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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 22, 2024
NASA has commenced the development of large cargo landers under its Artemis program, with the aim of enhancing the scientific exploration capabilities of the Moon. The initiative involves collaboration between NASA and its human landing system providers, SpaceX and Blue Origin, to create landers capable of delivering substantial equipment payloads to the lunar surface. These landers, which
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NASA to overhaul mission returning samples from Mars – here's why it must and will go ahead
Cylinder of rock inside the drill of Perseverance rover. Credit: NASA

NASA recently announced that it is seeking new ways to complete the return to Earth of rock cores drilled by the Perseverance Rover in the Jezero Crater on Mars. This has led to some anxiety among space scientists, who view the Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission as a cornerstone of plans to explore the solar system.

But when you consider what's at stake, scientifically and politically, it seems highly likely that NASA will push ahead with the mission to make it a success.

One key conclusion of the NASA review is that MSR was established with unrealistic budget and schedules. Now it expects a cost of US$8–11 billion (£6.5–8.9 billion), having originally estimated $5.3 billion. That's not including the investment that the European Space Agency (ESA) is making, which is probably of the order of €2 billion (£1.7 billion).

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space-x rocket launch
Credit: AI-generated image

SpaceX is set to send up the 30th launch on the Space Coast this year targeting an evening liftoff Tuesday that would see the 300th booster recovery if successful.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites is aiming to launch at 6:17 p.m. at the opening of a four-hour window Tuesday that runs from 6:15-10:15 p.m. A backup opportunity falls from 5:50-9:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Space Launch Delta 45's weather squadron forecasts better than 95% chance for good conditions for both Tuesday and the Wednesday backup.

The first-stage booster will set a milestone for the company marking the 300th time a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster has made a recovery landing, and the 270th time SpaceX has reflown a booster.

This particular booster is flying for the ninth time including one , Crew-6, and SpaceX will attempt its recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

The company's first successful booster recovery came in December 2015, and it has not had a failed landing since February 2021.

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OOV-Cube wide

Europe’s newest rocket soon launches, taking with it many space missions each with a unique objective, destination and team at home, cheering them on. Whether launching new satellites to look back and study Earth, peer out to deep space or test important new technologies in orbit, Ariane 6’s first flight will showcase the versatility and flexibility of this impressive, heavy-lift launcher. Read on for all about OOV-Cube, then see who else is flying first.

Hubble celebrates 34th anniversary

Tuesday, 23 April 2024 13:00
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In celebration of the 34th anniversary of the launch of the legendary NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope on 24 April, astronomers took a snapshot of the Little Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 76, M76, or NGC 650/651) located 3400 light-years away in the northern circumpolar constellation Perseus. The photogenic nebula is a favourite target of amateur astronomers.

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Video: 00:02:19

They say it takes a village to raise a child. To launch a rocket, we have the combined expertise and passion of Space Team Europe. Julien Guiridlian is one of many making the first Ariane 6 launch possible and has been interviewed as part of a series highlighting some of the people that make up this dream team.

Working for France’s space agency CNES, Julien is Ariane launch complex assistant, which means he takes care of the ground segment for the combined tests on Europe’s new rocket. Julien takes care of coordinating everything from the fuel for the

Health science in orbit

Tuesday, 23 April 2024 06:15
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Missions to the International Space Station focus on conducting science at Earth’s orbiting laboratory. One of the science pillars for Andreas Mogensen’s Huginn mission was health where researchers study the effects of microgravity on the human body in space. Here is an overview of some of the science that Andreas performed during his six-month mission. 

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NASA’s Voyager 1 resumes sending engineering updates to Earth
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s concept traveling through interstellar space, or the space between stars, which it entered in 2012. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For the first time since November, NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems. The next step is to enable the spacecraft to begin returning science data again. The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to ever fly in interstellar space (the space between stars).

Voyager 1 stopped sending readable science and engineering data back to Earth on Nov. 14, 2023, even though mission controllers could tell the was still receiving their commands and otherwise operating normally. In March, the Voyager engineering team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California confirmed that the issue was tied to one of the spacecraft's three onboard computers, called the flight data subsystem (FDS).

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Simulated microgravity affects sleep and physiological rhythms
Protocol of the study. Each campaign was divided in three segments: Baseline Data Collection (BDC, 14 days), Head Down Tilt bed-rest (HDT, 60 days) and Recovery (R, 14 days). Yellow and gray bulbs indicate lights on and lights off, respectively; forks indicate mealtimes; green triangles indicate Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) test; red circles indicate blood sampling (for transcriptome analysis, not presented); blue crosses indicate saliva sampling (for melatonin and cortisol detection).
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