NASA's Europa probe gets a hotline to Earth
NASA's Europa Clipper is designed to seek out conditions suitable for life on an ice-covered moon of Jupiter. On Aug. 14, the spacecraft received a piece of hardware central to that quest: the massive dish-shaped high-gain antenna.
Stretching 10 feet (3 meters) across the spacecraft's body, the high-gain antenna is the largest and most prominent of a suite of antennas on Europa Clipper. The spacecraft will need it as it investigates the ice-cloaked moon that it's named after, Europa, some 444 million miles (715 million kilometers) from Earth. A major mission goal is to learn more about the moon's subsurface ocean, which might harbor a habitable environment.
Once the spacecraft reaches Jupiter, the antenna's radio beam will be narrowly directed toward Earth. Creating that narrow, concentrated beam is what high-gain antennas are all about.
SmallSat Alliance recognizes collegiate prize winners
Astra seeks strategic investors as cash reserves decrease
NRO to select providers of new forms of optical satellite imagery
Edge of earthquake zone
Image:
Edge of earthquake zone Russia's Luna-25 probe to reach Moon orbit
Moscow's Luna-25 lander is due to reach the Moon's orbit Wednesday, in the first such Russian mission in almost 50 years, according to the schedule of space agency Roscosmos.
With the lunar launch, Moscow's first since 1976, Russia is seeking to restart and rebuild on the Soviet Union's pioneering space programme.
The lander is set to revolve 100 kilometres (62 miles) above the Moon's su NASA's $985 million Psyche mission to all-metal asteroid nears liftoff
Preparations are proceeding for the early October launch of a NASA orbiter that uses futuristic electric propulsion technology for a rendezvous with 16 Psyche, the heart of a demolished planet believed to be made almost entirely of iron.
Named after its interplanetary target, the $985 million mission is intended to help scientists determine whether the 140-mile-wide asteroid - which varie Enjoying the Climb: Sols 3916-3918
Earth planning date: Friday, August 11, 2023: In this weekend's plan, Curiosity is behaving much as you would as you climb a mountain. You pause occasionally to look around at what lies beneath your boots - the reward for your hard work up to that point. You also take time to enjoy the view and turn your gaze uphill to the path ahead - the unknown enticing you forward.
To do the former, Cu Rocket Lab to launch NASA Arctic ice caps satellites
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has signed a double-launch deal with NASA to deliver the Agency's climate change research-focused mission, PREFIRE, to low Earth orbit in 2024.
The two dedicated missions on Electron will deploy one small satellite each to a 525km circular orbit from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand from May 2024. The PREFIRE mission has specific LTAN (Local Ti 
