May 17th, 2018
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“America’s Human Presence in Low-Earth Orbit” is the hearing topic today for the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. “The United States is committed to continuing its presence on and support for the International Space Station (ISS) to 2024. However, the Administration has stated its intention that direct Federal support for the ISS should […]
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China’s One Space successfully launched on May 17 its first private rocket at a launch base in the country’s northwestern region. The suborbital rocket, OS-X Chongqing Liangjiang Star, traveled 273 kilometers at a speed five times faster than sound, flying along its preset trajectory for 306 seconds. Bigger strides “The success of today’s maiden flight […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is carrying out Sol 2054 science duties. Reports Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California: “Our sol 2054 plan was limited by a small morning downlink. Occasionally, the flight paths of the Mars orbiters over Gale Crater don’t have favorable geometries for relays with Curiosity, and this means […]
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness, convened a hearing titled “Examining the Future of the International Space Station: Administration Perspectives,” held May 16, 2018. The first in a series of two hearings to examine the role of the International Space Station (ISS), these hearings will provide an […]
Now in Sol 2053, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is slated to Bump to “Duluth” – perhaps the next drill target. Reports Rachel Kronyak, a planetary geologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville: “A successful drive on Sol 2052 brought Curiosity within bumping distance of what will likely be our next intended drill target. […]
En route to the Red Planet are NASA’s Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats. The two MarCO CubeSats were launched on May 5 along with NASA’s InSight lander, a spacecraft that will touch down on Mars November 26 and study the planet’s deep interior for the first time. “CubeSats have never gone this far into space […]
To preserve and disseminate humanity’s most important knowledge across time and space feels like a Star Trek imperative. Astrobotic and the Arch Mission Foundation have partnered to land the “Lunar Library” on Astrobotic’s first robotic lander mission to the Moon in 2020. That Lunar Library will include the Wikipedia, and the Long Now Foundation’s Rosetta […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is working Sol 2052 science duties. However, a recent drive did not wheel the rover into an expected spot. “We’ve been here before,” reports Scott Guzewich, an atmospheric scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland: “Rather than driving almost 11 meters, Curiosity only drove about 1/2 meter before […]
Chinese student volunteers have completed a one-year test living in a simulated space lab in Beijing on May 15, setting a new record for the longest stay in a self-contained cabin: Yuegong-1, or Lunar Palace 1. The Moonlab program is staged at Beihang University. As reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency, the total length […]
By 2030, there will be an estimated 11,631 launch demands for new constellation installations and replacement missions, which could take the market past the $62 billion mark. That projection comes from the London-based Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis, “Small-satellite Launch Services Market, Quarterly Update Q1 2018, Forecast to 2030.” Launch demand The evolution of small […]
