Copernical Team
Perseverance Hardware One Day after Landing
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This first HiRISE image of the Perseverance Rover on the surface of Mars also shows many parts of the descent system that got it safely there. Each inset shows an area about 650 feet (200 meters) across.
The rover itself sits at the center of a blast pattern created by the hovering skycrane (labeled as "descent stage") that lowered it there. The skycrane flew off to crash as at a safe dist Getting your payload to orbit
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Launch vehicles and satellites are commonly built by different contractors in separate locations by two different talent pools. Satellite engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with launch vehicle design, manufacture and operations. Launch vehicle engineers and managers are not generally intimately familiar with satellite design, manufacture and operations.
At some point India launches PSLV-C51 carrying Brazil's Amazonia-1 and 18 Satellites
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The launch of the PSLV-C51 occurred on Sunday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre. The latter is located on Sriharikota Island in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully launched the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 along with 18 other co-passenger satellites via the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C51). The event occurred on Sund Rocket Lab unveils plans for bigger reusable rocket for mega-constellation deployment
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Rocket Lab has unveiled plans for its Neutron rocket, an advanced 8-ton payload class launch vehicle tailored for mega-constellation deployment, interplanetary missions and human spaceflight.
Neutron will build on Rocket Lab's proven experience developing the reliable workhorse Electron launch vehicle, the second most frequently launched U.S. rocket annually since 2019. Where Electron prov Kentucky firm plans orbital mini space station in two years
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A Kentucky space firm that conducts science experiments on the International Space Station has plans to launch its own miniature, automated orbital research platform in about two years.
Lexington-based Space Tango has small research containers, or CubeLabs, on the space station. Bustling business and growing need for such experiments in microgravity led the company to plan its own space NASA, SpaceX to launch 2nd Commercial Crew Rotation Mission to ISS
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NASA and SpaceX are continuing a regular cadence of missions with astronauts launching on an American rocket from American soil to the International Space Station as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. NASA's SpaceX Crew-2 is the second crew rotation mission with four astronauts flying on a commercial spacecraft, and the first with two international partner astronauts.
NASA's SpaceX Cr Boeing Starliner test flight postponed
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An unmanned test mission of Boeing's Starliner space capsule, which is eventually to transport astronauts to the International Space Station, has had to be postponed, NASA said Monday.
The test, which had previously been postponed until early April, will suffer another delay, this time due to unprecedented cold temperatures in Texas that caused extensive power outages in the southern US stat Apply now to the ESA Teach with Space Online Conference
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Register now for ESA’s first-ever virtual teacher conference! Over the course of three days, from 6 to 8 July 2021, ESA Education will bring space into your classroom. Explore space by hearing from space experts; discover inspiring ways to use space as a context to teach STEM in your physical and virtual classrooms; experience demonstrations of our fun classroom activities; and enjoy social space-themed events and more!
Applications are open until 15 June 2021 on a first-come, first-served basis, so apply now!
Josef Aschbacher is new ESA Director General
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As of today, 1 March 2021, ESA has a new Director General: Dr Josef Aschbacher, who has taken up duty at ESA Headquarters in Paris, France.
This is what rolling blackouts look like from space
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Extreme winter weather hit Texas hard this February. An air mass from the arctic extended deep into the United States from Canada, with disastrous results for the ordinarily warm state. Along with snow and unusually low temperatures, the state's capacity for power generation was significantly reduced by weather-related equipment failures. Images hosted by NASA's Earth Observatory show the effect of controlled, rolling blackouts across the Greater Houston Area.
One image, taken on February 7, shows Houston before the arctic weather system, and another picture taken on the February 16 shows large swaths of the city in darkness. Earth Observatory has conveniently layered the two images with a vertical slider allowing users to slide back and forth, highlighting (or low-lighting as it were) the blackouts' impact.