First use of the ENPULSION MICRO R3 thruster in the GMS-T mission
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02ENPULSION, the market leader in small satellite propulsion with more than 60 thrusters in space, confirmed the first successful in-orbit commissioning and first uses of its new ENPULSION MICRO R3 thruster. Its partner OHB Sweden said in a statement: "We are keen to report on GMS-T that the in-orbit commissioning and first uses of the ENPULSION MICRO Thruster have been completed as expected
A Pocket Guide to Mars
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02A pocket atlas of Mars has been published that uses geographic techniques developed for terrestrial maps to reveal a wealth of information about the surface of the Red Planet, as well as its climate and cloud cover. The atlas is being presented this week at the 52nd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. The 84-page atlas is currently available in English, Hungarian and Czech, and will be
Spacepath Communications to provide solid-state amplifiers for US Market
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02SpacePath Communications ('SpacePath'), a dedicated European-based SATCOM amplifier manufacturer and equipment supplier, has been awarded a contract for their super-compact solid-state amplifiers by a major U.S. satellite equipment manufacturer. SpacePath will supply both Ku- and X-band solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA), renowned for their compact form factor, high efficiency and proven
FAA approves renewal of Orbital Sciences launch operator licenses
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02After completing a comprehensive review, the FAA approved the renewal of two Launch Operator Licenses for Orbital Sciences, LLC, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. The licenses are valid for five years and authorize the company to conduct flights of its Pegasus launch vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Orbital Sciences
ThinKom antenna design offers flexible installation options for special-purpose aircraft
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02ThinKom Solutions, Inc. has developed a new product variant of its VICTS aero satellite communication antennas enabling more flexible installation choices and allowing for smaller distributed and embedded phased-array applications. The new product variant, which targets government and military beyond-line-of-sight (BLOS) satellite communication markets, integrates the VICTS antenna, antenn
Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow. Robert H. Goddard. Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) is recognized as the father of American rocketry and as one of the pioneers in the theoretical exploration of space. Goddard dreamt of exploring the Earth's upper atmosphere and, ultimately, space using rocket propulsion. A
Perseverance captures the sounds of driving on Mars
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02As the Perseverance rover began to make tracks on the surface of Mars, a sensitive microphone it carries scored a first: the bangs, pings, and rattles of the robot's six wheels as they rolled over Martian terrain. "A lot of people, when they see the images, don't appreciate that the wheels are metal," said Vandi Verma, a senior engineer and rover driver at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jupiter's Great Red Spot feeds on smaller storms
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02The stormy, centuries-old maelstrom of Jupiter's Great Red Spot was shaken but not destroyed by a series of anticyclones that crashed into it over the past few years. The smaller storms cause chunks of red clouds to flake off, shrinking the larger storm in the process. But the new study found that these disruptions are "superficial." They are visible to us, but they are only skin deep on t
Peering into a galaxy's dusty core to study an active supermassive black hole
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02Researchers using NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope will map and model the core of nearby galaxy Centaurus A. Centaurus A is a giant of a galaxy, but its appearances in telescope observations can be deceiving. Dark dust lanes and young blue star clusters, which crisscross its central region, are apparent in ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared light, painting a fairly subdued l
Missing baryons found in far-out reaches of galactic halos
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02Researchers have channeled the universe's earliest light - a relic of the universe's formation known as the cosmic microwave background (CMB) - to solve a missing-matter mystery and learn new things about galaxy formation. Their work could also help us to better understand dark energy and test Einstein's theory of general relativity by providing new details about the rate at which galaxies are m
A brighter future for gravitational-wave astronomy
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 09:02Future gravitational-wave detectors on Earth will use laser light with even higher power than in current instruments. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI), the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), and Leibniz University Hannover have now developed a new laser system for this purpose. They combined the custom tailored light from
Perseverance rover captures the sounds of driving on Mars
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 08:11NASA's newest rover recorded audio of itself crunching over the surface of the Red Planet, adding a whole new dimension to Mars exploration.
As the Perseverance rover began to make tracks on the surface of Mars, a sensitive microphone it carries scored a first: the bangs, pings, and rattles of the robot's six wheels as they rolled over Martian terrain.
"A lot of people, when they see the images, don't appreciate that the wheels are metal," said Vandi Verma, a senior engineer and rover driver at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
NASA to revisit Artemis 1 launch date after Green Run test
Wednesday, 17 March 2021 02:02WASHINGTON — NASA should be able to set a new date for the Artemis 1 launch within a few weeks of the Green Run static-fire test of the Space Launch System core stage, assuming that test goes as expected.
Lawmaker warns remote sensing industry could be challenged by security and privacy issues
Tuesday, 16 March 2021 23:24WASHINGTON — Satellite imaging providers last year welcomed new rules from the Commerce Department that streamlined the licensing process for private operators.
The revamped regulations were intended to help U.S. remote sensing companies compete in the booming global market for space-based data.
Thomas Pesquet: Biography and training
Tuesday, 16 March 2021 16:00Born in Rouen, France, aerospace engineer and commercial pilot Thomas Pesquet was selected for ESA’s Astronaut Corps in 2009. He was launched on his first flight to the International Space Station in November 2016, remaining in space until June 2017 as part of his Proxima mission. He will soon be launched for on his second long-duration mission to the International Space Station called Alpha. Thomas has been training with the Station’s international partners for the new mission, including learning about the Crew Dragon, he will be the first ESA astronaut to fly on this new commercial spacecraft.