ABL Space Systems signs customer for first launch
WASHINGTON — Small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems will launch two satellites for L2 Aerospace on the first flight of its RS1 rocket this spring, the companies announced Feb. 16.
The two satellites developed by L2, a company founded by Lance Lord, a retired Air Force general and former head of Air Force Space Command, will be used to rapidly test new technology and support training activities, according to a statement the companies.
Frontier Aerospace wins second propulsion contract from Astrobotic
SAN FRANCISCO – Southern California startup Frontier Aerospace has won contracts to supply propulsion systems for two Astrobotic lunar landers.
Simi Valley, California-based Frontier Aerospace was already building 150-pound and 10-pound thrusters for Astrobotic’s Peregrine lunar lander, when the Pittsburgh-based company awarded Frontier Aerospace a contract in January to build 700-pound-thrust axial engines for the Griffin lunar lander.
European Space Agency seeks diversity in new astronaut drive
A combined map of almost 15,000 dust storms on Mars
Data in the world of astronomy is spread out in so many different places. There are archives for instruments on individual spacecraft and telescopes. Sometimes all that is needed to get new insight out of old data is to collect it all together and analyze a whole set rather than isolated instances. That is exactly what happened recently when a team from the Harvard Center for Astrophysics collected and analyzed data about almost 15,000 dust storms that have taken place on Mars over the last eight Martian years.
The data used to build the combined database was collected by the Mars Global Surveyor, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which both take daily images of the whole Martian surface. The database they developed, known as the Mars Dust Activity Database (MDAD) provided a variety of insights into some characteristics of the dust storms that occur so regularly on the red planet.
How to spot Mars: See the red planet in the sky the day NASA's Perseverance rover lands
Last year was the year of Mars launches, and this one will be the year of Mars landings. The Hope Mars mission, launched by the United Arab Emirates, entered its orbit around Mars on February 9, while China's Tianwen-1 rover, now orbiting the planet, will land in May. Meanwhile, Nasa's Perseverance rover will land on the red planet come February 18.
Mars is one of the easiest planets to see in the night sky, blazing bright orange and visible for almost the whole year. It's been high up in the sky since the second half of last year, and you don't need any special equipment to see it.
This means there are some great opportunities to see the planet travelling across the night skies, including just as the Perseverance rover is touching down. The day the rover lands, there will be a close approach of the moon and Mars—meaning they will appear next to each other in the night sky.
It's not every day you get to see a close approach while a rover makes its landing.
Media event: ESA seeks new astronauts
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For the first time in 11 years, ESA is looking for new astronauts to work alongside ESA’s existing astronauts as Europe enters a new era of space exploration.
Speakers include Jan Wörner, ESA Director General; Samantha Cristoforetti, ESA astronaut; Tim Peake, ESA astronaut; David Parker, ESA Director of Human and Robotic Exploration; Frank De Winne, ESA Low Earth Orbit Exploration Group Leader, Head of the European Astronaut Centre; Jennifer Ngo-Anh, ESA Research and Payloads Programme Coordinator, Human and Robotic Exploration; Lucy van der Tas, ESA Head of Talent Acquisition.
Press briefings in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch, are
Mars 2020 on track for landing
WASHINGTON — NASA’s Mars 2020 spacecraft is operating “perfectly” ahead of its Feb. 18 landing on Mars that will be a key milestone for the agency’s future Mars exploration plans.
The spacecraft is scheduled to land the rover Perseverance on the surface of Jezero Crater on Mars at about 3:55 p.m.
LinQuest wins $200 million support services contract from U.S. Space Command
WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Command awarded LinQuest Corp. a $200 million contract for advisory and support services, the Defense Department announced Feb. 16.
The contract is for work performed at U.S. Space Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, between now and February 2030.
NASA fears gap in astronaut crew at multibillion-dollar space station
Having spent well over $150 billion on the International Space Station, NASA fears a potential lack of launch vehicles could leave the orbiting platform without a U.S. astronaut and create a potential safety risk.
Such a gap would occur only if a crew had a problem that forced them to leave the space station early, but it would represent a costly "lost opportunity that cannot be regained" NASA ready to land another rover on Mars
With about 2.4 million miles (3.9 million kilometers) left to travel in space, NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is days away from attempting to land the agency's fifth rover on the Red Planet. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, where the mission is managed, have confirmed that the spacecraft is healthy and on target to touch down in Jezero Crater at around 
