First Copernicus satellite exceeds design working life
Monday, 04 October 2021 13:20
This week marks seven years since the very first satellite that ESA built for the European Union’s Copernicus programme started delivering data to monitor the environment. The Sentinel-1A satellite has shed new light on our changing world and has been key to supplying a wealth of radar imagery to aid disaster response. While this remarkable satellite may have been designed for an operational life of seven years, it is still going strong and fully expected to be in service for several years to come.
First Russian film in space an 'experiment': director
Monday, 04 October 2021 13:07
Russian film director Klim Shipenko said Monday the first movie in orbit would be an "experiment," on the eve of his journey into space hoping to beat a rival Hollywood project.
The 38-year-old director and one of Russia's most famous actresses, Yulia Peresild, 37, are due to blast off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan at 0855 GMT on Tuesday to shoot scenes for upcoming Russian movie "The Challenge".
Russia's space agency Roscosmos is sending them into orbit with experienced cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, 49. Cosmonauts on board the International Space Station are expected to appear in cameo roles in the film.
The 12-day mission was announced in September 2020, four months after a Hollywood project involving "Mission Impossible" actor Tom Cruise was revealed.
"We are doing an experiment," Shipenko told reporters.
"There is nobody to get advice from. There is not a single cameraman who could answer how to work with light from a porthole," he told an online news conference.
On top of directing, he will also be handling the cameras, lighting, sound and make-up.
Shipenko conceded that "some things will work out and some things will not".
To boldly go: Star Trek's Shatner spacebound with Blue Origin
Monday, 04 October 2021 13:04
Blue Origin on Monday confirmed William Shatner, who starred as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek series, will fly to space October 12 aboard the company's crewed rocket, becoming the oldest ever astronaut.
"I've heard about space for a long time now. I'm taking the opportunity to see it for myself. What a miracle," said the 90-year-old Canadian actor in a statement.
The science fiction television show aired for only three seasons starting in 1966, but was hugely influential in popular culture and has spawned more than a dozen movies and several spin-off series.
It was notable for the utopian vision of its creator Gene Rodenberry, who imagined a future where by the 23rd century humanity had put aside its divisions and united with other peaceful space-faring civilizations.
Meeting Mercury
Monday, 04 October 2021 13:00
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A beautiful sequence of 53 images taken by the monitoring cameras on board the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission as the spacecraft made its first close flyby of its destination planet Mercury on 1 October 2021.
The compilation includes images from two of the three Monitoring Cameras (MCAM) onboard the Mercury Transfer Module, which provides black-and-white snapshots at 1024 x 1024 pixel resolution. It is not possible to image with the high-resolution camera suite during the cruise phase. The MCAMs also capture parts of the spacecraft: MCAM-2 sees the medium-gain antenna and magnetometer boom, while the high-gain
South Korea’s air force opens space ops center
Monday, 04 October 2021 12:57
South Korea’s air force has launched a space center that will play a central role in drawing space policies for the nation’s armed forces as well as enhancing cooperation with domestic and international partners, including U.S. Space Force
Star Trek’s William Shatner to fly on next New Shepard flight
Monday, 04 October 2021 12:55
Blue Origin confirmed Oct. 4 that William Shatner, the actor best known at Capt. James T. Kirk from the original “Star Trek” TV series and movies, will fly on the company’s next New Shepard suborbital flight this month.
Video: We asked a NASA technologist – is there oxygen on Mars?
Monday, 04 October 2021 10:07
Is there oxygen on Mars? Technically yes, but it's nothing like the amount we have on Earth. So breathing is out of the question. However, there is a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) on Mars.
Now, a new technology—MOXIE—has proven that we can convert Martian CO2 into oxygen for use by future explorers. NASA engineer Asad Aboobaker tells us more.
Space technology rocketing upwards, reports IDTechEx
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
Space. The final frontier, the first step in a journey just beginning, or a horrifying void matched only by your deep fear of the ocean? Whatever your feelings on space, technology has been steadily pushing forwards to take exploration further, faster, and foodier than ever before.
Space for seconds?
Many people are familiar with the concept of freeze-dried food for astronauts, from Planets gone rogue could sustain life
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
A rogue planet is an interstellar object of planetary mass without a host planetary system. As they freely roam around space, could they be fertile nurseries for life?
A Florida Tech scientist believes it's possible based on extensive research he has undertaken over the past several years.
In research highlighted this summer in Discover Magazine, university astrobiologist Manasvi Lin NASA readies for future Artemis Moon Missions with rocket engine test series
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
NASA marked a significant milestone Sept. 30 in its plans for future missions to the Moon and, eventually, Mars with completion of an RS-25 single-engine Retrofit-2 test series at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
A full-duration hot fire of RS-25 developmental engine No. 0528 on the A-1 Test Stand at Stennis culminated a seven-test series to support development and pro Using dunes to interpret wind on Mars
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
Dunes develop when wind-blown sand organizes into patterns, most often in deserts and arid or semi-arid parts of the world. Every continent on Earth has dune fields, but dunes and dune-like sand patterns are also found across the solar system: on Mars, Venus, Titan, Comet 67P, and Pluto. On Earth, weather stations measure the wind speed and direction, allowing us to predict and understand airflo HiRISE spots Perseverance in South Seitah
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
The white speck is NASA's Perseverance rover in the "South Seitah" area of Mars' Jezero Crater. The image was taken by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE, camera.
The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion La Investigating the potential for life around the galaxy's smallest stars
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
When the world's most powerful telescope launches into space this year, scientists will learn whether Earth-sized planets in our 'solar neighborhood' have a key prerequisite for life - an atmosphere.
These planets orbit an M-dwarf, the smallest and most common type of star in the galaxy. Scientists do not currently know how common it is for Earth-like planets around this type of star to ha NASA confirms Roman Mission's flight design in milestone review
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully passed its critical design review, signaling that all design and developmental engineering work is now complete.
"After seeing our extensive hardware testing and sophisticated modeling, an independent review panel has confirmed that the observatory we have designed will work," said Julie McEnery, the Roman Space Telescope senior pro NASA awards Sun-Sky Scanning Sun Photometers for the AERONET Project
Monday, 04 October 2021 08:17
NASA has awarded a contract for Sun-Sky Scanning Sun Photometers to CIMEL Electronique of Paris, France to support the AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET).
This is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract with an estimated total ordering value of $10M. The five-year period of performance begins on September 28 and includes one six-month option. The work will be pe