Week in images: 18-22 July 2022
Friday, 22 July 2022 12:10
Week in images: 18-22 July 2022
Discover our week through the lens
SpaceX delays 32nd launch of year, putting off attempt at record for one more day
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 21, 2021
SpaceX will delay Thursday's Starlink launch, an attempt by the company to beat its record of 31 launches in 2021 with a 32nd launch this year, until Friday because of fog.
The countdown to launch was aborted seconds ahead of the Falcon 9 rocket's planned launch of 46 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from the from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The lift off

Northrop Grumman and NASA test SLS booster
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Promontory UT (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Northrop Grumman and NASA have conducted a full-scale static fire of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket motor, known as Flight Support Booster-2. The five-segment solid rocket booster is the world's largest solid rocket motor and will provide more than 75 percent of the SLS rocket's initial thrust during launch.
Over 300 measurement channels assessed the 154-foot-long solid rocket boo

Russian, European astronauts make rare joint spacewalk at ISS
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Washington DC (UPI) Jul 21, 2021
A Russian cosmonaut and European Space Agency engineer made a several-hour spacewalk at the International Space Station on Thursday to work on a robotic laboratory arm.
The pair began the spacewalk around 10 a.m. EDT and it was scheduled to last about six hours.
The objective of the mission is to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the ISS Nauka laboratory.
Com

New method increases lunar mapping accuracy to unprecedented levels
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
TOPOGRAPHY: The surface of the moon and rocky planets, Mars in particular, are of huge interest to anyone trying to explore our solar system. The surface must be known in as much detail as possible, for missions to land safely, or for any robotic vessel to drive across the surface. But until now, the methods to analyze images from e.g. orbiting spacecraft have entailed a huge work load and immen

NASA selects Draper to for Lunar Far Side mission
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Houston TX (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
NASA has awarded Draper of Cambridge, Massachusetts a contract to deliver Artemis science investigations to the Moon in 2025. The commercial delivery is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative under Artemis.
Draper will receive $73 million for the contract, and is responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, delivery from Earth to

Why Jupiter doesn't have rings like Saturn
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Riverside CA (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Because it's bigger, Jupiter ought to have larger, more spectacular rings than Saturn has. But new UC Riverside research shows Jupiter's massive moons prevent that vision from lighting up the night sky.
"It's long bothered me why Jupiter doesn't have even more amazing rings that would put Saturn's to shame," said UCR astrophysicist Stephen Kane, who led the research.
"If Jupiter did

Laser marking on Mars
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 22, 2022
If your name begins with "L" you will like this post about the first letter to be laser engraved on Mars. Every once in a while, we see cartoons in which a Mars rover is driven in a pattern to make letters in the sand with its wheel tracks. The letters spell out a silly phrase, and the cartoon usually has aliens on the side, laughing or puzzling over the meaning. The use of lasers on board Mars

Johns Hopkins APL assembles first global map of lunar hydrogen
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Laurel MD (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Using data collected over two decades ago, scientists from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, have compiled the first complete map of hydrogen abundances on the Moon's surface. The map identifies two types of lunar materials containing enhanced hydrogen and corroborates previous ideas about lunar hydrogen and water, including findings that water likely played

Novel way to 'see' the first stars through the fog of the early Universe
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Cambridge UK (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
A team of astronomers has developed a method that will allow them to 'see' through the fog of the early Universe and detect light from the first stars and galaxies.
The researchers, led by the University of Cambridge, have developed a methodology that will allow them to observe and study the first stars through the clouds of hydrogen that filled the Universe about 378,000 years after the B

Terran Orbital Commissions Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 Payload
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Boca Raton FL (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Terran Orbital Corporation (NYSE: LLAP), a global leader in satellite solutions, primarily serving the United States and Allied aerospace and defense industries, has announced the commissioning of the Fleet Space CENTAURI-5 payload. The payload provides Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to ground terminals and is an improved version of the payloads flown on CENTA

How does reduced gravity affect astronauts' muscles and nerve responses
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Kyoto City, Japan (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Among the many functions performed by skeletal muscles, an important one is maintaining our posture. If it weren't for these muscles, Earth's gravitational pull may make it difficult for us to stand and walk around. The group of muscles-mostly present in our limbs, back, and neck-which are responsible for maintaining our posture and allowing us to move against the force of gravity are rightly ca

Heatwaves and fires scorch Europe, Africa, and Asia
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 21, 2022
In June and July 2022, heatwaves struck Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, as temperatures climbed above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in places and broke many long-standing records.
The map above shows the surface air temperatures across most of the Eastern Hemisphere on July 13, 2022. It was produced by combining observations with a version of the Goddard Eart

Satellite Vu and SSTL commission satellite clone to double climate data collection
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Guildford UK (SPX) Jul 22, 2022
Satellite Vu, the UK satellite firm set to become the world's global thermometer from space, has commissioned a new clone of its original satellite in collaboration with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to double its data collection capacity.
The deal sees SSTL begin construction on the second of Satellite Vu's Mid Wave Infra-Red (MWIR) thermal imaging satellite's which will collect

Climate patterns thousands of miles away affect US bird migration
Friday, 22 July 2022 11:08
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 21, 2022
Every spring, migratory birds arrive in the continental United States from south and central America to breed. But precisely when they arrive each spring varies from year to year. In a NASA-led study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, scientists have linked this variability to large-scale climate patterns originating thousands of miles away.
Migratory birds b
