Copernical Team
After asteroid collision, Europe's Hera will probe 'crime scene'
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After NASA deliberately smashes a car-sized spacecraft into an asteroid next week, it will be up to the European Space Agency's Hera mission to investigate the "crime scene" and uncover the secrets of these potentially devastating space rocks.
NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) aims to collide with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos on Monday night, hoping to slightly alter its traje NASA gears up to deflect asteroid, in key test of planetary defense
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Bet the dinosaurs wish they'd thought of this.
NASA on Monday will attempt a feat humanity has never before accomplished: deliberately smacking a spacecraft into an asteroid to slightly deflect its orbit, in a key test of our ability to stop cosmic objects from devastating life on Earth.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship launched from California last November and is f Week in images: 19-23 September 2022
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Week in images: 19-23 September 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Earth from Space: Lake Trasimeno
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Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest lake in Italy, is featured in this week’s Earth from Space image.
Why is a NASA spacecraft crashing into an asteroid?
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ESA lunar landing camera to fly to the Moon
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ESA has many ambitions for exploring our Moon, and we are setting the groundwork for a lander that can rely on cameras and lidar to analyse lunar terrain and choose the best landing spot – autonomously. The camera is ready, but nothing beats a real-world test: ESA has chosen Lunar Logistics Services and Astrobotic from a competitive tender to fly the innovative camera, called LandCam-X, to the Moon in 2024 on Astrobotic’s Griffin Mission One.
Explainer: Why a NASA spacecraft will crash into an asteroid
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NASA's Juno will perform close flyby of Jupiter's icy moon Europa
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On Thursday, Sept. 29, at 2:36 a.m. PDT (5:36 a.m. EDT), NASA's Juno spacecraft will come within 222 miles (358 kilometers) of the surface of Jupiter's ice-covered moon, Europa. The solar-powered spacecraft is expected to obtain some of the highest-resolution images ever taken of portions of Europa's surface, as well as collect valuable data on the moon's interior, surface composition, and ionosphere, along with its interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere.
Saudi Arabia plans to send female astronaut to space in 2023
JPSS-2 begins launch processing
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Preparations are looking up for the launch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. On behalf of NOAA, NASA develops and builds the instruments, spacecraft, and ground system, and launches the satellites, which NOAA operates. Technicians recently lifted the satellite to a stand inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. On board are four advanced instruments that will measure weather and climate conditions on Earth. Launch is targeted for Nov. 1 atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V 401 rocket from Space Launch Complex-3.
Launching with JPSS-2 is a secondary payload, known as Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID. LOFTID will demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology for atmospheric entry and re-entry. This technology could enable a variety of proposed NASA missions to destinations such as Mars, Venus, and Titan, as well as returning heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit.
Before launch, technicians will stack the JPSS-2 satellite onto a payload adapter canister containing the LOFTID reentry vehicle.
