White House releases planetary protection strategy
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 21:04
WASHINGTON — The White House released a national strategy for planetary protection Dec. 30, outlining new assessments to prevent terrestrial contamination of other worlds and vice versa.
The National Strategy for Planetary Protection, developed by an interagency working group led by the National Space Council and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), outlines work to be done over the next year to update planetary protection policies, considering both scientific advances as well as growing private capabilities in space exploration.
Presidential transition, weak funding put 2024 moon landing goal in doubt
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
The handoff from Donald Trump's administration to that of Joe Biden, and a lack of congressional funding, have cast doubt on NASA's goal for a lunar landing by 2024 - a date that already had been seen as unlikely.
"We can say, really, it's impossible at this point to meet that 2024 goal," said Casey Dreier, chief advocate for The Planetary Society, which says it is the largest nonprofi mu Space to push Thai space industry, planning to build its first spaceship in 2021
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
2020 was the time when the space scene was lively again, with the Thai government pushing for space-activity-related legislation and creating mechanisms to promote and support both the government and the private sector to develop the space industry together, which is one of the target industries in the new S-curve that will increase Thailand's investment capacity and its role in developing the s The Opticon-RadioNet Pilot Project
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
The European Commission will provide 15 million euro in funding to a consortium of 37 astronomical institutions from the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK). The goal of the Opticon-RadioNet Pilot Project (ORP) is to enable and facilitate scientists to share between the partners observing time at optical and radio telescopes.
Similar programs have existed before: the RadioNet p A blazar in the early universe
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
The supersharp radio "vision" of the National Science Foundation's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) has revealed previously unseen details in a jet of material ejected at three-quarters the speed of light from the core of a galaxy some 12.8 billion light-years from Earth. The galaxy, dubbed PSO J0309+27, is a blazar, with its jet pointed toward Earth, and is the brightest radio-emitting blazar ye NASA Approves Heliophysics Missions to Explore Sun, Earth's Aurora
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
NASA has approved two heliophysics missions to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. Together, NASA's contribution to the Extreme Ultraviolet High-Throughput Spectroscopic Telescope Epsilon Mission, or EUVST, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer, or EZIE, will help us understand the Sun and Earth as an interconnected system.
Understanding the physics th How The Pentagon's True Space Maverick Became The Soldier's Best Friend
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
This past week, the United States Space Force turned one year old. In the months leading up to the anniversary, the infant military branch started to form an image all its own. In July, the newly instituted Space Force unveiled its logo and new motto, Semper Supra, "Always Above." The motto was reminiscent of other military branches, like that of the Marine Corps "Semper Fidelis," meaning "Alway Space Force Guardians recognized for superior performance
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
Guardians from around the world gathered virtually Dec. 11 to reflect on their contributions and to recognize high achieving individuals for their performance during the U.S. Space Force's first year of operation.
The formal recognition was led by Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett, Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. "Jay" Raymond and Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Space For Army hits target from 43 miles away with artillery system in works
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
The Army's under-development Extended Range Cannon Artillery system hit a target on the nose from 43 miles away.
Brig. Gen. John Rafferty, who is overseeing the branch's Long-Range Precision Fires modernization program, told reporters an Excalibur extended-range guided artillery shell hit a target at Arizona's Yuma Proving Ground on Saturday.
"I don't think our adversaries have t Congress adds $1.3B to Missile Defense Agency's budget in spending bill
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
Congress has added $1.3 billion into the Missile Defense Agency's fiscal 2021 budget, in excess of what the agency asked for in February.
The agency had requested $9.13 billion, a $1.27 billion decrease from last year's budget, but also submitted a list of unfunded requirements that totaled nearly $1 billion.
In the bill, lawmakers describe a "concerning" disconnect between the M China launches new remote sensing satellite
Tuesday, 29 December 2020 06:03
China sent a new remote sensing satellite into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China at 11:44 p.m. Sunday (Beijing Time).
The satellite, Yaogan-33, was launched aboard a Long March-4C rocket and entered the planned orbit successfully. It was the 357th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.
The mission also sent a micro and nano technology Soyuz launches French reconnaissance satellite in final 2020 launch
Monday, 28 December 2020 23:43
WASHINGTON — A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a French reconnaissance satellite Dec. 29 in what is likely the final launch of an active 2020 in spaceflight.
The Soyuz ST-A rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana at 11:42 a.m.
To help trudge through the snow, the chang'e-5 recovery team wore powered exoskeletons
Monday, 28 December 2020 11:07Other worlds aren't the only difficult terrain personnel will have to traverse in humanity's exploration of the solar system. There are some parts of our own planet that are inhospitable and hard to travel over. Inner Mongolia, a northern province of China, would certainly classify as one of those areas, especially in winter. But that's exactly the terrain team members from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASTC) had to traverse on December 16th to retrieve lunar samples from the Chang'e-5 mission. What was even more unique is that they did it with the help of exoskeletons.
Strangely enough, the workers wearing the exoskeletons weren't there to help with a difficult mountain ascent, or even pick up the payload of the lunar lander itself (which only weighed 2 kg). It was to set up a communications tent to connect the field team back to the main CASTC headquarters in Beijing.
The exoskeletons were designed to help people carry approximately twice as much as they would be able to. Local state media described a single person carrying 50kg over 100m of the rough terrain without becoming tired. Setting up communications equipment isn't all the exoskeletons are good for though. They were most recently used by Chinese military logistics and medical staff in the Himalayas, where the country has been facing down the Indian military over a disputed line of control.
House overrides Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act
Monday, 28 December 2020 00:27
WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives on Dec. 28 voted 322-87 to overturn President Donald Trump’s veto of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021.
The measure is now headed to the Senate floor for a vote expected this week.
Viasat asks FCC to perform environmental review of Starlink
Sunday, 27 December 2020 19:01
WASHINGTON — Viasat has petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to perform an environmental review of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband constellation, arguing that the satellite system poses environmental hazards in space and on Earth.
In a Dec.