What happens when your brain can't tell which way is up or down?
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
What feels like up may actually be some other direction depending on how our brains process our orientation, according to psychology researchers at York University's Faculty of Health.
In a new study published in PLoS One, researchers at York University's Centre for Vision Research found that an individual's interpretation of the direction of gravity can be altered by how their brain respo Airbus signs multi-satellite contract with Intelsat for OneSat flexible satellites
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
Airbus has signed a contract with Intelsat to build two OneSat satellites operating in multiple frequency bands for Intelsat's next-generation software-defined network. The contract was signed on 31 December 2020.
The satellites will be based on Airbus' OneSat product line, the latest generation of fully flexible, in orbit reconfigurable, Software Defined Satellites (SDS). OneSat is design NASA Extends Exploration for Two Planetary Science Missions
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
As NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon and on to Mars, the agency's quest to seek answers about our solar system and beyond continues to inform those efforts and generate new discoveries. The agency has extended the missions of two spacecraft, following an external review of their scientific productivity.
The missions - Juno and InSight - have each increased our understanding SpaceX launches Turkish satellite from Florida
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
SpaceX successfully launched a Turkish communications satellite, the Turksat 5A, from Florida on Thursday night. Liftoff occurred at 9:15 p.m. aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which was about 45 minutes later than SpaceX had originally scheduled for the launch though well within its four-hour launch window. Flexibility and resiliency define Arianespace's performance in 2020
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
Building on a year that confirmed Arianespace's unique capability to offer launch service solutions tailored for its customers' varied requirements, the company is well prepared for the future with its family of launchers and the capacity of three spaceports.
CEO Stephane Israel said Arianespace continues to demonstrate its flexibility in responding to both commercial and institutional mar Minuteman III missile should be scrapped, STRATCOM chief says
Saturday, 09 January 2021 09:55
The Minuteman III program of 450 missiles, begun in1970, must be replaced and not extended, U.S. Strategic Command chief Adm. Charles Richard said.
Richard's comments, made during a virtual briefing on Tuesday, come as President-elect Joe Biden's incoming administration considers ways to reduce the cost of a planned 30-year, $1.2 trillion modernization of the United States' nuclear defe NASA selects four small astrophysics missions for study
Saturday, 09 January 2021 00:04
WASHINGTON — NASA has selected four small astrophysics missions for further study, although the agency cautions that not all may ultimately be flown.
NASA announced Jan. 7 it selected three smallsat missions and one high-altitude balloon mission as the first in its new Astrophysics Pioneers program.
FCC grants permission for polar launch of Starlink satellites
Friday, 08 January 2021 16:55
WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission will allow SpaceX to launch 10 Starlink satellites into polar orbit on an upcoming mission, but deferred a decision on a much broader modification of SpaceX’s license.
ESA director general to retire early
Thursday, 07 January 2021 23:33
WASHINGTON — The outgoing director general of the European Space agency announced Jan. 8 that he will step down at the end of February, four months ahead of schedule.
In a blog post, Jan Wörner announced that, after consultation with the chair of the ESA Council, Anna Rathsman, he will resign at the end of February.
Space Force stands up new office to support U.S. intelligence community
Thursday, 07 January 2021 20:15
WASHINGTON— The U.S. Space Force on Jan. 8 officially became the 18th member of the U.S. intelligence community.
The addition of the Space Force to the intelligence community was formalized at a ceremony Friday afternoon held at a classified facility in Bethesda, Maryland.
Thales Alenia Space given €296 million contract to build European Gateway module
Thursday, 07 January 2021 16:29
JOHANNESBURG — The European Space Agency (ESA) signed a nearly €296 million ($362 million) contract with Thales Alenia Space Jan. 7 to build a European module for NASA’s lunar Gateway space station.
The European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) module will provide communications and refueling capabilities to Gateway, a planned space station in orbit around the moon intended to support crewed missions to the lunar surface.
Evidence of water movement found in meteorites that only recently fell to Earth
Thursday, 07 January 2021 15:20
A team of researchers affiliated with institutions in Australia, the U.S. and France has found evidence of relatively recent water movement in meteorites that only recently collided with the Earth. In their paper published in the journal Science, the group describes their study of carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites that landed on the surface of the Earth within the past century and what they found.
A lot of scientists believe that the water present on Earth came from meteorites. This theory has been difficult to prove because the meteorites recovered to date do not contain water and because chemical reactions that might have involved comet-borne water occurred millions of years ago. In this new effort, the researchers took a look at the idea from another angle—they studied isotopes in meteorites that have landed on Earth over just the past century.
Prior research has suggested that most, if not all, CC meteorites were formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago as part of larger asteroids. To find out if recent arrivals might have evidence of a water history, the researchers looked at uranium and thorium distributions in samples—the former is water-soluble while the latter is not.
Pioneering a way to keep very small satellites in orbit
Thursday, 07 January 2021 15:01
A cubesat, largely built by undergraduate students and scheduled to launch on Sunday, will explore the feasibility of a new propulsion method that could enable very small satellites to move around Earth's orbit without carrying fuel. This could pave the way for tiny satellites that stay in orbit for long periods and operate in swarms, monitoring storms and natural disasters, for example.
A cubesat is about the size of a loaf of bread, designed to hitch a ride into space with a major mission. Cubesats are low-cost ways to test out new technologies or enable students to get hands-on experience with space exploration. MiTEE is scheduled to fly from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Virgin Orbit's Launch Demo 2.
While Earth's atmosphere is much thicker on the ground, a scattering of air particles stretch all the way up to low Earth orbit—the territory of about 60 percent of Earth-orbiting satellites. Small satellites are more strongly affected by the drag of the upper atmosphere than large satellites, slowing their orbits and causing them to drop toward the Earth.
"These smaller spacecraft just don't last very long, maybe even days to weeks, or a few months, dependent upon how high they are," said Brian Gilchrist, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science, who supervised the team.
SpaceX launches Turksat 5A
Thursday, 07 January 2021 03:59
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a Turkish communications satellite Jan. 7 to start what may be the busiest year yet for the launch company.
The Falcon 9 lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:15 p.m.
Arianespace seeks greater support from European governments
Thursday, 07 January 2021 01:37
WASHINGTON — The head of Arianespace asked European governments to provide his company with more support in order to balance what he called government support of American competitors “with no precedent.”
At a Jan. 7 press briefing, Stéphane Israël, chief executive of Arianespace, said the company completed 2020 with revenues of about one billion euros ($1.2 billion), approximately the same as 2019.