SpaceX recently launched its Starlink satellite internet service that claims to be capable of delivering 50Mbps to 150Mbps internet access to "any part" of the Earth under the sky. The global roll-out of this internet service is expected to be completed by 2022.
SpaceX has offered to pre-sell its Starlink satellite internet service in India, and the country's Depa Indonesian Govt deploys Iridium Push-to-Talk to overcome remote communications challenges
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Iridium Communications reports that the Republic of Indonesia's government has adopted Iridium Push-to-Talk (PTT) devices to support communication efforts across the country. By fully deploying 500 Iridium PTT handsets, the Indonesian government now has a reliable "grab-and-go" real-time satellite communications solution, ideal for communications on-the-move applications across the country's div 
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Time keeping Space Development Agency could select three manufacturers to produce its next batch of satellites
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 22:42 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s Space Development Agency is considering buying its next 150 satellites from three different vendors, but that could change after the agency evaluates companies’ bids, SDA director Derek Tournear said April 14.
Speaking at the Washington Space Business Roundtable, Tournear said a request for proposals will be issued in August for the agency’s Transport Layer Tranche 1 — a network of hundreds of communications satellites in low Earth orbit projected to start launching in late 2024.
DoD space agency: Cyber attacks, not missiles, are the most worrisome threat to satellites
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 21:15 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Intelligence agencies and analysts warn China and Russia are developing missiles that could strike U.S. satellites in low-Earth orbit. This will be a concern for the Pentagon’s Space Development Agency, which plans to deploy a network of satellites within range of those missiles.
Mock crew straps into space capsule, exits before liftoff
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 20:03 Write a comment
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company strapped two employees into a fueled rocketship for practice, but pulled them out shortly before sending the capsule to the edge of space Wednesday with only a test dummy.
The crew rehearsal in West Texas brings Blue Origin closer to launching tourists and others into space.
Blue Origin wanted to see how well a crew could get in and out of the capsule. The pretend astronauts also tested seatbelts and radio links before the 10 1/2-minute flight, and went back to the capsule following touchdown to climb aboard for recovery practice.
Blue Origin aces dress rehearsal for New Shepard crewed flights
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 17:57 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Blue Origin completed another test flight of its New Shepard vehicle April 14, putting the company on the verge of finally flying people.
Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle lifted off from the company’s West Texas test site, known as Launch Site One by the company, at 12:51 p.m.
UAE to send rover to the Moon in 2022
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 14:58 Write a comment
Lunar exploration firm iSpace said Wednesday it will transport a United Arab Emirates unmanned rover to the Moon next year, as the Gulf state seeks to expand its space sector.
The UAE—made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and freewheeling Dubai—announced in September 2020 that it planned to launch the "Rashid" rover by 2024.
The rover "will be transported to the Moon on iSpace's lunar lander" during a mission in 2022, the Japanese company said in a statement.
Video: Drone test of Hera mission's asteroid radar
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 14:21 Write a comment
This drone hauled a model of the Juventas CubeSat high into the air, as a practical test of the antennas designed to perform the first radar sounding of the interior of an asteroid.
The shoebox-sized Juventas will be transported to the Didymos double-asteroid system by ESA's Hera mission. Once it flies freely in space, Juventas will deploy a cross antenna to perform a low-frequency radar scan up to 100 m deep within the smaller of the two asteroids, Dimorphos. Such low frequencies result in long wavelengths of around 6 m, too long for most indoor measurement facilities.
"To verify the antenna characteristics, we performed this aerial test with the support of the Hexapilots drone company," notes Martin Laabs of the Chair for Radio Frequency and Photonics Engineering of Technical University Dresden in Germany.
"For the most accurate measurements of the antennas' radiation properties, they had to be as far away as possible from other objects, so the Juventas model was hung 10 m down from the drone, which was flown up to 50 m into the sky.
Astranis secures $250 million to accelerate small GEO satellite development
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 14:15 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis, a startup developing small geostationary satellites, has raised $250 million in a funding round that values the company at $1.4 billion.
Funds managed by BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, led the Series C financing round.
Josef Aschbacher and Simonetta di Pippo discuss space debris
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 13:03 Write a comment
Josef Aschbacher and Simonetta di Pippo discuss space debris
Telesat raising $500 million in debt for Lightspeed broadband network
Tuesday, 13 April 2021 12:41 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Canadian satellite operator Telesat plans to raise $500 million with a bond to help fund its $5 billion Lightspeed broadband constellation.
The senior secured notes due 2026 will be issued around April 27 as part of a debt package that will fund 60% of the project’s cost, with the remaining 40% financed through equity.