HyspecIQ is beginning to fill out its advisory board, a move that offers clues to the hyperspectral imagery applications the startup plans to address.

SpaceNews

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
NASA has selected Axiom Space for the second private astronaut mission to the International Space Station. NASA will negotiate with Axiom on a mission order agreement for the Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) targeted to launch between fall 2022 and late spring 2023. Ax-2 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a mission of no more than 14 days docked to the space station. NASA an

Lynchburg VA (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
BWX Technologies, Inc. has reached a critical milestone in the nation's pursuit of space nuclear propulsion by delivering coated reactor fuels to NASA in support of its space nuclear propulsion project within the agency's Space Technology Mission Directorate. Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) is one of the technologies that is capable of propelling a spacecraft to Mars and back. Innovative

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
It's time for the Geminids, the annual December meteor shower! Every year, Earth passes through the debris trail from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The pea-sized rocks it leaves behind burn up in our atmosphere, producing glowing trails in the night sky. People around the world will stare skyward and marvel at these meteors, also known as shooting stars. What we can't see with the naked eye

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 15, 2021
Testing has already begun on what would be the most sophisticated endeavor ever attempted at the Red Planet: bringing rock and sediment samples from Mars to Earth for closer study. The multi-mission Mars Sample Return campaign began when NASA's Perseverance rover landed on Mars this past February to collect Martian rock samples in search of ancient microscopic life. Out of Perseverance's 4

Boulder CO (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
In science fiction movies and television shows, real-life locations on Earth, such as California's Redwood National Forest and the Sahara Desert, have long been used to represent alien worlds. But recently, in a Star Trek-style twist, a group of scientists, including researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado Boulder, have been using a pl

Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 15, 2021
As we continue exploring Maria Gordon notch, we are planning a touch and go with lots of remote sensing activities between the "touch" and the "go." MSL is parked near the base of the cliff to the west, and the science team is interested in investigating the bedrock in this area. Unfortunately, none of the bedrock targets shown near the top of the image above are suitable for close A

Long Beach CA (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
Rocket Lab USA has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SolAero Holdings, Inc. (SolAero), a premier supplier of space solar power products and precision aerospace structures for the global aerospace market, for $80 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. The acquisition aligns with Rocket Lab's growth strategy of vertical integration to deliv

Hannover, Germany (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
The European Union wants to use the unique properties of Alexandrite crystals in Earth observation satellites in the future. To make the EU independent of non-European suppliers, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH), Altechna Coatings, and Optomaterials work on a purely European supply chain for space-qualified Alexandrite laser crystals in the EU project GALACTIC. The project partners have mad

Norwich UK (SPX) Dec 15, 2021
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and the University of Manchester have helped conduct a 16-year long experiment to challenge Einstein's theory of general relativity. The international team looked to the stars - a pair of extreme stars called pulsars to be precise - through seven radio telescopes across the globe. And they used them to challenge Einstein's most famous theo