Solar panel trouble on cargo capsule bound for space station
Monday, 07 November 2022 18:44
A Northrop Grumman cargo capsule ran into trouble with a solar panel after Monday's liftoff to the International Space Station.
Only one of the two solar panels on the Cygnus capsule opened successfully following the predawn liftoff from Virginia.
Northrop Grumman officials assured NASA that there's enough power from the solar panel for Wednesday's planned space station rendezvous, but the space agency was still assessing the situation.
It's too early to know whether the capsule would be stable enough to be captured by the space station's robot arm, if the problem persists, said NASA's Dina Contella, a space station manager.
Northrop Grumman launched the capsule from coastal Wallops Island with more than 8,200 pounds of equipment and experiments, including brackets needed for upcoming spacewalks to upgrade the space station's power grid. It's dubbed the S.S. Sally Ride after the first American woman in space who died a decade ago.
The Virginia-based company has been sending shipments to the space station since 2013. There's been only one failure in its previous 18 supply runs, a launch explosion in 2014.
SpaceX is NASA's other contracted delivery service.
Space Force official: We need the Commerce Department’s space traffic office to be successful
Monday, 07 November 2022 18:28
Maj. Gen. DeAnna Burt said discussions between DoD and the Department of Commerce are picking up momentum as both agencies work to figure out how to transition space traffic management to the Office of Space Commerce.
Measuring sunlight from space, on a chip
Monday, 07 November 2022 16:34
For 40 years, people have used space-based sensors to measure the amount of light coming from the sun, which gives scientists insight into climate change on Earth.
Most of the energy powering Earth's climate system comes from sunlight. So, if scientists measure the energy hitting Earth from the sun, and also measure the energy leaving Earth, then they can determine how much energy remains behind.
Scientists measure the sunlight reaching Earth from space. The quantity they are measuring—called the "total solar irradiance" (TSI)—includes all the energy from all the different wavelengths of light coming out of the sun, from ultraviolet through visible and into infrared.
However, the devices currently being used to monitor the TSI are comparatively expensive to build and launch.
Antares launches Cygnus cargo mission to ISS
Monday, 07 November 2022 10:15
A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station after a successful launch Nov. 7 on the next-to-last flight of the current version of the company’s Antares rocket.
Ticket to ride with Boost!
Monday, 07 November 2022 10:00
In line with global trends, the European space transportation sector is under transformation – with more and more commercial actors taking the entrepreneurial challenge of proposing, developing and operating new services under private leadership. Acknowledging that a thriving commercial space transportation sector is of benefit to Europe, ESA is actively fostering new European privately-led space transportation services through its
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