Beijing (XNA) Jul 07, 2022
The lander and the rover of the Chang'e 4 probe have been switched to dormant mode for the lunar night after working stably for a 44th lunar day. The lander was switched to dormant mode at 6:00 am Wednesday (Beijing Time), and the rover, Yutu-2, at 7:14 pm Tuesday, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. A lunar day is e

Beijing (XNA) Jul 07, 2022
Chinese researchers have studied the large meteorite irons to ascertain the world's longest meteorite-strewn field in Altay, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. China has successively discovered the meteorite irons at a weight of 28 tonnes, 23 tonnes, 18 tonnes, five tonnes and 0.43 tonnes in Altay. The massive Altay irons were found to comprise the longest known strewn fie

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 07, 2022
Tosol's plan included a little bit of everything, with more than four hours of remote science spread over three sols. However, the rover is still in the midst of the Avanavero drill campaign, so all desired observations had to be strategically fit in around important drill-related SAM and CheMin activities. Remote science observations also sometimes come with their own timing constraints,

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Jul 07, 2022
Australia has taken another step towards becoming a serious contributor to the global space economy with the launch of a NASA sounding rocket from the Arnhem Space Center at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory. Australia's rapidly growing space enterprise will provide benefits well above our economic and strategic weight. Establishing a sovereign launch capability is a vital early step. Th

Beijing (XNA) Jul 07, 2022
China's first space launch site dedicated to commercial missions started construction in Wenchang, a coastal city in Hainan province, on Wednesday, according to the provincial government. The Hainan Commercial Space Launch Site program is a joint venture of the Hainan government and three State-owned space conglomerates-China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, China Aerospace Science a

Long Beach CA (SPX) Jul 07, 2022
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has announced it is introducing a Responsive Space Program designed to on-ramp commercial and government satellite operators to the Company's 24/7 rapid call-up launch capability and streamlined satellite build and operation options. "Satellites are vulnerable to natural degradation, accidents, technical failure, and deliberate actions. Unexpectedly losi

Rochester NY (SPX) Jul 07, 2022
NASA announced new funding for a project led by Rochester Institute of Technology alumni, faculty, and students that could power spacecraft to orbit the sun's poles for the first time. The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program will provide Phase III funding to the Diffractive Solar Sailing project led by Amber Dubill '20 (mechanical engineering), '20 MS (mechanical engineering) of the

Washington (AFP) July 7, 2022
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Elon Musk had twins last year with an executive at one of his companies, online outlet Insider reported Wednesday, citing Texas court documents. The babies' mother, 36-year-old Canadian Shivon Zilis, is an executive at Neuralink, Musk's brain-implant maker, and has worked at multiple of his other companies, including OpenAI and electric car manufacturer Tesla, I

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 6, 2021
Virgin Galactic confirmed Wednesday it is retaining Boeing subsidiary Aurora Flight Sciences to build two next generation motherships, the company announced on Wednesday. The agreement calls for the first ship to enter service in 2025, the same year Virgin Galactic's first Delta-class spaceship is expected to begin revenue payload flights. They represent the spaceflight company's

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 6, 2021
NASA has regained communications with its new lunar spacecraft, the space agency confirmed on Wednesday. "Mission operators have re-established contact with NASA's Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE) spacecraft," NASA said in a statement. It did not immediately provide additional details or updates. "We have re-