Blue Origin, SpaceX, ULA to compete for $5.6 billion in Pentagon launch contracts
Ariane 6 launches GRBBeta: small satellite, big astrophysics
Europe’s newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions, each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6’s first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher. Read on for all about GRBBeta, then see who else is flying first.
Week in images: 10-14 June 2024
Week in images: 10-14 June 2024
Discover our week through the lens
NASA extends Starliner stay at ISS for additional testing
Voyager 1 returning science data from all four instruments
NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is conducting normal science operations for the first time following a technical issue that arose in November 2023.
The team partially resolved the issue in April when they prompted the spacecraft to begin returning engineering data, which includes information about the health and status of the spacecraft. On May 19, the mission team executed the second step of that repair process and beamed a command to the spacecraft to begin returning science data.
Two of the four science instrumentsreturned to their normal operating modes immediately. Two other instruments required some additional work, but now, all four are returning usable science data.
The four instruments study plasma waves, magnetic fields, and particles. Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 are the only spacecraft to directly sample interstellar space, which is the region outside the heliosphere—the protective bubble of magnetic fields and solar wind created by the sun.
While Voyager 1 is back to conducting science, additional minor work is needed to clean up the effects of the issue.
