After a successful 2021, Avio is looking forward to the future
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 18:41
Space-based services and applications are increasingly important in our daily life, for the economy, the environment, the resources’ management and for our security.
The post After a successful 2021, Avio is looking forward to the future appeared first on SpaceNews.
EU launches 'game changer' space startup fund
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 17:44
The EU launched Tuesday a billion-euro fund to support startups in the space sector with the hope it will be a "game changer" and attract private investors into the key sector.
Named the Cassini fund after the 17th century Italian astronomer, it was launched as part of the European Investment Fund (EIF) which provides risk financing to small and medium-sized businesses across Europe.
"Many of our startups cannot get sizeable equity investment in the EU once they need to scale up," said Thierry Breton, the EU's internal market commissioner, at a gathering for the European space industry in Brussels.
He said the firms are thus forced to turn to non-EU investors.
"This is a major loss for Europe. The Cassini Fund will be a game changer," he added.
The head of the EIF, Alain Godard, said that each euro the fund invests typically attracts three or four euros of private investment from firms that otherwise would have found the project too risky.
A complementary mechanism will provide access to lending to space startups.
The European space sector is estimated to account for about 10 percent of the overall economy, and is expected to see its revenues double over the coming decade.
Astronaut hearing test | Cosmic Kiss
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 15:00
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The International Space Station can be a noisy place. ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is putting his hearing (and headphone untangling skills) to the test in an experiment called Acoustic Diagnostics.
Acoustic Diagnostics is an Italian Space Agency (ASI) experiment, developed in cooperation with the University of Rome Tor Vergata, to study the effects of microgravity on the hearing of astronauts. The study began during ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano’s mission and monitors what are known as optoacoustic emissions (OAEs).
OAEs are caused when hairs in the inner ear move in response to auditory stimulation. That means the measurement is passive.
Federal Trade Commission blocks Lockheed Martin’s acquisition of Aerojet Rocketdyne
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 13:10
Lockheed Martin’s proposed $4.4 billion acquisition of rocket engine manufacturer Aerojet Rocketdyne has been blocked by the Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced Jan. 25.
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Solar Orbiter catches a second comet by the tail
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 13:00
For the second time in its mission so far, the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft has flown through the tail of a comet. Predicted in advance by astronomers at University College London, UK, the spacecraft collected a wealth of science data that now awaits full analysis.
JWST arrives at final orbit
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 09:25
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrived at its final destination 1.5 kilometers from the Earth Jan. 24, wrapping up a nearly flawless month since its launch.
The post JWST arrives at final orbit appeared first on SpaceNews.
The beauty of the Sun seen from space
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 09:21
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The beauty of the Sun seen from space Hope for present-day Martian groundwater dries up
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
Liquid water previously detected under Mars' ice-covered south pole is probably just a dusty mirage, according to a new study of the red planet led by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
Scientists in 2018 had thought they were looking at liquid water when they saw bright radar reflections under the polar cap. However, the new study published Jan. 24 in the journal Geophysica Chinese lunar rover's 2-year travelogue on moon's far side reported
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
Chinese scientists published the country's lunar rover travelogue of its first two years of service that depicted the unique and untrodden moonscape on the moon's far side, revealing its notable differences with the near side with in situ evidence.
The study published on Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal, Science Robotics, described cloddy soil, gel-like rocks, and fresh small craters How to Retain a Core
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2022
Have you ever wondered how a coring bit grabs and holds onto a rock core?
As we drill, the bit teeth cut a 27mm diameter circle in the rock and leave the 13mm diameter center intact. As we dig deeper, that cylinder of rock is fed into the sample tube that was loaded inside the bit. When the drill reaches its target depth, typically 66mm, the core is fully in Looking Up at the Asteroids in the Neighborhood
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
Asteroids fly through our solar system all the time, but it's rare for us to take notice of them. But that's changed this week, as an asteroid passes within 1,231,184 miles of Earth on January 18. The asteroid, dubbed 7482 (1994 PC1), was first seen in 1994 and is about two-thirds of a mile wide.
One likely reason Americans are paying more attention is because many millions have watched th Orbital Insertion Burn a Success, Webb Arrives at L2
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
At 2 pm EST Monday, Webb fired its onboard thrusters for nearly five minutes (297 seconds) to complete the final postlaunch course correction to Webb's trajectory. This mid-course correction burn inserted Webb toward its final orbit around the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point, or L2, nearly 1 million miles away from the Earth.
The final mid-course burn added only about 3.6 miles per hour (1 Webb telescope reaches final destination, a million miles from Earth
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
The James Webb Space Telescope has arrived at its cosmic parking spot a million miles away, bringing it a step closer to its mission to unravel the mysteries of the Universe, NASA said Monday.
At around 2:00 pm Eastern Time (1900 GMT), the observatory fired its thrusters for five minutes to reach the so-called second Lagrange point, or L2, where it will have access to nearly half the sky at OneWeb and Hughes to bring orbital broadband service to India
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
OneWeb, the low Earth orbit satellite communications company, and Hughes Network Systems LLC has announced a strategic six-year Distribution Partner agreement to provide low Earth orbit (LEO) connectivity services across India. The arrangement between OneWeb and Hughes Communications India Private Ltd. (HCIPL), a joint venture between Hughes and Bharti Airtel Limited, follows the Memorandum of U SpaceX ISS freighter splashes down off Florida
Tuesday, 25 January 2022 06:43
A SpaceX Dragon capsule that had transported supplies and experiments to the International Space Station splashed down along the coast of Florida on Monday afternoon.
The capsule's four main parachutes were deployed shortly after 4 p.m. EST, and splashdown was confirmed two minutes later, the company said.
The freighter delivered some 4,900 pounds of science experiments and stati