University of Florida professor to fly Blue Origin New Shepard on mission for NASA
Friday, 30 August 2024 10:26
University of Florida horticulture science professor Rob Ferl is going where some men have gone before, including William Shatner and Jeff Bezos, but he's bringing along some experimental plant life for NASA.
Ferl, a researcher within UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, is also the director of UF's new Astraeus Space Institute. He is joining five other people on the launch of Blue Origin's suborbital New Shepard rocket today for what will be its eighth human spaceflight. Dubbed NS-26, the capsule is set for liftoff as early as 9:00 a.m. EDT from Blue Origin's West Texas launch facility.
Along for the ride will be a species of plant called Arabidopsis thaliana. Ferl will be looking at how its genes adapt on the way to space.
"Space is a challenging environment, one that we're not evolutionarily designed for," he said during a phone interview from the launch site. "And so the question is, what tools can we bring to bear to understand how much adaptation, how much physiological change has to occur in order to survive and thrive in space.
Sentinel-2C: ready for liftoff
Friday, 30 August 2024 07:00
Video:
00:02:32
Sentinel-2C is ready for launch! The new satellite will soon join its Copernicus Sentinel-2 family in orbit – where it will continue to provide detailed views of Earth’s land and coastal waters.
The mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites: Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B. The constellation was originally designed to monitor land surfaces – but its scope has since expanded.
It now covers a wide range of applications including deforestation, water quality, monitoring natural disasters, methane emissions and much more.
Sentinel-2C, once in orbit, will replace the Sentinel-2A unit – prolonging the life of the Sentinel-2 mission –
Chinese researchers assess U.S. space situational awareness, call for boost in China’s capabilities
Friday, 30 August 2024 06:55
Discover where space begins: the guide to ESA’s establishments
Friday, 30 August 2024 06:00
Discover where space begins: the guide to ESA’s establishments
European drill and mini lab secure ride to the Moon
Friday, 30 August 2024 05:00
ESA's Prospect package, including drill and a miniaturised laboratory, will fly to the Moon’s South Polar region in search of volatiles, including water ice, as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative.
NASA record holder can relate to astronauts stuck in space. He was, too
Friday, 30 August 2024 04:40
NASA's record-holding astronaut is urging his two stuck-in-space colleagues to stay positive and "keep up the good work."
Frank Rubio knows firsthand about unexpectedly long spaceflights. His own visit to the International Space Station lasted just over a year, twice as long as planned.
NASA selects Intuitive Machines for south pole lunar lander mission
Thursday, 29 August 2024 21:55
Raytheon wins $51.7 million contract for military satcom antennas
Thursday, 29 August 2024 21:32
Verizon to bring satellite connectivity to Android phones this fall
Thursday, 29 August 2024 20:10
Solar Orbiter shows how solar wind gets a magnetic push
Thursday, 29 August 2024 17:00
ESA’s Solar Orbiter spacecraft has provided crucial data to answer the decades-long question of where the energy comes from to heat and accelerate the solar wind. Working in tandem with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, Solar Orbiter reveals that the energy needed to help power this outflow is coming from large fluctuations in the Sun’s magnetic field.
Firefly Aerospace names space industry veteran Jason Kim as new CEO
Thursday, 29 August 2024 16:47
Firefly names space industry veteran Jason Kim as new CEO
Thursday, 29 August 2024 16:47Blue Origin flies NASA-funded scientist and space tourists on New Shepard suborbital flight
Thursday, 29 August 2024 16:39
Blue Origin completes latest space tourism flight successfully
Thursday, 29 August 2024 15:12
Blue Origin flew its latest group of six thrill-seekers to the edge of space and back again Thursday, including the youngest-ever woman to complete the feat.
Mission NS-26 marked the eighth human spaceflight for the company, founded by Jeff Bezos, as it presses ahead in the emerging suborbital tourism market.
Karsen Kitchen, a 21-year-old senior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, became the youngest woman ever to cross the Karman Line, the internationally recognized boundary marking the edge of space, 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth's surface.
Blue Origin's small New Shepard rocket blasted off at 8:00 am local time (1300 GMT) from the company's Launch Site One base in west Texas.
After liftoff, the sleek and spacious capsule separated from its booster, which boasts zero carbon emissions, before the rocket performed a precise vertical landing.