LOFTID inflatable heat shield test a success, early results show
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
NASA's Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, launched on Nov. 10, 2022, to demonstrate inflatable heat shield technology that could be key to landing humans on Mars.
About an hour after launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, LOFTD inflated and deployed in space. After being released by the Centaur upper stage, the heat shield, or aeroshell, began The first life in our solar system may have been on Mars
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
When Mars was a young planet, it was bombarded by ice asteroids delivering water and organic molecules necessary for life to emerge. According to the professor behind a new study, this means that the first life in our solar system may have been on Mars.
Mars is called the red planet. But once, it was actually blue and covered in water, bringing us closer to finding out if Mars had ever harboure NASA, Japan announce Gateway contributions, Space Station extension
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
NASA and the Government of Japan on Thursday announced further contributions by Japan to Gateway, a key component of the agency's Artemis missions for long-term lunar exploration. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson participated virtually from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in an event held in Tokyo that included Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Keiko Nagao Black holes in eccentric orbit
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
A research team from Jena (Germany) and Turin (Italy) has reconstructed the origin of an unusual gravitational wave signal. As the researchers write in the current issue of the scientific journal "Nature Astronomy", the signal GW190521 may result from the merger of two massive black holes that captured each other in their gravitational field and then collided while spinning around each other in New interactive map lets you scroll through the Universe
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
A new map of the universe displays for the first time the span of the entire known cosmos with pinpoint accuracy and sweeping beauty. Created by Johns Hopkins University astronomers with data mined over two decades by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the map allows the public to experience data previously only accessible to scientists. The interactive map, which depicts the actual position and real The tilt in our stars: the shape of the Milky Way's halo of stars is realized
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
A new study has revealed the true shape of the diffuse cloud of stars surrounding the disk of our galaxy. For decades, astronomers have thought that this cloud of stars - called the stellar halo - was largely spherical, like a beach ball. Now a new model based on modern observations shows the stellar halo is oblong and tilted, much like a football that has just been kicked.
The findings - Robotic In-Space Mechanic aces tests, on track for launch
Sunday, 20 November 2022 08:08
All component-level tests are complete on DARPA's Robotic Servicing of Geosynchronous Satellites (RSGS) program and the on-orbit demonstration mission is on schedule for launch in 2024. The RSGS goal is to enable inspection and servicing of satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO), where hundreds of satellites provide communications, meteorological, national security, and other vital funct Orion ready for lunar flyby maneuver
Sunday, 20 November 2022 01:52
NASA has approved plans to proceed with the next critical milestone in the Artemis 1 mission, a maneuver by the uncrewed Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon Nov. 21.
Orion completes lunar flyby maneuver
Sunday, 20 November 2022 01:52NASA has approved plans to proceed with the next critical milestone in the Artemis 1 mission, a maneuver by the uncrewed Orion spacecraft as it flies by the moon Nov.
SpaceX to launch last new cargo Dragon spacecraft
Saturday, 19 November 2022 16:59
A SpaceX Dragon launching soon to the International Space Station is the last cargo version of the spacecraft the company expects to build, with one more crewed spacecraft under construction.
NASA Moon mission 'exceeding' expectations
Saturday, 19 November 2022 13:21
On the third day after lifting off from Florida bound for the Moon, the Orion spacecraft is "exceeding performance expectations," NASA officials said on Friday.
The spacecraft is to take astronauts to the Moon in the coming years - the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
This first test flight, without a crew on board, aims to ensure that the vehicl NASA Moon mission 'exceeding' expectaions
Saturday, 19 November 2022 09:58
On the third day after lifting off from Florida bound for the Moon, the Orion spacecraft is "exceeding performance expectations," NASA officials said on Friday.
The spacecraft is to take astronauts to the Moon in the coming years—the first to set foot on its surface since the last Apollo mission in 1972.
This first test flight, without a crew on board, aims to ensure that the vehicle is safe.
"Today we met to review the Orion spacecraft performance... it is exceeding performance expectations," said Mike Sarafin, head of the Artemis 1 mission.
The spacecraft's four solar panels, about 13 feet (four meters) long, deployed correctly and are providing more energy than expected, said Jim Geffre, the Orion manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
White House, Congress praise long-delayed first SLS launch
Friday, 18 November 2022 21:38
The inaugural flight of the Space Launch System won positive reactions from the White House and Congress, celebrating the successful liftoff while overlooking the vehicle’s extensive delays.
The post White House, Congress praise long-delayed first SLS launch appeared first on SpaceNews.
AST SpaceMobile searching for funds to accelerate constellation
Friday, 18 November 2022 20:08
A year and a half after netting around $417 million through its IPO, AST SpaceMobile is seeking more funds to accelerate a direct-to-smartphone constellation that has fallen behind a key regulatory deadline.
The post AST SpaceMobile searching for funds to accelerate constellation appeared first on SpaceNews.
JAXA's ambitious mission to Phobos will even have European-built rover
Friday, 18 November 2022 17:00
Japan and Germany have a history of collaboration in scientific and technological endeavors. The countries have a Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science Technology that has met many times over the decades. Both countries have advanced, powerful economies and sophisticated technological know-how, so it makes sense they'd collaborate on scientific activities.
This time, their cooperation concerns a small, potato-shaped chunk of rock: Mars' moon Phobos.
In 2024, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission to Phobos and Deimos. Deimos will get the fly-by treatment, but JAXA has more ambitious ideas for Phobos.