Front Page / Titelseite
NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 14, to announce the latest discovery made by its planet-hunting Kepler space telescope.
NASA is about to announce some more big alien-planet news. The agency will hold a news conference Thursday (Dec. 14) at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT) to reveal a new discovery made by its prolific…
Media Telecon Dec. 14th to Announce Latest Kepler Discovery “NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST (18:00 UTC) Thursday, Dec. 14, to announce the latest discovery made by its…
The sixteenth observing campaign of the Kepler spacecraft’s K2 extended mission is now underway. The campaign has prospects for discoveries among 30,000 objects in the direction of the…
SpaceX has again pushed back the launch of a used Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule filled with NASA cargo – this time to no earlier than Friday (Dec. 13) – for extra inspections and…
Europa hat mit dem Ariane-5-Start vam 12. Dezember vier weitere Galileo-Navigationssatelliten auf ihre Umlaufbahnen gebracht. Mit dieser erfolgreichen Etappe ist nur noch ein weiterer Start…
European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Paolo Nespoli has spent a lot of time orbiting planet Earth on two tours of duty aboard the International Space Station, and one on a NASA space…
International Spacestation (ISS) /
Internationale Raumstation
NASA commercial cargo provider SpaceX is targeting its 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station no earlier than 11:46 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 12. Mission…
On Tuesday (Dec. 12), SpaceX will make its first launch attemptfrom Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station since a dramatic rocket explosion damaged the pad in September 2016. On…
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than 11:24 a.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 13th, for the company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX…
Two International Space Station crews are preparing to swap places at the orbital lab next week. In the midst of the crew swap activities, Commander Randy Bresnik also sent down dramatic…
The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida counting down to its launch to the International Space Station Tuesday at 11:46 a.m. EST. Meanwhile, the six-member…
SpaceX has delayed the launch of its next cargo delivery mission for NASA by 24 hours to allow time for additional system checks, the company announced late Monday (Dec. 11). A SpaceX…
How many tiny bits of space debris are pummeling the International Space Station day after day? A new experiment headed into orbit this week will find out. NASA’s Space Debris Sensor is…
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than 11:24 a.m. EST Wednesday, Dec. 13th, for the company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX…
The SpaceX Dragon resupply ship is at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida counting down to its launch to the International Space Station Tuesday at 11:46 a.m. EST. Meanwhile, the six-member…
Three International Space Station crew members from Russia, Italy and the U.S. are on the verge of closing out a four-and-a-half month space flight, set for a parachute-and-rocket-assisted…
NASA and SpaceX are now targeting no earlier than 10:35 a.m. EST Friday, Dec. 15th, for the company’s 13th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station. SpaceX is…
The Expedition 53 crew is getting ready to split up Thursday morning before another crew begins its mission next week. Soyuz Commander Sergey Ryazanskiy will pilot his crew mates Randy…
Earth / Erde
Four more satellites are set to join the European Galileo Navigation Satellite System on Tuesday, targeting liftoff at 18:36 UTC atop an Ariane 5 ES rocket blasting off from French Guiana….
Europe’s Ariane 5 workhorse launch vehicle rolled to the ELA-3 launch pad at the Guiana Space Center on December 11, 2017 in preparation for launch with the second group of four Galileo…
Vier neue Galileo-Navigationssatelliten sollen heute um 19:36 Uhr vom europäischen Weltraumzentrum in Kourou von einer Ariane-5-ES-Rakete in ihre Umlaufbahnen gebracht werden. Damit…
GALILEO Erfolgreicher Vierfach-Start in den Orbit
Neuzugänge des Navigationssystems sorgen ab Mitte 2018 für nahezu vollständige globale Abdeckung Vier neue Satelliten des europäischen Satellitennavigationssystems Galileo wurden mit…
Galileo-Konstellation mit Start am 12. Dezember fast vollständig Europa hat mit dem heutigen Ariane-5-Start vier weitere Galileo-Navigationssatelliten auf ihre Umlaufbahnen gebracht. Mit…
Europe’s Ariane 5 launch vehicle blasted off from the ELA-3 launch pad at the Guiana Space Center at 18:36:07 UTC on Tuesday, December 12 on its sixth and final launch of 2017. Hidden under…
Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket lifted off from the Guiana Space Center on Tuesday on its second mission in support of the Galileo Navigation Satellite System, aiming to add the next four members…
Satellite photos show just how big and destructive the Southern California wildfires have become. A dramatic image captured Tuesday (Dec. 5) by the European Space Agency’s Sentinel-2…
Solar System / Sonnensystem
NASA’s senior Mars rover, Opportunity, has just passed the shortest-daylight weeks of the long Martian year with its solar panels in encouragingly clean condition for entering a potential…
Mars is the “Red Planet” for a very good reason: its surface is made of a thick layer of oxidized iron dust and rocks of the same color. Maybe another name for Mars could be “Rusty.” But…
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…
This figure shows data from the six channels of the microwave radiometer (MWR) instrument onboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The data were collected in the mission’s sixth science orbit…
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…
This radiation zone includes energetic hydrogen, oxygen and sulfur ions moving at close to the speed of light (referred to as “relativistic” speeds). It resides inside Jupiter’s previously…
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…
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
Measuring the positions and motions of more than a billion stars, ESA’s Gaia mission will refine our knowledge about our place in the Universe, providing the best ever star chart of our…
![ESA Science & Technology: Galactic David and Goliath [heic1712]](https://i0.wp.com/vnawrath.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/esa-science-technology-he-476972-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Astronomers have used ESA’s Herschel Space Observatory to solve a decades-old mystery about the origin of powerful cool gas winds in the hot environs of quasars. The evidence linking these…
![[1711.08945] 3D motions in the Sculptor dwarf galaxy as a glimpse of a new era](https://i0.wp.com/vnawrath.blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/171108945-3d-motions-in-t-476983-1.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Abstract: The 3D motions of stars in small galaxies beyond our own are minute and yet they are crucial for our understanding of the nature of gravity and dark matter.
A young massive star that began life around 25 times more massive than our own Sun is shedding shells of material and fast winds to create this dynamic scene captured by ESA’s…
esa.int
A stunning new view of the Andromeda galaxy reveals an unexpected pair of supermassive black holes that researchers say are in close orbit around each other. When they caught the black…
Politics / Politik
NEW ORLEANS – President Donald Trump is scheduled to sign his administration’s first space policy directive in a White House ceremony Dec. 11, one that may formally direct NASA to send…
Remarks By President Trump and Vice President Pence at Space Policy Directive 1 Signing Ceremony “The directive I’m signing today will refocus America’s space program on human exploration…
President Donald Trump signed his administration’s first space policy directive today (Dec. 11), which formally directs NASA to focus on returning humans to the moon.
Larger Image Keith’s note: As former Obama OSTP official Phil Larson notes, the Space Policy Directive 1 issued on Monday only revises a ver, very small portion of the existing space…
Trump Policy Promises Moon, Mars, and Beyond – Will This Time Be Different?, Space Policy Online “Bold goals to continue trips to the Moon and go on to Mars envisioned in the immediate…
President Donald Trumped signed a new space policy directive Monday (Dec. 11) ordering NASA to work toward sending humans to the moon and, eventually, Mars. As he signed the new directive…
NEW ORLEANS – President Donald Trump signed an order Dec. 11 formally directing NASA to send humans back to the moon, but provided no information on schedules or budgets for such an…
Zuerst zum Mond, dann zum Mars. So lässt sich in Kürze der Plan für die künftige Weltraumpolitik der USA umschreiben. Angekündigt hat ihn US-Präsident Donald Trump am Montag bei einem…
NASA Advisory Council Meeting (Dial-in, WebEx info, agenda)
Keith’s note: This White House event could serve to put some wind into Rep. Bridenstine’s sails as he awaits a vote to confirm him as NASA administrator. If the White House is going to…
Notice of establishment of the National Space Council Users’ Advisory Group. “Purpose: The purpose of the UAG is purely advisory and shall be to ensure that the interests of industry, other…
“Theodore P. (Ted) Stecher, 86, passed away peacefully on Sunday, 29 October2017 in Silver Spring, MD, surrounded by his family. A major highlight of Ted’s career was his service as…
An II Dec vote on nomination of @RepJBridenstine as @NASA administrator is now unlikely but other Senate business (CR etc) may delay start of Christmas recess. @VP wants this vote to happen…
NASA: Preliminary Observations on the Management of Space Telescopes, Cristina Chaplain GAO “GAO’s ongoing work indicates that these projects are each making progress in line with their…
Technology / Technologie
A bold plan to rev up off-Earth manufacturing is about to get a big test. A small, privately built machine designed to make optical fiber is launching toward the International Space Station…
Könnte das Weltraumteleskop Hubble weiterhin verbessert oder repariert werden?
The BepiColombo Mercury Transfer Module has completed its final major test inside ESA’s Large Space Simulator, proving it will be able to withstand the temperature extremes it will…
esa.int
As you listen to Bowersox, Gerst & #NASA talk about Deep Space Gateway it starts to sound like one of those expensive Swiss Army Knives that no one ever uses – but it can do lots of things…
The status of the Deep Space Gateway project in 2017 by Anatoly Zak
As the world’s leading spacefaring nations plan for their next big outpost in space – a successor to the International Space Station – scientists are drafting a wish list of experiments for…
China was in action again on Sunday, launching a Long March 3B rocket carrying the Chinese-built AlcomSat-1 communications satellite for operation by the Algerian Space Agency as a…
Fifteen months after a Falcon 9 rocket went up in flames atop Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40, the re-built facility supported its first Static Fire Test of a Falcon 9 rocket this…
HOUSTON – NASA is seeking proposals for studies and technology development efforts related to the use of space resources, particularly as they apply to future human missions to the moon and…
WASHINGTON – An airspace closure notice published by the Federal Aviation Administration Dec. 9 suggests Blue Origin is preparing to resume test flights of its New Shepard suborbital…
Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard suborbital vehicle took to the skies today (Dec. 12) for the first time in more than a year, according to media reports and the Federal Aviation…
Blue Origin, after a 14-month hiatus, has resumed test flights of the company’s New Shepard sub-orbital launch system on Tuesday – debuting a new Propulsion Module and Crew Capsule 2.0,…
Update 12/10: An attempt to launch the Electron rocket today (Dec. 11 in New Zealand) has been scrubbed due to weather and “orbital traffic,” Rocket Lab representatives said on Twitter. The…
Rocket Lab’s Electron, set for its second test launch from New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula, encountered a last-second ignition abort on Tuesday, shutting down its electric-pump-fed Rutherford…
World / Welt
There will be a market for humanity’s expansion beyond Earth orbit, industry experts said – but none of them can predict what form that market will take. The International Space Station, in…
Dolphins, whales and other cetaceans are found stranded along coasts worldwide, and now scientists are turning to NASA satellite data to figure out how the animals get off course. The cause…
A baby island burst out of the South Pacific Ocean three years ago during a volcanic explosion in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga, and now NASA scientists think it could be here to stay for…
A German company aiming to launch robotic rovers on the first mission to the last Apollo moon landing site has pledged to protect the historic artifacts present there. PTScientists entered…
Unterzeichnung des Kooperationsabkommens zwischen DLR und JAXA Am 12. Dezember 2017 haben DLR, JAXA und das japanische Institut für Umweltforschung (NIES) in Paris eine…
Happy to represent @esascience at the unveiling of new #DeutschePost stamps featuring @ESAGaia & #GravitationalWaves at the @HdAstro in Heidelberg today 👍🚀🛰
TBT to first @ESAGaia sky map… now featured in one of our new #SpacePostcards! It’s just waiting for a #GaiaStamp to send it across the Milky Way…! 😉 https://t.co/570IwOKouD
“If you’re looking to enjoy working for the federal government, apply to NASA — its employees are the happiest of any large government agency, according to a report released Wednesday that…
Six people recently returned from an eight-month long isolation experiment to test human endurance for long-term space missions. Their “journey to Mars” involved being isolated below the…
The Tokyo-based company ispace has just raised $90 million to help make its moon-exploration dreams come true. That’s a Japanese record for “Series A” funding – the round of financing that…
“When people question why the U.S. would return to the moon, Keith Cowing, editor of NASA Watch, a website devoted to space news, has a pretty simple answer: most people alive today have…
Science / Wissenschaft
ROSETTA Die Zutatenliste von 67P
The European Space Agency (ESA) has extended the operational life of eight missions, including its billion-star-mapping Gaia project and its Mars Express orbiter. The Gaia spacecraft…
History / Geschichte
Harrison Schmitt went for a walk on Dec. 11, 1972. Forty five (45) years later, he is almost ready to share his diary of that day. The last of the NASA astronauts to step foot onto the…
Harrison “Jack” Schmitt was the lunar module pilot on the sixth and final human landing on the moon, NASA’s Apollo 17 mission, which launched 45 years ago today (Dec. 7). He is eager to see…
On Dec. 7, 1972, NASA launched its last Apollo mission to the moon: Apollo 17. See photos from that historic mission, which landed astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on the moon…
Endeavour, the fifth and final space shuttle to be built, was created after the space shuttle program’s greatest tragedy. Congress authorized NASA to replace Challenger, which was lost…
Discovery was the third shuttle to head into space, but it ended up flying the most missions: 39. Discovery also was the shuttle that did both “return to flight” missions after the…
