May 9th, 2023
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China this week is expected to reach a new high point in outfitting its multi-modular space station as it moves from assembly in Earth orbit to on-going utilization. For more information, go to my new Multiverse Media’s SpaceRef story – “China’s Space Station: Moving Towards Utilizing the Orbiting Outpost” – at: […]
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NASA has been on the lookout for a lift service – one that would place the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher, longer-lived orbit. The revered space observatory is predicted to reach 310 miles (500 kilometers) in approximately 2025. At that point, the space agency notes, there is a risk that rendezvous with Hubble […]
OPEN LETTER ON HELIOPHYSICS INVESTIGATIONS FROM NEW HORIZONS We are heliophysicists on or benefiting from data from the NASA New Horizons mission. New Horizons has enabled uninterrupted heliophysics measurements throughout the heliosphere for over a decade, alongside its groundbreaking Kuiper Belt and other planetary observations. Three of its instruments have provided unique, essentially […]
China’s small re-usable space plane returned to Earth Monday, touching down after 276 days of in-orbit operation. China state media noted that “a reusable experimental spacecraft on Monday successfully returned to its scheduled landing site at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.” “The success of the experiment marks an important breakthrough in China’s […]
China’s next milestone in outfitting the country’s space station is the upcoming launch of the Tianzhou-6 cargo spacecraft atop a Long March-7 Y7 booster. Lifftoff is to occur next week from the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in China’s southern island province of Hainan. Departure is reportedly on May 10. The rocket topped by the […]
Construction has begun at Sutherland in Scotland, the UK mainland’s first vertical launch spaceport. Located on the North coast of Scotland, the spaceport will be the “home” spaceport of Forres-based rocket and launch services company, Orbex, a UK-based spaceflight company with headquarters, production and testing facilities in Scotland, and design and testing facilities in Denmark. […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now wrapping up Sol 3820 duties. Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada reports that inspection of “Ubajara” as a potential drill site is underway. “In the last plan, we brushed the surface and did some further investigation of Ubajara’s […]
China’s Tianzhou-5 uncrewed cargo spacecraft has decoupled from the country’s space station, successfully separating from the orbital complex on Friday. According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the vessel switched to independent flight mode flying towards the Earth for eventual reentry into the atmosphere. The Tianzhou-5’s departure now leaves open the docking hatch […]
Star light, star bright, First star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might Have the wish I wish tonight. That lyric has a number of astronomers wishing away the dawn of all those Earth-orbiting megaconstellations that are dotting […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3818 duties. Alex Innanen, Atmospheric Scientist at York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The last weekend drive moved the robot into a good position to attempt to examine a block it may attempt to drill, reports Alex Innanen, an atmospheric scientist at York University, […]
