Copernical Team
Milestone for Europe's new launcher
Europe's new launcher, Ariane 6, is nearing completion. Like its predecessor, Ariane 5, the upper stage of the new European Space Agency (ESA) rocket is being built at ArianeGroup in Bremen. On the night of 28 to 29 January 2021, a fully functional, full-size test model, identical to the model that will be used for Ariane 6 launches, began a very special journey to southern Germany in a transpor NASA proceeds with plans for second hot fire test
Bay St. Louis MS (SPX) Feb 01, 2021
NASA plans to conduct a second Green Run hot fire test as early as the fourth week in February with the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's core stage that will launch the Artemis I mission to the Moon. The Green Run is a comprehensive assessment of the rocket's core stage prior to launching Artemis missions.
While the first hot fire test marked a major Space firm plans first all-private crew for 2022 launch
The first private crew, consisting of four astronauts, plans to fly to the International Space Station in January 2022 on a SpaceX mission arranged by Houston-based firm Axiom Space.
Former NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría, a vice president at Axiom, would be flight commander. Ohio real estate and financial technology entrepreneur Larry Connor, who has flown fighter jets, would be SpaceX violated test license terms last year prompting FAA probe
Famous entrepreneur and space enthusiast Elon Musk gave the Federal Aviation Administration a piece of his mind on Twitter this Thursday, accusing the agency of having a "fundamentally broken regulatory structure," just after a test flight for Space X's Starship rocket was delayed.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's SpaceX, NASA, Boeing test crew return and recovery procedures
Landing and recovery teams from Boeing and NASA recently completed a crew landing dress rehearsal at the U.S. Army's White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico, in preparation for missions returning with astronauts from the International Space Station as part of the agency's Commercial Crew Program.
When astronauts land after their journey to the space station on Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spa NASA, SpaceX to launch second Commercial Crew Rotation Mission to ISS
NASA and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than Tuesday, April 20, for launch of the second crew rotation mission with astronauts on an American rocket and spacecraft from the United States to the International Space Station.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 mission will launch four astronauts aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket to the space station. It will be the first mission to fly Could game theory help discover intelligent alien life?
New research from the University of Manchester suggests using a strategy linked to cooperative game playing known as 'game theory' in order to maximize the potential of finding intelligent alien life.
If advanced alien civilisations exist in our galaxy and are trying to communicate with us, what's the best way to find them? This is the grand challenge for astronomers engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). A new paper published in The Astronomical Journal by Jodrell Bank astrophysicist, Dr. Eamonn Kerins, proposes a new strategy based on game theory that could tip the odds of finding them more in our favor.
SETI programs tend to use one of two approaches. One is to conduct a survey that sweeps large areas of sky in the hope of seeing a signal from somewhere. This survey approach can quickly generate huge volumes of data that can be very hard to search through comprehensively. An alternative approach is targeted SETI, where the search focuses more intensively on specific star systems where life might exist. This provides more comprehensive data on those systems, but maybe there's nobody there?
SpaceX vs NASA: Who will get us to the moon first? Here's how their latest rockets compare
No one has visited the moon since 1972. But with the advent of commercial human spaceflight, the urge to return is resurgent and generating a new space race. NASA has selected the private company SpaceX to be part of its commercial spaceflight operations, but the firm is also pursuing its own space exploration agenda.
To enable flights to the moon and beyond, both NASA and SpaceX are developing new heavy lift rockets: SpaceX's Starship and NASA's Space Launch System.
But how do they differ and which one is more powerful?
Starship
Rockets go through multiple stages to get into orbit. By discarding spent fuel tanks while in flight, the rocket becomes lighter and therefore easier to accelerate. Once in operation, SpaceX's launch system will be comprised of two stages: the launch vehicle known as "BFR" (Big Falcon Rocket) and the Starship.
BFR is powered by the Raptor rocket engine, burning a combination of liquid methane and liquid oxygen.
Week in images: 25 - 29 January 2021
Week in images: 25 - 29 January 2021
Discover our week through the lens
NASA's MAVEN continues to advance Mars science and telecommunications relay efforts
With a suite of new national and international spacecraft primed to explore the Red Planet after their arrival next month, NASA's MAVEN mission is ready to provide support and continue its study of the Martian atmosphere.
MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered the Martian atmosphere roughly a year later. Since that time, MAVEN has made fundamental contributions to understanding the history of the Martian atmosphere and climate. A few science highlights include:
- Determination that the bulk of the Martian atmosphere has been lost to space through time, driving changes in the Mars climate and the ability to support life at the surface.
- Characterization of the mechanisms by which gas is stripped away from the atmosphere to space and of the role of solar storms hitting Mars in enhancing the escape rate.
- There is significant unexpected variability in the loss rate of hydrogen to space through the seasons, which has important implications for the history of water.
