Washington DC (UPI) Jul 19, 2021
NASA is delaying a major moon mission as it continues testing the spacecraft that will deliver a rover to the lunar surface in search of water, ice and other potential resources, the agency announced Tuesday. The launch of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, has been pushed back to November 2024, from its originally planned launch day of November 2023.

Cleveland OH (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
Sustainable aircraft of the future are going to need propulsion systems that can use technology to generate power comparable to the equipment used in today's commercial jets. But creating such a complex system comes with a serious challenge: How do you safely test it under the high-altitude conditions where it would need to operate? One NASA facility, safely on the ground in Ohio, of

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
The X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission will greatly expand our knowledge of the high-energy universe and recently passed two key milestones on its path to observing the cosmos. Nicknamed XRISM (pronounced "crism"), the mission is a collaboration between the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA, with participation by ESA (the European Space Agency), to investigate the X-ra

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
NASA has awarded a NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract to Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, California, to provide launch service for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. The Roman Space Telescope is the top-priority large space mission recommended by the 2010 Astronomy and Astrophysics Decadal Survey. NLS II is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite

Berlin-Adlershof, Germany (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
Between June 2018 and November 2019, the Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa2 examined asteroid Ryugu, which is just under one kilometre in size, at close range. The spacecraft came into contact with Ryugu twice and collected samples from the asteroid's surface. "Hayabusa2 was and is one of the most complex missions in the history of research into the bodies of the Solar System," emphasises Anke

Center Of Applied Space Technology And Microgravity
Bremen, Germany (SPX) Jul 20, 2022 An international research team led by ZARM scientist Dr. Cyprien Verseux has now identified a cyanobacteria subspecies that seems to be best suited for use in a biological life support system that would allow humans to survive on Mars. The results are described in the journal "Applied and Environmental Microbiology". At first glance, the inhospitable env

Chesham UK (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
Resolve Optics has received an order from a leading aerospace company to design and supply an optimised wide waveband lens for a multi-spectral microscope required for a Moon exploration mission. Due for delivery and launch in 2024 - a new solar powered land rover - 'Lunar Vertex' will explore the Reiner Gamma swirl, one of the most distinctive natural features and so-called "magnetic anom

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 20, 2022
We have been making our way to a large boulder "Ilha Nova Destino" (which from the distance looks remarkably like the Hogwarts Sorting Hat from Harry Potter!) and landed about 3 metres back from the block. Although we would have loved to get closer, the boulder is as large as the rover (as tall as an SUV) and considerably less stable looking, appearing to be almost perched up on one side.

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative allows rapid acquisition of lunar delivery services from American companies for payloads that advance capabilities for science, exploration or commercial development of the Moon. Through CLPS, NASA contracted Astrobotic of Pittsburgh to deliver the agency's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) to the lunar surfac

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 20, 2022
Orbital logistics and space mining leader TransAstra Corporation has been granted a patent on a solar-thermal rocket engine that will revolutionize the rapidly expanding satellite industry, and accelerate the global space economy. The company's Omnivore thruster, which powers its Worker Bee space tugs, marks a significant departure from existing rocket propellant systems because it operate