January 24th, 2021
Author: 
China’s Chang’e-4 probe has been switched to dormant mode for the lunar night after working for a 26th lunar day. That’s the word from the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The Chang’e -4 lunar farside mission has been switched to dormant mode as it slipped into […]
Posted in 
That classified mission of the X-37B robotic space plane operated by the United States Space Force has winged past 250 days in Earth orbit. Launched on May 17, 2020, this X-37B flight is also known as Orbital Test Vehicle-6 (OTV-6). One known experiment that the space plane carries is called the Photovoltaic Radio-frequency Antenna Module […]
The space industry is growing and innovating at a pace not seen since the days of the Moon landings. Fifty years ago nearly everything related to space was a government-sponsored project. In 21st-century space, rockets and satellites are most often corporate investments or public-private partnerships. Untethered from government leashes, the global space industry looks and operates […]
Kraken Mare is a sea of liquid methane on Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. New research by Cornell astronomers estimate that sea to be at least 1,000 feet deep near its center – and that’s roomy for a future robotic submarine to investigate. Beyond deep, Kraken Mare also is immense – nearly the size […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 3007 tasks. “Long before Curiosity landed on Mars, the science team mapped the landing ellipse covering the area within Gale crater that the combined efforts of Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineers, orbital mechanics, and atmospheric dynamics would lead us to touch down within,” reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary […]
A new report issued by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs dives into issues impacting affecting astronomical observation and what can be done to preserve it. As one of those issues, the report looks at current estimates of satellites accessible to the unaided, naked eye, under dark night skies. All sunlit satellites in […]
China on Monday unveiled regulations on lunar sample management, encouraging international cooperation on studying the samples brought back by the country’s Chang’e-5 lunar mission. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released the regulations that cover general principles for preserving, managing, using, borrowing and returning the lunar samples, as well as information release and research results […]
Envisioning Exoplanets: Searching for Life in the Galaxy by Michael Carroll, Foreword by Elisa Quintana; Smithsonian Institution Press; 224 pages; November 13, 2020; Hardcover; $24.60. This multi-talented author has produced a stunning look at distant worlds beyond our solar system. This book is well-written and is a visual feast that uses more than 200 illustrations […]
China’s space station core module — Tianhe (harmony of the heavens) – has passed a factory review and is scheduled for launch this spring. The China Manned Space Engineering Office (CMSEO) reported on the completion of the factory review. Also passing muster is the project’s Tianzhou-2 cargo craft and the core module mission products of […]
Blue Origin’s is ready to push the send off button on mission NS-14, with the company’s next New Shepard flight departing from Launch Site One in West Texas. Mission NS-14 is the 14th flight for the New Shepard program. For this mission, the crew capsule will be outfitted […]
