November 19th, 2018
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Even for technical experts in one of the many scientific and engineering disciplines central to space activity, it can be hard to make sense of how underlying policy direction is fundamentally shaping the art of the possible. That’s the premise behind a newly issued primer that concisely identifies key concepts, issues, and organizational actors involved […]
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An innovative deep-space concept that relies on a solar gravity lens (SGL) to enable enhanced viewing of exoplanets is under study by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The Aerospace Corporation. The SGL would provide 100-billion optical magnification, allowing it to show details as small as 10 kilometers across – similar to being able to […]
The Moon is a Disneyland of Dust. Its pervasive nature was characterized by the last man on Moon, Gene Cernan. He reported after his 1972 Apollo 17 mission: “we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems except dust”. Dust adhered ‘to everything, no matter what kind of material” with “restrictive, friction-like action,” […]
Sky flying over Southern California, Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne, mated to a specially modified 747-400, made its first captive carry test flight. Sir Richard Branson’s small satellite launch company completed a test jaunt, proving that its carbon-fiber two-stage rocket can be paired with Cosmic Girl, the customized former passenger aircraft that serves as the […]
NASA and the Departments of State and Commerce have submitted a report to the National Space Council outlining future opportunities and challenges for human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit (LEO), and its potential economic contributions to the broader field of exploration. The National Space Council requested NASA lead an interagency effort to produce the report, entitled […]
Update: From 30th Space Wing (Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.) SpaceX Falcon 9 SSO-A launch delayed SpaceX is standing down from Monday’s launch attempt of Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express to conduct additional pre-flight inspections. A red flag continues to be raised by orbital debris specialists regarding the upcoming launch of SSO-A, currently scheduled for a […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2233 duties. “It’s the windy season on Mars, and Curiosity’s activities this weekend include taking oodles of images at different times throughout the day to catch how the wind moves sand and dust around,” reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California. […]
Forty-four years ago today, a three-minute radio message broadcast from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico was aimed at a cluster of stars 25,000 light years away from Earth. The message itself was devised by a team of researchers from Cornell University led by Frank Drake, astronomer and astrophysicist responsible for the Drake Equation – […]
The first appliance to freshly prepare small food items, such as rolls, cookies, patties, pockets and other basic foods for longer duration space travel has been designed. Zero G Kitchen LLC, in partnership with NanoRacks have specifications and timing of the first appliance of its planned ‘kitchen in space,’ an open platform for […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 2232. Reports Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, the rover is on tap to use its Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite. The plan called for delivery of a sample to SAM of the ground up rock from […]
