Copernical Team
NASA administrator Bill Nelson supports $10B boost for moon landing
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NASA needs about a 40% boost - $10 billion - in its budget to foster competition that could aid future astronaut missions to the moon, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
The Biden administration is seeking $24.8 billion for NASA in fiscal 2022, which would be a 6.6% increase from 2021, Nelson said during a press conference on Friday. But there's an amendment to the 2021 budget pendi China cargo craft docks with space station module
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A Chinese cargo spacecraft carrying equipment and supplies successfully docked with the core module of the country's future space station on Sunday, state media said.
A Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft - loaded with essentials such as food, equipment and fuel - blasted off late Saturday from the Wenchang launch site on the tropical southern island of Hainan, the Xinh China launches cargo rocket with supplies for space station
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ESA's Space Environment Report 2021
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Imagine driving down a road which has more broken cars, bikes and vans lining the street than functioning vehicles. This is the scene our satellites face in Earth orbit. In fact, since the start of the space age there has been more debris, “space junk”, in orbit than operational satellites.
So how do we clean up this mess?
Innovative video technology to call for new astronaut candidates
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Video:
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In the midst of COVID restrictions rendering travel close to impossible, ESA had to produce an ambitious video to call for applications to the 2021 astronaut selection.
The challenge of this project was to show locations as varied as a spaceship, a city, a canyon, a forest, ESA's satellite testing or control centres, Europe's space port in Kourou, or even the Moon.
To create the illusion of immersing the protagonists into these various environments, ESA teamed up with Duck Factory to use a "Virtual Set": a new technology, that has not yet been used to the full extent of
Researchers develop better ways to culture living heart cells on the International Space Station
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As part of preparing for an experiment aboard the International Space Station, researchers explored new ways to culture living heart cells for microgravity research. They found that cryopreservation, a process of storing cells at -80°C, makes it easier to transport these cells to the orbiting lab, providing more flexibility in launch and operations schedules. The process could benefit other biological research in space and on Earth.
The investigation, MVP Cell-03, cultured heart precursor cells on the space station to study how microgravity affects the number of cells produced and how many of them survive.
SpaceX CRS-22 mission to space station launches water bears, squid, solar panels
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The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. Experiments aboard include studying how water bears tolerate space, whether microgravity affects symbiotic relationships, analyzing the formation of kidney stones, and more.
Highlights of the payloads on this resupply mission include:
Water bears take on space
Tardigrades, known as water bears due to their appearance under a microscope and common habitat in water, are tiny creatures that tolerate environments more extreme than most life forms can.
Russian rocket launches UK telecom satellites after delay
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A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying 36 UK telecommunication and internet satellites blasted off from the Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia's Far East on Friday, the space agency said.
During the launch, which was carried out by Arianespace, the world's leading satellite launch company, the Soyuz rocket took off at 1738 GMT.
"The launch went according to plan," Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Roscosmos space agency, said on messaging app Telegram.
The launch was originally scheduled for Thursday but was postponed for technical reasons.
OneWeb, a London-headquartered company, is working to complete the construction of a constellation of low earth orbit satellites providing enhanced broadband and other services to countries around the world.
The company is competing against billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the race to provide fast internet via satellites for the world's remote areas.
The UK company plans for its global commercial internet service to be operational by next year, supported by some 650 satellites.
Earlier launches of 36 satellites each took place in April and March.
"The satellites arrive pre-assembled from Florida in containers. Our team takes them over in Russia and accompanies them from their arrival at the airport until the launch," Arianespace launch campaign manager, Jean-Claude Garreau, told AFP.
Researchers prepare to send fungi for a ride around the moon
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Commanding role for ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti
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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is expected to serve as International Space Station commander for Expedition 68, following an in-principle agreement by international partners on 19 May, pending consolidation of the Space Station’s operational plans and launch dates.
