Copernical Team
NASA awards laser air monitoring system contract for Orion
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NASA has awarded Dynetics Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama, a contract to produce a Laser Air Monitoring System (LAMS) for the agency's Orion spacecraft beginning with the Artemis III mission.
The LAMS contract is valued at $17.8 million for production of the Artemis III unit, as well as a qualification unit, design modifications, and long-lead procurement items in support of the Artemis IV and Scientists develop new molecular tool to detect alien life
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While scientists know the discovery of alien life would be a game-changing, interstellar event for humanity, the search to date has been unsuccessful. But now, they have a new tool capable of identifying molecular biosignatures that will allow them to look for life in the universe - no matter what form it takes.
In a new paper recently published in Nature Communications, a team of scientis Canadian manipulator on ISS holed by space debris
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Space debris hit the Canadian remote robotic system onboard the International Space Station (ISS), leaving a small hole in it, but the incident did not affect the operation of the device, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) said on Friday.
"While the utmost precautions are taken to reduce the potential for collisions with the ISS, impacts with tiny objects do occur. One such hit was noticed re NASA administrator Bill Nelson supports $10B boost for moon landing
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NASA needs about a 40% boost - $10 billion - in its budget to foster competition that could aid future astronaut missions to the moon, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said.
The Biden administration is seeking $24.8 billion for NASA in fiscal 2022, which would be a 6.6% increase from 2021, Nelson said during a press conference on Friday. But there's an amendment to the 2021 budget pendi China cargo craft docks with space station module
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A Chinese cargo spacecraft carrying equipment and supplies successfully docked with the core module of the country's future space station on Sunday, state media said.
A Long March 7 rocket carrying the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft - loaded with essentials such as food, equipment and fuel - blasted off late Saturday from the Wenchang launch site on the tropical southern island of Hainan, the Xinh China launches cargo rocket with supplies for space station
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ESA's Space Environment Report 2021
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Imagine driving down a road which has more broken cars, bikes and vans lining the street than functioning vehicles. This is the scene our satellites face in Earth orbit. In fact, since the start of the space age there has been more debris, “space junk”, in orbit than operational satellites.
So how do we clean up this mess?
Innovative video technology to call for new astronaut candidates
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Video:
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In the midst of COVID restrictions rendering travel close to impossible, ESA had to produce an ambitious video to call for applications to the 2021 astronaut selection.
The challenge of this project was to show locations as varied as a spaceship, a city, a canyon, a forest, ESA's satellite testing or control centres, Europe's space port in Kourou, or even the Moon.
To create the illusion of immersing the protagonists into these various environments, ESA teamed up with Duck Factory to use a "Virtual Set": a new technology, that has not yet been used to the full extent of
Researchers develop better ways to culture living heart cells on the International Space Station
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As part of preparing for an experiment aboard the International Space Station, researchers explored new ways to culture living heart cells for microgravity research. They found that cryopreservation, a process of storing cells at -80°C, makes it easier to transport these cells to the orbiting lab, providing more flexibility in launch and operations schedules. The process could benefit other biological research in space and on Earth.
The investigation, MVP Cell-03, cultured heart precursor cells on the space station to study how microgravity affects the number of cells produced and how many of them survive.
SpaceX CRS-22 mission to space station launches water bears, squid, solar panels
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The 22nd SpaceX cargo resupply mission carrying scientific research and technology demonstrations launches to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida no earlier than June 3. Experiments aboard include studying how water bears tolerate space, whether microgravity affects symbiotic relationships, analyzing the formation of kidney stones, and more.
Highlights of the payloads on this resupply mission include:
Water bears take on space
Tardigrades, known as water bears due to their appearance under a microscope and common habitat in water, are tiny creatures that tolerate environments more extreme than most life forms can.