Front Page / Titelseite
When NASA first started planning the Kepler mission, no one knew if the universe held any planets outside our solar system. Thousands of exoplanets later, the search enters a new phase.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission will launch no earlier than Monday (April 16), and its ultimate goal is to provide a catalog of planets all over the sky.
On Monday, April 16, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA’s new exoplanet hunter will train its sights on nearer, brighter stars than its predecessors did.
A conversation with Doug Caldwell, instrument scientist for the Kepler Space Telescope, and who’s now working on NASA’s next planet-hunting mission— the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS.
Kurz vor dem Ende von Kepler schickt die NASA mit dem Weltraumteleskop TESS einen Nachfolger ins All, der tausende weitere Exoplaneten entdecken soll. Erstmals soll SpaceX eine wissenschaftliche Sonde der US-Agentur befördern.
After a delay, SpaceX is winding up again to launch NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) today (April 18) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
The launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which was scheduled to take place this evening (April 16), has been delayed by at least 48 hours due to an issue with the spacecraft’s rocket ride, a SpaceX Falcon 9.
NASA’s pursuit of Earth 2.0 will have to wait at least another two days for a critical search asset to head into orbit as the launch of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was delayed from Monday to provide time for additional Guidance, Navigation &…
SpaceX and NASA are preparing to launch the TESS exoplanet-hunting satellite on Monday, April 16.
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is scheduled to launch today (April 16) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and you can watch the action live.
NASA’s TESS exoplanet-hunting spacecraft is primed for an on-time liftoff Monday (April 15) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is scheduled to launch today (April 16) atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, and you can watch the action live.
Was ist Sentinel? Sentinel ist eine ganze Familie von Satelliten die die Erde beobachten. Sie gehören zu einem europäischen Programm, das „Copernicus“ heißt. Dabei kommt der Name Sentin…
The SENTINEL-3 Mission Guide provides a high-level description of the mission objectives, satellite description and ground segment. It also covers an introduction to heritage missions, thematic areas and services, orbit characteristics and coverage, instrument payloads and data products.
Getting a satellite ready to be launched involves a long list of jobs, but with the Copernicus Sentinel-3B satellite now fuelled, this particular ‘to do’ list is significantly shorter. And, importantly, all is on track for liftoff on 25 April.
Image gallery of the Sentinel-3 satellite.
Die Steuerung des Sentinel Satelliten erfolgt im ESOC , dem „European Space Operations Centre“, also dem Kontrollzentrum der ESA in Darmstadt. Seit 1967 kontrolliert es den Betrieb sämt…
Die Sentinel-3-Satelliten haben 5 Hauptinstrumente: OLCI (Ocean and Land Colour Instrument) Aufnahme der Farbe eines ca. 1300 km breiten Streifens mit 5 Kameras 21 spektrale Kanäle mit einer Wellen…
Die Rakete mit dem Satelliten Sentinel-3B wird vom Kosmodrom Plessezk etwa 800 Kilometer nördlich von Moskau in Russland aus starten. Hier starteten auch schon Sentinel-3A und Sentinel-5P.
Sentinel ist eine ganze Familie von Erdbeobachtungssatelliten des Erdbeobachtungsprogrammes Copernicus. Dabei kommt der Name Sentinel aus dem Englischen und heißt „Wächter“. Passend für…
Ihr erinnert euch? Im letzten Jahr waren wir in Darmstadt und haben dort den Start des Satelliten Sentinel-2B miterlebt. Inzwischen ist auch schon Sentinel-5P gestartet und nun startet Sentinel-3B.…
ESA Operations
@esaoperations
“SIGNAL ACQUIRED #AOS We just caught #MarsExpress transmitting loud & clear – well, not so loud over 144mn km, but enough for our needs! #Rday #Mars”
Twitter | Apr 16 at 11:13 AM
International Spacestation (ISS) /
Internationale Raumstation
The International Space Station received a pair of new external science facilities and a potentially critical spare pump module over the last week and a half through an extensive effort involving the Station’s robotic duo extracting the items from the Trunk Section of the Dragon CRS-14 spacecraft…
When NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren traveled to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, he was expecting the air to smell a little like a locker room, he says in a new video posted by NASA.
A docked Russian cargo craft automatically fired its engines this morning boosting the International Space Station’s altitude a little higher. During the rest of the day, the Expedition 55 crew supported life science and swapped out station hardware.
The International Space Station is set to raise its orbit Wednesday ahead of upcoming cargo and crew missions. Meanwhile, the six Expedition 55 crew members are staying busy today with medical tests, cargo work and lab maintenance.
NASA is in discussions with Russia about extending some upcoming space station missions to buy more time for development of commercial crew vehicles.
Scientists on the ground and in space this week are exploring a wide variety of phenomena affecting humans living in space. The ongoing life science aboard the International Space Station is designed to improve astronauts’ health in space and benefit people on Earth.
Today’s research aboard the International Space Station is primarily focusing on how plants react and how medicine works in space. The Expedition 55 crew and robotics controllers are also continuing cargo operations inside and outside the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft.
The Expedition 55 crew continued exploring today the numerous ways the human body is affected when living in space long-term. More cargo transfers are also taking place both inside and outside the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship.
Earth / Erde
An environmental group announced plans April 11 to develop and operate its own satellite to track one particular greenhouse gas.
A new 3D map shows how Earth’s salty oceans contribute to the protective, magnetic field that surrounds the planet.
Solar System / Sonnensystem
A new proposal describes how to use SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket to intercept the next interstellar visitor to Earth’s solar system.
The massive cyclones that swirl near Jupiter’s north pole glow like lava in a gorgeous new 3D flyover video captured by NASA’s Juno spacecraft.
Mythological and fictional exploration make up the first official feature names for Pluto’s largest moon. From Dorothy Gale to Egyptian mythology, the names honor exploration.
Searching for signs of ice on Mars is complex. To explore whether ice lurks beneath the surface of the Red Planet, ESA’s Mars Express uses its radar to probe the interior.It sends low-frequency radio pulses at Mars and records how they are returned to the spacecraft. These pulses can pene…
esa.intPolitics / Politik
“You know, since day one of our administration, President Trump has been working to keep his promise to restore America’s proud legacy of leadership in space, because the President knows that space exploration is essential to our national security, it’s essential to our nation’s prosperity. But…
Vice President Mike Pence announced that the National Space Council will soon send President Donald Trump recommendations to address the space-junk threat.
With Vice President Pence set to make a space policy speech next week, officials offered an endorsement of the National Space Council’s work Thursday.
Keith’s earlier note: Sources report that the nomination of Rep. Jim Bridenstine to be NASA Administrator is now moving forward in the Senate along with other nominees. A vote could happen soon.
“TUESDAY, April 17, at 10 a.m. EDT, the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology will meet to consider the following legislation: H.R. 5503, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2018, introduced today by Rep. Brian Babin (R- Texas). The legislation…
Technology / Technologie
The most powerful version of ULA’s Atlas V rocket – sporting five Solid Rocket Boosters for maximum thrust off the pad – soared into sunset on Saturday after blasting off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral with a pair of U.S. Air Force Satellites. Riding under the five-meter fairing of the…
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched two U.S. Air Force satellites into orbit Saturday (April 14), setting the stage for improved military satellite communications and a new generation of space vehicle design.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 551 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 23:13:00 UTC on April 14, 2018 with the Air Force Space Command 11 mission comprising the CBAS military communications satellite and EAGLE experimental platform. Utilizing the…
“NASA plans to launch an initial, uncrewed deep space mission, Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), in FY 2020. The mission will combine the new heavy-lift SLS with an uncrewed version of the Orion spacecraft on a mission to lunar orbit. A crewed mission, EM-2, will follow in 2023. The FY 2019 budget…
(revised) @NASA MSFC Center Director Todd May has talked to #NASA employees about new plans for the first 4 @NASA_SLS flights to be on identical rockets with @NASA_Orion but without crew. The first launch would be in 2021. First launch with a crew would be EM-5 in 2025/26 #34SS…
As a NASA spacecraft designed to fly closer to the sun than ever arrived in Florida for launch, the project is still studying problems with sensors on it.
In the very near future, a galactic positioning system could put a probe in orbit around a far-distant moon, or save the lives of astronauts lost in space.
SpaceX will build its “BFR” spaceship at a new facility in the Port of Los Angeles, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced yesterday (April 16).
Orbital ATK’s next rocket will be its biggest one yet, and the company has picked a fitting name for new booster: OmegA.
India has successfully launched a new navigation satellite, even as the country continues hunting for a satellite that it lost contact with earlier this month.
Delta IV is a type of rocket that is mainly used to boost satellites into orbit.
Elon Musk says SpaceX is going to try to land a rocket stage with … wait for it … a “giant party balloon.”
It circled the Earth in obscurity for more than half a year, now the semi-secret X-37B OTV 5 space plane has been conclusively identified by amateur satellite observers in a circular orbit around 355 Kilometers in altitude. The orbit’s inclination at 54.5 degrees is much different from previous…
Entertainment / Unterhaltung
In “Before Mars,” a geologist arrives at a small Mars base after a lengthy journey, only to realize that things aren’t as they seem.
In “Before Mars,” a geologist arrives at a small Mars base after a lengthy journey, only to realize that things aren’t as they seem.
National Geographic is in the early stages of development for a TV series inspired by 2016’s “Hidden Figures,” according to a new report from Variety.
World / Welt
An environmental group announced plans April 11 to develop and operate its own satellite to track one particular greenhouse gas.
Keith’s note: I guess ULA has adopted a humpback whale as a standard unit of measure with which to compare launch vehicles. In so doing Tory Bruno is now mocking – my mockery – of his original infographic with whales – except his original used trucks and tanks – and likely had its inspiration in…
“The United States depends on space across the full spectrum of military operations. These space systems, both U.S. government satellites and those of commercial and international partners, are vulnerable to a wide array of threats, ranging from jamming and cyberattacks to direct-ascent…
Wie kommen Schwankungen des Erdklimas zustande? Es gilt als sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die globale Erwärmung durch den menschengemachten Anstieg von Treibhausgasen wie Kohlendioxid (CO2) oder Methan ve…
SpaceX is seeking permission to perform splashdowns of its Dragon spacecraft in the Gulf of Mexico, part of a shift in recovery operations from the Pacific.
Out of public sight, a Proton-M rocket was rolled to its launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome last weekend in preparation for liftoff as early as Wednesday with the second satellite in a dual-purpose civilian and military communications network operated by the Russian Ministry of Defence….
A map of the ESA Science Satellite Fleet in the Solar System
A new report says space ventures raised nearly $1 billion in the first quarter of 2018, half of that as a new round for SpaceX it has yet to announce.
Science / Wissenschaft
Two NASA scientists discuss their two-week trek through Antarctica, where they made preparations for NASA’s upcoming ICESat-2 mission.
Astronomers using ESA’s XMM-Newton space observatory have probed the gas-filled haloes around galaxies in a quest to find ‘missing’ matter thought to reside there, but have come up empty-handed – so where is it?
Keith’s note: I guess ULA has adopted a humpback whale as a standard unit of measure with which to compare launch vehicles. In so doing Tory Bruno is now mocking – my mockery – of his original infographic with whales – except his original used trucks and tanks – and likely had its inspiration in…
Die “Neutral Buoyancy Facility” der ESA im Europäischen Astronautenzentrum EAC in Köln ist eines der tiefsten “Schwimmbäder” Europas. Seit drei Jahren hilft die Anlage bei den Vorbereitungen für eine Rückkehr zum Mond. In der “Neutral Buoyancy Facility” (NBF…
