Cost and schedule overruns continue to grow for NASA programs
Monday, 24 May 2021 10:27
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WASHINGTON — NASA suffered increasing cost overruns on its major programs again in 2020, a problem a new report says will be exacerbated by the pandemic.
The annual report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on major NASA programs, published May 20, found that costs of those programs grew by more than $1 billion in 2020, the fifth year in a row overall costs increased.
NASA rocket mission studying escaping radio waves
Monday, 24 May 2021 10:17 Write a comment
A NASA rocket mission, launching May 26, 2021, will study radio waves that escape through the Earth's ionosphere impacting the environment surrounding GPS and geosynchronous satellites, such as those for weather monitoring and communications.
Launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, a Terrier-Improved Malemute suborbital sounding rocket will carry the Vlf trans-Ionospheric Propagation Experiment Rocket, or VIPER. The mission is scheduled for 9:15 p.m., Wednesday, May 26. The launch window is 9:15 p.m. to midnight EDT and the backup days are May 27-28. The launch may be visible in the mid-Atlantic region.
VIPER is studying very low frequency radio, or VLF, waves that are produced by both natural (e.g. lightning) and artificial means. During the day these waves are trapped or absorbed by the Earth's ionosphere. At night, however, some of the waves escape through the ionosphere and accelerate electrons in the Van Allen Radiation Belt.
"At night, the lower layers of the ionosphere are much less dense, and more of the VLF can leak through, propagate along the Earth's magnetic field lines, and end up interacting with the high-energy electrons trapped in the Van Allen Radiation Belts," said Dr.
First leap for beam-hopping constellation
Monday, 24 May 2021 06:46 Write a comment
Broadband satellites that can be completely repurposed while in orbit have just taken a leap forwards.
Air Force unveils exoskeleton to aid aerial ports in lifting
Monday, 24 May 2021 01:38 Write a comment
An exoskeleton, worn by U.S. Air Force aerial porters to assist in lifting objects with reduced strain, will make its debut at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., the branch announced on Wednesday.
The device, designed by Arizona State University and the Air Force Life Cycle Management and Air Mobility Command, will be used in an official capacity for the first time this week.
The Aer SES Government Solutions provides medium earth orbit satellite services for combatant command
Monday, 24 May 2021 01:38 Write a comment
SES Government Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, in close partnership with a key U.S. Government customer, designed, developed and fielded an O3b Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) reachback capability to provide mission-critical communications for a key combatant command.
The awarded task order for USD 11.8 million is against the single-award USD 516.7 million Blanket Purchase Agreement NASA additively manufactured rocket engine passes cold spray, hot fire tests
Monday, 24 May 2021 01:38 Write a comment
NASA is partnering with Aerojet Rocketdyne to advance 3D printing technologies, known as metal additive manufacturing, and its capabilities for liquid rocket engines in landers and on-orbit stages/spacecraft.
The Robotic Deposition Technology (RDT) team, led out of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is designing and manufacturing innovative and lightweight combusti Space Force looking to build new radar sites to track objects in high orbits
Sunday, 23 May 2021 16:08 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force next month will solicit industry bids for deep-space radar sensors that can track active satellites and debris in high orbits above 22,000 miles.
One or more contractors will be selected to develop prototype concepts for the Deep Space Advanced Radar Concept (DARC), a project started by the U.S.
Virgin Galactic rocket ship ascends from New Mexico
Sunday, 23 May 2021 09:49
China's first Mars rover starts exploring red planet
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface Saturday, leaving the country's first "footprints" on the red planet. Zhurong's first successful drive made China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.
The six-wheeled solar-powered rover, resembling a blue butterfly and with a mass of 240 kg, slowly trun ASU student-built spacecraft to interact with the public
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
NASA has selected an Arizona State University-designed spacecraft to fly as an auxiliary payload aboard a rocket launching between 2022 and 2025. It is among 14 small research satellites, called CubeSats, that were chosen for this opportunity through NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative.
The ASU CubeSat, named LightCube, is about the size of a toaster and will be deployed to low-Earth orbit (L SSTL Lunar to lead consortium for ESA Moonlight
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has been selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to lead a Phase A/B1 Study under ESA's Moonlight initiative that will shape the service provision and infrastructure to provide sustainable commercial Lunar data-relay services for communication and navigation around the Moon.
The Moonlight Phase A/B1 Study will define the service infrastructure and From Moon bases to Martian cities Musk eyes new era for humanity
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
Musk also suggested that humanity could expand its reach to other planets in our Solar System that lie beyond Mars with the help of an antimatter-powered spacecraft.
Renowned tech entrepreneur and SpaceX founder Elon Musk has recently doubled down on his calls for establishing a human presence on other planets.
According to The Independent, Musk voiced his thoughts on the subject dur Virgin Galactic completes successful space flight
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
Virgin Galactic completed its first successful space flight in more than two years Saturday. "It was picture perfect," Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier told The Verge after the flight was completed.
"We're gonna go through the data deeply and thoroughly as we always do." In a statement, Colglazier called the flight a "major step forward for both Virgin Galactic and human spaceflight Roscosmos shows design of future nuclear-powered spacecraft
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
Russia's state space agency Roscosmos revealed the design of future satellites and orbital stations equipped with space nuclear-powered tug technology at the New Knowledge forum in Moscow on Saturday.
Alexander Bloshenko, executive director for advanced programs and science at Roscosmos, presented two images of future spacecraft with the Zeus nuclear-powered tug - one with rotary magnetopl New government funding helps UK companies lead the way for future Moon missions
Saturday, 22 May 2021 23:07 Write a comment
In what will be the world's first commercial servicing of its kind, Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), Inmarsat and MDA UK are among those who won contracts with the European Space Agency (ESA), worth just over 2 million pounds in total, to shape the infrastructure for future lunar exploration.
NASA plans to return to the Moon by 2024 and, working with ESA and other partners, intends