Front Page / Titelseite
Our solar system may harbor many more potentially habitable worlds than scientists had thought. Subsurface oceans could still slosh beneath the icy crusts of frigid, faraway worlds such as…
NASA’s upcoming Mars 2020 rover will be a souped-up version of the highly accomplished robot that touched down on the Red Planet in August 2012, agency officials said.
NASA’s far-flung Voyager 1 spacecraft has taken its backup thrusters out of mothballs. Voyager 1 hadn’t used its four “trajectory correction maneuver” (TCM) thrusters since November 1980,…
International Spacestation (ISS) /
Internationale Raumstation
The Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft is set to leave the International Space Station on Wednesday, Dec. 6. NASA Television and the agency’s website will provide live coverage of Cygnus’…
After delivering over 3,200 Kilograms of cargo to the International Space Station, the Cygnus S.S. Gene Cernan departed the orbiting complex on Wednesday to close out a three-week stay and…
After delivering almost 7,400 pounds of cargo to support dozens of science experiments from around the world, the Orbital ATK Cygnus cargo spacecraft has departed the International Space…
HOUSTON – Orbital ATK’s Cygnus spacecraft departed the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (Dec. 6), on its way to do some bonus science before burning up in Earth’s atmosphere…
SpaceX’s next robotic resupply mission to the International Space Station has been pushed from Friday (Dec. 8) to next Tuesday (Dec. 12) at the earliest. “This new launch date takes into…
SpaceX has delayed the launch of its next Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station to no earlier than Dec. 12. Back on orbit, the Cygnus cargo craft is getting ready to…
The microbes living on the International Space Station (ISS) may be similar to the bacteria found in homes on Earth, a new study shows. A joint team of professional scientists and citizen…
A stunning new photo shows the third-brightest object in the sky zooming over Washington National Cathedral. That object, the International Space Station (ISS), appears as a bright streak…
A pair of commercial resupply missions are coming and going this week at the International Space Station. Meanwhile, a new crew has arrived at its launch site to prepare for a Dec. 17…
The next crew to launch to the International Space Station is in Russia today for traditional ceremonies before heading to the launch site in Kazakhstan. Back in space, the Expedition 53…
Earth / Erde
Pressekonferenz – Galileo-Satelliten Nr. 19 bis 22 startbereit Die nächsten vier Galileo-Satelliten sollen am 12. Dezember um 19.36 MEZ (15.36 Ortszeit) an Bord einer Ariane-5 von Europas…
Launched on 13 October, the Sentinel-5P satellite has delivered its first images of air pollution. Even though the satellite is still being prepared for service, these first results have…
Die ersten Satellitenaufnahmen von Sentinel-5 Precursor stehen zur Verfügung Datenservice liefert künftig aktuelle Informationen zu Luftqualität, Ozon und Klimafaktoren Sentinel-5P…
Solar System / Sonnensystem
Ancient Mars may not have been all that warm and wet after all. The Red Planet has widespread deposits of clay minerals, which are formed via the interaction of volcanic rock and water.
News for AstroKids
Polarlichter sind schimmernde Vorhänge aus glühendem Licht, die am Nord- und Südpol über dem Nachthimmel tanzen. Sie sind auf einigen Planeten unseres Sonnensystems zu sehen und färben…
The case for plate tectonics on Jupiter’s ocean-harboring moon Europa keeps getting stronger. Scientists had already spotted geological signs that plates within the moon’s ice shell may be…
In a fitting farewell to the planet that had been its home for over 13 years, the international Cassini spacecraft took one last, lingering look at Saturn and the splendid rings during the…
esa.int
Powerful landslides may rumble down Martian slopes at up to 450 mph (725 km/h), sped along by slippery ice, a new study suggests. Researchers Fabio Vittorio De Blasio and Giovanni Battista…
NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity has treated us to another view of an otherworldly sunset. The six-wheeled robot snapped the photo on Nov. 19 at 7:07 p.m. EST (5:39 p.m. local Mars time, and…
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Juno mission for the principal investigator, Scott Bolton, of Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Juno is part of NASA’s New Frontiers…
Dawn’s mission is managed by JPL for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Dawn is a project of the directorate’s Discovery Program, managed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight…
Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos
![ESA Science & Technology: Galactic David and Goliath [heic1712]](https://i0.wp.com/vnawrath.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/chinas-cosmic-monkey-king-474408-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
By analyzing cosmic rays in space, China’s “Monkey King” satellite is now helping pin down the identity of dark matter, a new study finds. The Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE)…
A dark cloud when observed with optical telescopes, the Chamaeleon I region reveals itself as an active hub of star formation in this far-infrared image from ESA’s Herschel space…
esa.intPolitics / Politik
There is talk of a vote in the Senate on the nomination of @RepJBridenstine to be @NASA Administrator around 11 Dec. The vote will likely be split along party lines with a slight edge to…
NASA has never gone this long without a formal administrator, Ars Technica “Four-time astronaut Charles Bolden resigned as NASA administrator on January 20, 2017, leaving the space agency…
WASHINGTON – The co-founder of a new congressional caucus devoted to NASA said he hopes to use it to advocate for the agency’s needs in Congress once a new administrator is in place. Rep….
“Many expected DeWit would immediately join the administration after Trump’s surprise victory. When that didn’t happen, speculation shifted to his running against Sen. Jeff Flake, who had…
Technology / Technologie
Keith’s 4 December update: According to a friend who has spoken with Ben Samouha, he has been retaliated against. Two NASA MSFC people became aware he was being interviewed for a new job…
China conducted its 15th orbital launch of the year on Sunday, involving a Long March 2D rocket lifting the LKW-1 imaging satellite into orbit. Liftoff from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch…
Part of NASA’s next major observatory – the James Webb Space Telescope – just left a thermal vacuum chamber after about 100 days of cryogenic testing to prepare it for launch in 2019. For…
“Lost in space” – a scenario no astronaut wants to face. Thanks to new spacesuit engineering work, a patent has been filed for a self-return system to ensure space explorers are safe, even…
The failure of a Soyuz 2-1B/Fregat-M rocket launching the Meteor-M 2-1 weather satellite and 18 international secondary payloads was traced back to a software bug on the rocket’s Fregat…
Coming on the heels of a failed launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome earlier in the week, Russia successfully launched a Soyuz 2-1B rocket from the country’s prime military launch site at…
WASHINGTON – The fourth SpaceX Falcon 9 mission for mobile satellite communications operator Iridium remains on track for Dec. 22, the company said today, assuaging concerns that the launch…
The spaceflight startup Rocket Lab has scheduled the second test flight of its innovative Electron rocket, a small vehicle built to accommodate small satellites and other petite payloads….
How do intercontinental ballistic missiles – including the one North Korea launched Tuesday (Nov. 28) that flew more than 10 times higher than the International Space Station – work? The…
It really is Mars or bust for Elon Musk. The billionaire says he’s going to launch his own Tesla Roadster on the first test flight of SpaceX’s new giant rocket next month, and the car will…
World / Welt
As Lunar Module pilot for NASA’s historic Apollo 11 mission, Buzz Aldrin flew to the moon and back in a space capsule. Now, the former fighter pilot, aerospace engineer, bestselling author…
Adam Savage is over the moon about “EDC One,” his new tool bag, which is appropriate given its pedigree. The former “Mythbusters” co-host modeled his first original product for sale after…
Major Policy Issues in Evolving Global Space Operations, Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies “This paper is designed to inform decision-makers and other interested parties on how the…
NASA JSC sends out a press release at 5 pm on 4 Dec for a media event in CO on 11 Dec (i.e. a flight in on 10 Dec) and you need to say yes/no in 3 days. They really do not want any quality…
WASHINGTON – SpaceX has increased the size of its latest funding round by $100 million to $450 million, the company said Nov. 27. In a Nov. 27 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange…
Registration is open for Phase 3 of NASA’s 3D Printed Habitat Challenge, which searches for ways to create shelters for astronauts on locations such as the moon and Mars. The $2 million…
After tackling topics such as how to make a T-shirt and how to drill for oil, the “Planet Money” podcast team at National Public Radio has a new topic to explore: how to launch a satellite…
WASHINGTON – NASA officials said Nov. 29 that they have given their approval, as expected, to SpaceX’s use of a previously-flown Falcon 9 first stage on the next Dragon cargo mission to the…
iSpace rover model. Credit: SpaceRef Marc’s note: On Wednesday Japan and Luxembourg announced an agreement ” to cooperate on exploration and commercial utilization of space resources.”…
Keith’s note: Several weeks ago I posted ” Doing Something Again For The First Time” which focused on the sector of the U.S. population that was not alive when humans landed on the moon. I…
More than 2,000 are expected to head to Houston this week for SpaceCom 2017, the third annual Space Commerce Conference and Exposition. The conference will bring commercial spaceflight…
Science / Wissenschaft
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen Antarctic Status Report 6 December 2017: Traverse to Novolazarevskaya Station “Dale Andersen sent this via inReach on December 6, 2017 2:47:47 AM EST “Heading…
“Wir wollen untersuchen, ob dieser Prozess in Schwerelosigkeit genau so funktioniert wie auf der Erde”, erklärt Kohn. “Falls irgendwann ein Mensch im All geboren wird, wissen wir dann, ob…
Laboratory experiments on Earth can now simulate the conditions under which life might emerge on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as well as other icy alien worlds, according to new research…
A shallow, briny pond located in the most Mars-like region on Earth is probably being fed by groundwater seeping up, rather than moisture seeping down from the atmosphere, providing clues…
History / Geschichte
Columbia was the first shuttle to reach space, in 1981. Columbia carried dozens of astronauts into space during the next two decades, reaching several milestones. Columbia also underwent…
Atlantis was the fourth shuttle constructed and the last one to fly into space. It performed well in 25 years of service, flying 33 missions that included secret missions for the U.S….
