ESA, China conduct spacecraft-rocket integration tests but joint science mission delayed to 2025
Monday, 20 February 2023 11:13
Scientists at the European Space Agency’s ESTEC and visiting Chinese counterparts conducted a series of spacecraft-rocket integration tests for a joint mission.
From Hair to Eternity: locks of US presidents heading to space
Monday, 20 February 2023 10:44
George Washington, John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan are going on a hair-raising journey into outer space.
Not the actual—and long dead—former US presidents, of course, but samples of their hair.
Celestis, a Texas-based company that specializes in space burials, announced the plan on Monday, which is celebrated as Presidents' Day in the United States.
Celestis said it will launch "what we believe to be authenticated DNA" of the former presidents into space aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket later this year.
Also aboard the flight—dubbed "Enterprise"—will be some of the cremated remains of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and other cast members from the groundbreaking 1960s television series.
The USS Enterprise was the starship in the sci-fi show whose mission was to "go boldly where no man has gone before."
Celestis said the hair samples of the four former presidents were gifted by an anonymous donor and were accompanied by certificates of authenticity.
It said they originally came from the collection of Louis Mushro, a "celebrity hair collector and appraiser" from Michigan who died in 2014.
Call opens for ESA’s twelfth Earth Explorer
Monday, 20 February 2023 10:00
Understanding Earth’s delicate natural balance and how it is being altered by human activity is not only key to advancing science but also fundamental to acting on environmental issues, the climate crisis, and preparing for their societal impact. With their hallmark of demonstrating novel space technologies and returning scientific excellence, ESA’s family of Earth observing Earth Explorer research satellite missions are world-renowned – and now it’s time for scientists to pitch their new ideas for the twelfth mission in this outstanding series.
NSL unveils new Black Box
Monday, 20 February 2023 10:00
SAN FRANCISCO – NearSpace Launch, an Indiana company known for robotically assembling ThinSats, is unveiling a new Black Box for autonomous satellite tracking and data relay.
Euclid electromagnetic compatibility tests successful
Monday, 20 February 2023 07:53
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ESA’s Euclid mission is undergoing the final test before launch in July 2023.
Here it is standing in a special room in the Thales Alenia Space test facilities in Cannes, France, where it successfully underwent electromagnetic compatibility testing.
This kind of testing is routine for spacecraft. All electronics emit some form of electromagnetic waves that can cause interference with other devices. Think of the buzz that speakers give out right before an incoming call on a mobile phone. Spacecraft electronics can cause similar interference, but out in space such interference can have disastrous consequences, so all systems must be checked
ChatGPT sparks AI 'gold rush' in Silicon Valley
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
Generative AI, of which ChatGPT is an example, wades through oceans of data to conjure up original content - an image, a poem, a thousand-word essay - in seconds and upon a simple request.
Since its discrete release in late November, ChatGPT has become one of the fastest growing apps ever and pushed Microsoft and Google to rush out projects that had until now stayed carefully guarded over NASA, Boeing target April for manned Starliner test flight
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
NASA and Boeing said Friday they aim to launch the first manned test flight mission of the CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station in April.
The long-awaited Starliner, described as the "next generation" spacecraft has been highly anticipated to add a needed transportation option to the orbiting laboratory, along with other missions. The launch had been planned for February SpaceX launches 51 Starlink satellites from California
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
SpaceX launched 51 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California Friday. The payload lifted off as scheduled aboard a Falcon 9 rocket at 11:12 a.m. PT, 2:12 p.m. ET.
The first stage booster separated minutes after launch and successfully landed onboard a drone ship - called "Of Course I Still Love You" - in the Pacific Ocean.
The live feed from the booster SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, part of Inmarsat program
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
SpaceX on Friday completed its second launch of the day, sending a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit from Florida as part of its Inmarsat program.
The Falcon 9 liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 10:59 p.m. EST.
Earlier Friday, the company completed a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 11:12 a.m. PST, pu SpaceX faces a $175,000 penalty for failure to report launch data to FAA
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
The United States' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $175,000 civil penalty to SpaceX for failing "to submit launch collision analysis trajectory data directly to the FAA before the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket in August 2022, which carried Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Per federal regulations, the data must be submitted at least seven days before a Inmarsat-6 F2 marks 12th SpaceX launch of 2023
Sunday, 19 February 2023 09:33
SpaceX completed a launch doubleheader Friday night, February 17. When an Airbus-built communications satellite soared into orbit at 10:59 p.m. EST (0359 GMT on February 18) Friday from Cape Canaveral atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, to place the satellites in geostationary orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the Earth to provide connectivity for ships and aircraft in the Office of Space Commerce examines options for commercial SSA pilot project in LEO
Saturday, 18 February 2023 23:18
With one commercial space traffic coordination pilot project successfully completed, the Office of Space Commerce is considering ways to do a similar project in the more challenging environment of low Earth orbit.
SpaceX launches Inmarsat-6 F2 in a boost for direct-to-device services
Saturday, 18 February 2023 21:20
SpaceX launched a satellite for Inmarsat Feb. 17 that gives the operator more capacity for partnerships in an emerging direct-to-device market.
Russia reschedules Soyuz launch after Progress undocks
Saturday, 18 February 2023 15:50
Russia is moving ahead with the uncrewed launch of a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station after the post-undocking inspection of a Progress cargo spacecraft failed to show damage from a coolant leak.
Russia 'expected' to launch rescue ship to ISS on Feb 24: official
Saturday, 18 February 2023 15:23
Russia's space agency said Saturday it was planning to send a rescue ship on February 24 to bring home three astronauts whose return vehicle was damaged by a tiny meteoroid.
"The launch is expected on February 24," a spokesman for the Roscosmos space agency told AFP.
Last Monday, the space agency said it had delayed the launch of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, saying a supply ship docked at the International Space Station (ISS) had leaked coolant.
The Soyuz MS-22 flew Russian cosmonauts Dmitry Petelin and Sergei Prokopyev and NASA astronaut Frank Rubio to the ISS in September.
They were scheduled to return home in the same spacecraft, but it began leaking coolant in mid-December after being hit by what US and Russian space officials believe was a tiny space rock.
In January, Russia said that it would send an empty spacecraft to the ISS in February to bring home the three astronauts.