Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 18, 2021
The SAM and CheMin instrument teams decided that they did not require further analyses of the "Zechstein" drill sample. It is the turn of the arm-mounted MAHLI and APXS instruments to have their taste of the drilled fines. The Zechstein sample held within the drill bit assembly will be dumped out onto the ground, imaged by MAHLI and then analyzed by APXS to determine the composition. The c

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 18, 2021
With Flight 15, Ingenuity began the journey back towards "Wright Brothers Field" at "Octavia E. Butler Landing," the site where Perseverance touched down with Ingenuity in February. This flight was performed with the recently-increased rotor speed of 2,700 rpm. After reviewing the data from Flight 15, the Ingenuity team is prepared to attempt our Flight 16 no earlier than Thursday, Nov. 18.

Dulles VA (SPX) Nov 18, 2021
Northrop Grumman, is teaming up with AVL, Intuitive Machines, Lunar Outpost, and Michelin to design a Lunar Terrain Vehicle (LTV) to transport NASA's Artemis astronauts around the lunar surface. This team provides multi-disciplinary expertise that is ready to deliver an innovative solution to NASA for lunar surface mobility. "Together with our teammates, we will provide NASA with an agile

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 18, 2021
OPTIMISM, the full-scale engineering model of Perseverance, begins a series of rigorous tests to assess the risk of potential driving hazards on the surface of the Red Planet. On a recent day in November, the car-size rover rolled slowly forward, then stopped, perched on the threshold of a Martian landscape. But this rover, named OPTIMISM, wasn't on the Red Planet. And the landscape was a

Moscow (Sputnik) Nov 19, 2021
This year, the company spent over $1.3 million on lobbying, in addition to $2 million in 2020. Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin hired Mac Campbell from Capitol Counsel - a lobbyist who had relations with the Obama administration, CBS reported. Campbell was an assistant US trade representative while working under Obama and then served as the general counsel and deputy staff director of the Senate Finance

Long Beach CA (SPX) Nov 19, 2021
Rocket Lab USA entered into an exclusive license agreement with the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) to commercialize near and deep space capable small spacecraft telemetry and control radio technology. The Frontier-S by Rocket Lab software defined radio (SDR) enables affordable communications and radio navigation for planetary and other missions beyond low Earth orbit (

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 19, 2021
Video footage from NASA's Perseverance Mars rover of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter's 13th flight on Sept. 4 provides the most detailed look yet of the rotorcraft in action. Ingenuity is currently prepping for its 16th flight, scheduled to take place no earlier than Saturday, Nov. 20, but the 160.5-second Flight 13 stands out as one of Ingenuity's most complicated. It involved flying

Houston TX (SPX) Nov 19, 2021
NASA and U.S. Space Command continue to monitor the debris cloud created by a recent Russian anti-satellite test. The International Space Station and crew members are safe and have resumed normal operations. The largest risk from the debris was in the first 24 hours and telemetry from the space station indicates no issues during that time. About 1:20 a.m. EST today, radial hatches extendin

Mahia, New Zealand (SPX) Nov 18, 2021
Rocket Lab has successfully deployed two satellites to orbit for real-time geospatial monitoring company BlackSky. Rocket Lab also successfully introduced helicopter operations to a recovery mission for the first time, using a helicopter to observe and track the Electron rocket's first stage as it descended to Earth under parachute as part of the company's program to make Electron the world's fi

Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.