Weekly Spacecraft Mission News (English, German) – 23.05.19

Front Page / Titelseite

50 Year Apollo Moonlanding

Apollo 10 Dress Rehearsal / Generalprobe mit Apollo 10

The Full Dress Rehearsal – Astronotes

Apollo 10 was the mission that almost made it to the Moon. Designed as the full dress rehearsal for Apollo 11, the lunar module “Snoopy” approached to just under 15 km from the Moon’s surface with astronauts Thomas Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard.

Further Cover News /
Weitere Titelgeschichten

Mission control ‘saves science’

Every minute, ESA’s Earth observation satellites gather dozens of gigabytes of data about our planet – enough information to fill the pages on a 100-metre long bookshelf. Flying in low-Earth orbits, these spacecraft are continuously taking the pulse of our planet, but it’s teams on the ground at ESA’s Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, that keep these explorers afloat.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Images Beresheet Impact Site

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has successfully imaged the impact site of the Beresheet lander, which made a really good run at performing the first privately funded Moon landing on 11 April, but crashed after the failure of its main engine.

Parachute Development a Challenge for Commercial Crew

An incident involving a test of parachutes for one commercial crew vehicle has heightened awareness of the challenges involved in developing those systems.

Will NASA’s Rush to Land Astronauts on the Moon Get Us to Mars Any Faster?

A mission to the moon may be a good “steppingstone” for sending humans to Mars, but will NASA’s new push to put humans on the moon in 2024 will help get the agency to Mars by the 2030s?

NASA’s Predecisional Notional Plan For The #Moon2024 Thing

NASA’s full Artemis plan revealed: 37 launches and a lunar outpost, Ars Technica “Last week, an updated plan that demonstrated a human landing in 2024, annual sorties to the lunar surface thereafter, and the beginning of a Moon base by 2028, began circulating within the agency. A graphic, shown below, provides information about each of the major launches needed to construct a small Lunar Gateway, stage elements of a lunar lander there, fly crews to the Moon and back, and conduct refueling missions.”

Multitude of Space Biology Research as Crew Looks to Next Spacewalk

Four Expedition 59 astronauts spent Friday investigating a multitude of space biology phenomena while two cosmonauts continued preparing for an upcoming spacewalk. International Space Station hardware is also ready for return to Earth inside the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship.

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2M15iMO

via Space Station https://go.nasa.gov/1YeiiOv

Nauka-Modul ergänzt ISS nicht vor Herbst 2020

Die unendliche Geschichte des russischen Multifunktionalen Labormoduls (MLM) Nauka (Wissenschaft) geht weiter. Es werde nicht vor Ende Oktober/Anfang November 2020 mit einer Proton-M-Trägerrakete zur Internationalen Raumstation ISS geschickt, berichten Moskauer Medien am Dienstag.

Biology and Physics on Station Today Promote Moon Mission Success in 2024

The six residents aboard the International Space Station kicked off the workweek today exploring microgravity’s long-term impacts on biology and physics. The Expedition 59 crew is also ramping up for a fourth spacewalk at the orbital lab this year.

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2WX0Lfs

via Space Station https://go.nasa.gov/1YeiiOv

Today’s DNA, Immunity, Time Studies Boost Health in Space and on Earth

The Expedition 59 crew is spending all day Tuesday exploring how astronauts adjust with Earth’s gravity no longer bearing down on them. Spacewalk preparations and lab maintenance are also ongoing aboard the International Space Station.

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2YH9rasvia Space Station https://go.nasa.gov/1YeiiOv

Earth / Erde

Weltraumschrott: Aufräumen in der Umlaufbahn

Um die Erde kreist immer mehr Raumfahrtmüll. Wissenschaftler tüfteln nun an einer neuen Methode zur Beseitigung: Ein kleiner Satellit soll Bruchstücke einsammeln – und sich dann selbst zerstören. Ein Video von Alexandra Duong

Sen Launched 4K Video Cameras in Space. Here’s What They Saw.

New video views of Earth show our planet in stunning high-definition, courtesy of a newly-launched 4K video-streaming platform.

In Photos: India Launches the RISAT-2B Earth-Imaging Satellite

See photos of India’s PSLV-C46 mission that launched the RISAT-2B Earth-observation satellite into orbit.

Moon / Mond

Chinesische Sonde “Yutu-2”: Auf den Spuren des Mondmantels

Premiere Nummer zwei: Anfang 2019 ist erstmals eine chinesische Sonde auf der Rückseite des Mondes gelandet. Nun hat die Mission wohl zum ersten Mal Material aus dem Mantel unseres Trabanten nachgewiesen.

Chang’e-4 may have discovered material from the Moon’s mantle

The first science results from the unprecedented Chang’e-4 lunar far side mission are in. The mission’s Yutu-2 rover, deployed from the lander shortly after the Chang’e-4 landing on 3 January, has, with the help of the Queqiao relay satellite, returned data which suggests it has discovered material derived from the Moon’s mantle.

Goodnight, Chang’e-4! China’s Probe on Moon’s Far Side Naps for Lunar Night

A whole day on the moon lasts 28 Earth days.

Moon Crash Site Found! NASA Probe Spots Grave of Israeli Lunar Lander

A sharp-eyed NASA spacecraft spotted the probable remains of an Israeli spacecraft that crash-landed on the moon last month.

What Lies Below the Moon’s Crust? China’s Yutu-2 Rover May Be the First to Find Out.

The first rover on the far side of the moon may have discovered the first samples from the moon’s mantle, released from the lunar interior by a giant, ancient cosmic impact, a new study finds.

The Moon Has Two Faces. This Cosmic Crash May Be Why

Ours is a moon with two faces: The nearside boasts a thinner and smoother crust, the farside is dotted by impact craters left nearly undisturbed by lava flows.

Mars

Lowell Crater – a bullseye on Mars

The 200-kilometre-wide peak-ring impact crater shown in this High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) image mosaic is named after the US astronomer Percival Lowell (1855 – 1916). HRSC is a camera system on board ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, which has been orbiting Mars since 2003. Mars Express has flown over and imaged Lowell Crater several times in recent months. The systematic processing of the data acquired by the camera system was performed at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Institute of Planetary Research in Berlin-Adlershof. Experts specialising in planetology and remote sensing at the Freie Universität Berlin produced the images shown here using these data.

From canals to craters

Mars was once believed to be criss-crossed by a system of irrigation canals – dark troughs that sliced across the planet’s surface, excavated by an intelligent society of thirsty martians. The astronomer who promoted this idea lends his name to the crater shown in this image from ESA’s Mars Express: Lowell crater.

NASA’s MRO Completes 60,000 Trips Around Mars

The orbiting spacecraft is also about to set a record for data relayed from the Martian surface.

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2w7v8nV

via Latest News – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program https://go.nasa.gov/2gRBMK4

NASA’s Prolific Mars Orbiter Completes 60,000th Lap of Red Planet

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has clocked a total of 60,000 laps around Mars, during which time the probe has collected invaluable data about the planet’s surface and atmosphere.

Oh the Places (on Mars) You’ll Go! Here’s Where NASA’s Curiosity Rover Is Headed

Curiosity will be coming ’round the Martian mountain when it comes — and a colorful new animation highlights where exactly the mission is headed.

Further Topics / Weitere Themen

PIA23229: Jupiter’s Magnetic Field

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2HIZdzz

via NASA’s Photojournal: Images taken by the Juno Mission https://go.nasa.gov/2mlXY1E

Pluto Has a Buried Ocean — And So Might Many Other Worlds

Buried oceans like the one sloshing beneath the icy surface of the Jupiter moon Europa may be far more common across the cosmos than scientists had imagined.

Hayabusa2 Encounters Snag Trying to Drop Second Target Marker

The spacecraft is healthy and safe, but time is running out to collect a second sample from asteroid Ryugu.

Hubble observes creative destruction as galaxies collide [heic1910]

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has taken a new look at the spectacular irregular galaxy NGC 4485, which has been warped and wound by its larger galactic neighbour. The gravity of the second galaxy has disrupted the ordered collection of stars, gas and dust, giving rise to an erratic region of newborn, hot, blue stars and chaotic clumps and streams of dust and gas.

GK Roskosmos dementiert Gerüchte über Rücktritt Rogosins

Der Raumfahrtstaatskonzern GK Roskosmos hat Gerüchte über einen bevorstehenden Rücktritt seines Chefs Dmitri Rogosin dementiert. „Das ist nicht so“, sagte der Pressechef der Raumfahrtagentur, Wladimir Ustimenko, der Nachrichtenagenter RIA Nowosti vom Donnerstag. Ein Journalist hatte zuvor auf Facebook geschrieben, Rogosin verliere seinen Posten bei der GK […]

Cost of Delta IV Heavy Rocket Launches is Down But the Real Price Is a Secret

The Air Force announcement that it is paying ULA $449.8 million for three Delta 4 Heavy launches is only half the story.

SpaceX Delays Launch of 60 Starlink Satellites Again, This Time for Software Checks

SpaceX called off the launch of its first 60 operational Starlink satellites to perform extra software tests, the company said late Thursday (May 16).

Could Blockchain Tech Launch Spacefaring Nations Into a Data-Sharing Frontier

Data sharing between entities in space will be easier and more secure using technologies such as blockchain, an industry participant argued at the Humans to Mars summit on May 16.

How SpaceX’s Starlink Internet Satellites Could Help Humanity Colonize Mars

The satellites that SpaceX is about to launch to Earth orbit could help humanity settle the moon and Mars someday.

NASA Puts Mars 2020 Rover’s Space Ride to the Test (Photo)

Earlier this month, engineers put the Mars 2020 rover’s fully assembled spacecraft through some tests at the Space Simulator Facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Vertrauliche Satelliten-Daten in Russland veröffentlicht

In Russland sind im Internet Informationen über Satelliten erschienen, deren Existenz und Starts nicht veröffentlicht worden sind. Dazu gehören die Anzahl der Satelliten, ihre Bezeichnung sowie die Nennung der Produzenten, berichten Moskauer Medien. Die vertraulichen Informationen stammen von dem Akkumulatorenhersteller PAO Saturn. Sie waren im Februar in einer Präsentation auf […]

SpaceX Is Building a ‘Starship’ Rocket Prototype in Florida, Too

SpaceX hopes a little friendly competition will improve the design of its Mars spaceship.

Space Tourism Is About to Push Civilian Astronaut Medicine Into the Final Frontier

For decades, access to space has been limited based on a set of preconceived beliefs about human bodies — but capitalism is chipping away at those restrictions.

NASA’s Moon Return Among Key Topics at 2019 International Space Development Conference

he National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference will take place next month amid a large policy shift for NASA: sending humans to the moon, and soon.

Was der Weltraum mit dem Körper anstellt

Ein Raumfahrer und sein Zwilling helfen dabei, die NASA fit für Marsmissionen zu machen.

A Gentle Kiss: How the Kuiper Belt Object Ultima Thule Was Born

A surprisingly gentle merger between two small primordial bodies formed the distant object Ultima Thule, a new study suggests.

Space Mining Could Ruin Our Solar System If We Don’t Establish Protected Places Now, Researchers Warn

If humans mine one-eighth of the solar system’s extraterrestrial resources, we could be doomed.

How Space Station and Moon Missions Will Prep Astronauts for Mars

NASA’s push to land humans on the moon in 2024, along with the agency’s ongoing research on the International Space Station, could serve as excellent analog environments for a mission to Mars.

A Giant Hole in the Martian Atmosphere Is Venting All Its Water into Space

Why is Mars so dry? A new paper might have the explanation.

Wissenschaftstag Centralstation: 50 Jahre Mondlandung – Warum zurück zum Mond?

Am Donnerstag, den 13.06. nehmen wir den 50. Jahrestag der Mondlandung nicht nur zum Anlass, diesen Meilenstein der Raumfahrt zu würdigen, sondern auch darüber zu sprechen, warum und wie der Mond in Zukunft erforscht werden soll. Mit dabei sind ESA-Astronaut Matthias Maurer, weitere Experten der ESA und der PTScientists. Warum ist der Erdtrabant so wichtig für Raumfahrt und Wissenschaft? „Der Mond ist unser Geschichtsbuch“, sagt ESA-Astronaut Matthias Maurer. Die Erde hat sich in den zurückliegenden Jahrmillionen verändert, der Mond jedoch nicht. Er hilft uns, die Entstehungsgeschichte der Erde und des Sonnensystems zu verstehen.

50 Years Ago: Apollo 10 to Sort Out the Unknowns

As Commander Thomas P. Stafford stated during a preflight press conference, Apollo 10 was planned to “sort out all the unknowns” to make the Moon landing possible. Stafford, Command Module Pilot (CMP) John W. Young, and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Eugene A. Cernan, were strapped into their Command Module (CM) perched atop a Saturn V rocket and lifted off precisely on time at 12:49 PM EDT on May 18, 1969. Their launch was the first from Pad B at Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) Launch Complex 39. Their mission was a dress rehearsal for the lunar landing mission, a goal President John F. Kennedy set for the nation eight years earlier. Among the spectators on hand to observe the historic launch were Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, and King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of Belgium.

read more … https://go.nasa.gov/2Jr0OgJ

via NASA

Snoopy to the Moon! Apollo 10 Commander Looks Back on Historic Flight 50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago today, NASA’s Apollo 10 mission rocketed to the moon — but never landed. This lunar landing dress rehearsal was critical in making sure that Apollo 11 was successful.

‘Rehearsal’ Dinner: Gala Celebrates Apollo 10 Moon Mission’s 50th Anniversary

Fifty years to the day after the “dress rehearsal” for the first moon landing lifted off into history, astronauts and NASA leaders celebrated Apollo 10.