On My Own Behalf / In eigener Sache

Dies ist die letzte Ausgabe in diesem Jahr. Die nächste Spacecraft Mission News wird am 10. 01.19 erscheinen. Ich wünsche allen Lesern schöne Feiertage und einen guten Start ins neue Jahr!

This will be the last issue for this year. Spacecraft Mission News will return on 10.01.19. I wish you a great holiday season and a good start into the new year!

Front Page / Titelseite

Alexander Gerst returns from ISS / Alexander Gerst kehrt von der ISS zurück

Alexander Gerst ist wieder zurück auf der Erde: All-Zeit vorbei

Fast 200 Tage lang war Astronaut Alexander Gerst auf der ISS, jetzt ist er zurück: Um kurz nach sechs Uhr landete er in Kasachstan. Noch am Abend wird er in Deutschland erwartet.

Rückkehr des ESA-Astronauten Alexander Gerst am 20.12.2018

Der deutsche ESA- Astronaut Alexander Gerst beendet seinen zweiten Aufenthalt auf der Internationalen Raumstation. Er ist bisher der zweite ESA-Astronaut, der das Kommando über die Internationale Raumstation inne hatte. Damit geht auch seine Horizons-Mission zu Ende, bei der über 50 Experimente im schwerelosen Forschungslabor der ISS für die Partner durchgeführt wurden.

Watch Alexander Gerst’s return to Earth

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst is wrapping up his second stay on the International Space Station, the Horizons mission, running over 50 experiments for the partners of the weightless research laboratory as well as maintaining the outpost. Alexander became the second ESA astronaut to take over command of the International Space Station.

NASA Astronaut, Crewmates Returns to Earth After 197-Day Mission

Three members of the International Space Station’s Expedition 57 crew, including NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, returned to Earth Thursday, safely landing at 12:02 a.m. EST (11:02 a.m. local time) in Kazakhstan. Auñón-Chancellor and her crewmates, Expedition 57 Commander Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency) and Soyuz Commander Sergey Prokopyev, launched June 6 and arrived at the space station two days later to begin their mission. Over 197 days, they circled the globe 3,152 times, covering 83.3 million miles.

Most distant encounter: Spacecraft New Horizons approaching Ultima Thule / Bisher entfernteste Begegnung: Raumsonde New Horizons wird bald Ultima Thule erreichen

New Horizons Spacecraft on Target for Superclose Flyby of Ultima Thule

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft will indeed get very close to the mysterious, distant object Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day. Mission principal investigator Alan Stern today (Dec. 18) gave the all-clear for New Horizons to stay on its optimal flyby course, which will take the probe within just 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) of Ultima Thule at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) on Jan. 1.

What to Expect When New Horizons Visits 2014 MU69, Ultima Thule

New Horizons is rapidly approaching its New Year’s encounter with the most distant world ever visited, 2014 MU69. Closest approach will be at a distance of 3,500 kilometers at about 05:33 on 1 January UTC, and it’ll happen at a zippy 14.16 kilometers per second. Space fans can’t wait to see pictures of this distant, tiny world, an ancient relic of the formation of our solar system, which the mission and NASA have nicknamed “Ultima Thule,” until it is formally named. (I think we should all get to give it our own nicknames. I’m partial to “Moo,” or maybe “Peanut.”)

Hell Yes, NASA’s New Horizons Will Buzz Right Past Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day

Today was the last possible day for mission controllers to adjust the trajectory of the New Horizons spacecraft as it approaches Ultima Thule, a distant Kuiper Belt object. With no detectable dangers in sight, NASA has given the green light for the spacecraft to remain along its optimal path—a trajectory that will result in an intimate flyby in just two weeks time.

New Horizons’ Flyby of Ultima Thule (KBO 2014 MU69)

After the successful flyby of Pluto on July 14th 2015, the interplanetary probe New Horizons is continuing it’s mission targeting 2014 MU 69, nickamed Ultima Thule, a remote trans-neptunian Kuiper Belt Object.

Saturn loses its rings / Saturn verliert seine Ringe

Saturn’s Rings Are Beautiful, But They Won’t Last

Chances are, you wouldn’t recognize Saturn without its trademark thick band of rings. But if you could travel 300 million years into the future, you would need to, because by then, chances are those rings would be gone — and they could disappear even faster.

Saturn verliert seine Ringe

Die typischen Ringe des Planeten verschwinden allerdings nicht plötzlich, sondern allmählich. Sie bestehen zu großen Teilen aus Wassereis und regnen sozusagen auf die Saturnoberfläche. Astronomen der Nasa haben ausgerechnet, dass jede Sekunde etwa eineinhalb Tonnen Eis durch die Schwerkraft des Planeten runterkommen. Wenn das so weitergeht, hat Saturn in 300 Millionen Jahren keine Ringe mehr. Das Team hat noch andere Verluste eingerechnet und kommt dann sogar auf nur noch 100 Millionen Jahre. Das ist ganz schön kurz, wenn man es mit den vier Milliarden Jahren vergleicht, die der Saturn alt ist.

Bröckelndes Geröll: Der Saturn verliert seine Ringe – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Wissenschaft

100.000 Ringe umfassen den Saturn, ihr äußerer hat einen Durchmesser von nahezu einer Million Kilometer. Erstaunlich dünn sind die Ringe, der dickste misst gerade mal 100 Meter. Eine Schallplatte mit dem gleichen Verhältnis von Dicke zu Durchmesser wäre nicht mal einen Zehntausendstel Millimeter hoch.

Ringless Saturn? The Planet’s Famous Feature May Be Surprisingly Young.

Saturn’s rings are among the most eye-catching sights in the solar system—and yet they haven’t always been there. A new analysis suggests the planet’s majestic bangles might be so young that if dinosaurs looked up, they could have witnessed an otherwise plain, straw-colored Saturn putting a ring on itself—one that would have been briefly enormous.

Saturn is losing its rings: NASA says they will be gone in 100m years

The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles, a new NASA study has revealed. Ring particles are caught in a balancing act between the pull of Saturn’s gravity, which wants to draw them back into the planet, and their orbital velocity, which wants to fling them outward into space. ‘We estimate that this ‘ring rain’ drains an amount of water products that could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool from Saturn’s rings in half an hour,’ said James O’Donoghue of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

Steph Curry Tells Former Astronaut Scott Kelly Moon-Landing Comment Was ‘Made in Jest’

Steph Curry is sorry for all the trouble his moon-landing comments have caused. On a podcast that aired last week, the NBA superstar said he doesn’t believe that humanity actually landed on the moon. The offhand remark (which was echoed by several other NBA players on the podcast) went viral, prompting a wave of reaction from folks imploring Curry to clarify or repudiate his stance, and to educate himself about NASA and spaceflight history.

Feature – ISS Horizions Mission Alexander Gerst

Horizons’ is the name of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s second mission to the International Space Station.
The mission name evokes exploring our Universe, looking far beyond our planet and broadening our knowledge. Alexander would also like to make people realise that there is always a chance to go beyond their personal horizons. Alexander will be launched on 6 June with US astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.
Alexander will take over command of the International Space Station for the second half of his mission. Alexander Gerst is the 11th German citizen to fly into space. The astronaut is now in the last stages of training for his challenging spaceflight. The science programme is packed with European research: more than 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people back on Earth and prepare for future space exploration.

“Horizons” – die neue Mission von Alexander Gerst

“Horizons” – so heißt die nächste Mission des deutschen ESA-Astronauten Alexander Gerst. Anfang Juni 2018 soll der 41-jährige Geophysiker mit der Expedition 56/57 seine zweite “Forschungsreise” zur Internationalen Raumstation ISS antreten. Gerst wird nach dem Belgier Frank de Winne der zweite Europäer sein, der als Kommandant auf der ISS eingesetzt wird. Knapp fünf Monate – bis Ende Oktober 2018 – soll Gerst in knapp 400 Kilometern Höhe unterwegs sein. Der englische Name der Mission, Horizons, symbolisiert dabei die Neugier und Faszination, Unbekanntes zu entdecken und zu erforschen.

Alexander Gerst: als Kommandant auf die ISS

Podcast auf Omega Tau. Dort wird über die Aufgaben des Kommandanten, über die Ausbildung zum Astronaut generell und zum Kommandant im Speziellen, sowie über wissenschaftliche Experimente auf der ISS gesprochen. Natürlich kommen auch seine Eindrücke während seines früheren Fluges 2014 zur Sprache.

41 Experimente des Alexander Gerst sind “made in Germany”

Wie kann Künstliche Intelligenz (KI) den Astronauten bei ihrem Job im All helfen und was lernen wir für die Anwendung auf der Erde daraus? Wie verhalten sich lebende Zellen in Schwerelosigkeit? Was macht der Aufenthalt im All mit unserem Immunsystem? Wie lassen sich aus Schmelzprozessen auf der ISS die industriellen Gießprozesse auf der Erde verbessern? Was können wir vom Wanderverhalten der Tiere über den Klimawandel lernen? Diese und viele weitere wissenschaftlich und gesellschaftlich relevante Fragen sollen auf der Internationalen Raumstation ISS in 41 deutschen Experimenten beantwortet werden, die das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) für die nächste Mission von Alexander Gerst zur ISS – “horizons – Wissen für Morgen”- koordiniert und steuert.

Die Maus im Weltall – Die Seite mit der Maus

Am 06. Juni 2018 pünktlich um 13:12 Uhr ist unser Maustronaut Alexander Gerst zusammen mit der Maus zu seiner zweiten Mission ins Weltall gestartet. Sechs Monate wird er auf der Internationalen Raumstation ISS verbringen, drei Monate lang sogar als Kommandant. Die neue Mission trägt den Titel “Horizons”, das ist englisch und bedeutet “Horizonte”. Denn Alexander will herausfinden, was sich hinter dem Horizont verbirgt – und Maus und Elefant werden ihn dabei begleiten.

Das ist jetzt die Crew auf der ISS: In der hinteren Reihe schweben die Astronauten Oleg Artjemjew, Andrew Feustel, Richard Arnold und die Maus. Vorne siehst du Sergej Prokopjew, Alexander Gerst und Serena Auñón-Chancellor. Auf dem Foto hinter der Crew ist der russische Ingenieur Sergei Koroljow zu erkennen, der ein großer Weltraumpionier war.

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Alexander Gerst

An astronaut returns to Earth

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst will return to Earth alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopiev on 20 December. After more than six months living and working on the International Space Station, their Soyuz is expected to touch down in Kazakhstan at around 05:06 GMT (06:06 CET). The trio’s journey from the Space Station to Earth will take approximately three hours, during which the speed of their Soyuz capsule will reduce from 28 000 to 0 km/h.

Simulating our Solar System’s Formation

An investigation delivered to the International Space Station aboard Northrop Grumman’s tenth commercial resupply services mission (NG CRS-10) in November may help uncover the electrifying origins of our solar system. The Experimental Chondrule Formation on the ISS (EXCISS), housed in a NanoRacks container, aims to replicate chondrule formation as seen in the early solar system.

Rekord-Raumfahrer Alexander Gerst kommt heim – als Nächstes zum Mond?

Am Ende seiner Mission wird es für den deutschen Astronauten Alexander Gerst an diesem Donnerstag (20. Dezember) eine raue Rückkehr aus der Schwerelosigkeit zum Heimatplaneten Erde. Nach dem Abkoppeln von der Internationalen Raumstation ISS rast die enge Sojus-Kapsel zunächst ungebremst in die Atmosphäre, die Luftreibung erzeugt dabei Temperaturen von etwa 2500 Grad Celsius. Erst vor wenigen Wochen ging der Start einer russischen Sojus-Rakete schief, und auch die Rückkehr der Raumkapsel gilt als anspruchsvoll.

Watch Alexander’s return to Earth

Alexander’s final weeks in space

With ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst set to return to Earth Thursday morning, his final two weeks in orbit have been far from relaxing. The science continues with more astronauts on board, two Russian cosmonauts stepped outside to inspect the Soyuz, and Alexander is busy preparing for the ride home.

Tune in for the change of command

At 21:40 GMT (22:40 CET) on Tuesday 18 December, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst will hand over command of the International Space Station to Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko. The ceremony will be broadcast live on NASA TV below and is one of the final acts of Alexander’s Horizons mission before he returns to Earth alongside NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Roscosmos cosmonaut Sergei Prokopiev on Thursday.

Down to Earth science

Astronauts Alexander Gerst and Serena Auñón-Chancellor and cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev will share their Soyuz with vital science when they return to Earth on Thursday 20 December. A number of ESA experiments are destined for researchers on Earth. These include the Plasma Kristall-4 experiment, which has been recording data on how atoms behave using microscopic plastic particles in plasma. Eight hard disks containing three terabytes of precious scientific research will be coming home strapped above the astronauts’ heads.

Rückkehr des ESA-Astronauten Alexander Gerst am 20.12.2018

Gerst übergibt ISS-Kommando an Oleg Kononenko

Der deutsche ESA-Astronaut Alexander Gerst hat am Mittwoch das Kommando in der Internationalen Raumstation ISS an seinen russischen Kollegen Oleg Kononenko übergeben. Der setzt nun gemeinsam mit der Amerikanerin Anne McClain und dem Kanadier David Saint-Jacques (Foto) als nunmehr 58. Stammbesatzung die Arbeit allein in der Station fort.

Commander Hands Over Control and Prepares for Holiday Homecoming

The Expedition 57 commander handed over control of the International Space Station today in a traditional ceremony. He and two of his crewmates will then head back to Earth Wednesday just in time for the holidays.

Sein nächstes Ziel könnte der Mond sein

Seine Rückkehr hatte sich verzögert, jetzt soll es klappen: Astronaut Alexander Gerst kommt nach einem halben Jahr von der Raumstation zurück. Und es gibt schon neue Pläne.

via – December 8, 2018 at 03:03PM

Back to Earth – the science continues

Science on the International Space Station has been a hot topic throughout ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s Horizons mission. But the research does not end when an astronaut returns to Earth. ESA Baseline Data Collection (BDC) coordinator Mark Mouret is responsible for ensuring vital ground-based data is collected as a reference point for in-space measurements. We asked him why it is so important and what Alexander has in store.

Feature – NASA’s Insight Mars Lander

Homepage – NASA’s Insight Mars Lander

BR News – Einblick in das Innerste des Mars

Noch ist der NASA-Lander Insight auf dem Weg zum Mars. Ende November soll er dort ankommen und darauf Platz nehmen. Dieses Rendezvous wird dem Roten Planeten tatsächlich unter die Haut gehen. Die NASA ist dem Mars bereits mehrfach zu Leibe gerückt – unter anderem mit den Rovern Opportunity und Curiosity sowie den Sonden Odyssey, MRO und Maven. Am 5. Mai 2018 wurde der stationäre Lander InSight (Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport) zum Schnüffeln losgeschickt. InSight startete mithilfe einer rund 57 Meter großen Atlas-V-401-Rakete von der Vandenberg Air Force Basis in Kalifornien und soll am 26. November auf dem Roten Planeten ankommen. Dann wird der Lander für rund zwei Jahre zum geduldigen Spürhund.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‘Marsquakes’

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for “Marsquakes”. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. “As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,” explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. “And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.”

Media resources | InSight

Homepage – InSight Media Resources

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Insight

Mars InSight’s ‘Mole’ Should Start Burrowing into the Red Planet Next Month

NASA’s Mars InSight lander has settled into its new home on Elysium Planitia and is preparing to deploy its instruments — and if all goes well, one device’s work should be complete by March. That instrument is InSight’s self-hammering heat probe, nicknamed the “mole,” which is designed to measure heat production and flow within the interior of Mars. To do that, the instrument has to drill down about 16 feet (5 meters) into the Martian regolith — and that procedure is currently scheduled to begin in January, the mole’s principal investigator said yesterday (Dec. 11) during a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

HiRISE | InSight Lander on Mars (ESP_058005_1845)

This is a HiRISE image of the NASA InSight lander, plus other pieces of hardware on Mars after its successful landing on 26 November 2018. It looks like the heat shield (upper right) has its dark outside facing down, since it is so bright (saturated, probably a specular reflection). The lander (middle) disturbed dust over a fair distance and has darkened the surface, as seen previously at the Phoenix and Curiosity landing sites. The bright spot associated with the lander is probably another specular reflection, and there are two smaller bluish extensions that are the solar arrays, plus their shadows.

Mars InSight Lander Seen in First Images from Space

On Nov. 26, NASA’s InSight mission knew the spacecraft touched down within an 81-mile-long (130-kilometer-long) landing ellipse on Mars. Now, the team has pinpointed InSight’s exact location using images from HiRISE, a powerful camera onboard another NASA spacecraft, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The InSight lander, its heat shield and parachute were spotted by HiRISE (which stands for High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) in one set of images last week on Dec. 6, and again on Tuesday, Dec. 11. The lander, heat shield and parachute are within 1,000 feet (several hundred meters) of one another on Elysium Planitia, the flat lava plain selected as InSight’s landing location.

Mars InSight Lander Seen in First Images from Space – NASA’s Mars Exploration Program

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spots InSight Hardware on Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter may not have managed to spot InSight under its parachute, but it has finally spotted the lander, its parachute, and its heat shield resting on the Martian surface. The images confirm the location of InSight’s landing site, a little to the north and west of the center of the landing ellipse.

Mars InSight’s ‘Mole’ Should Start Burrowing into the Red Planet Next Month

NASA-Sonde Insight aus dem Orbit fotografiert

Dem Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) der NASA ist es gelungen, wenige Tage nach der Landung Fotos von der Marssonde Insight zu machen. Auf den Aufnahmen ist nicht nur die Sonde mit ihren charakteristischen Solarpaneelen, sondern auch der vor der Landung abgeworfene Hitzeschild und der Fallschirm sichtbar. Die drei Teile liegen einige Hundert Meter auseinander und sind auf Fotos vom 6. und vom 11. Dezember erkennbar. Aufgrund der Oberflächeneigenschaften seien die Farben des reflektierenden Lichts verfälscht, erklärt die US-Weltraumagentur dessen grünblaue Farbe.

What’s the Weather On Mars? How NASA’s Insight Lander Will Find Out.

NASA’s new Mars lander isn’t quite ready to probe the Red Planet’s interior yet, but it’s starting to get the lay of the land on the surface — and in the atmosphere. The InSight lander is already deploying its powerful meteorology package to monitor the Red Planet’s weather. InSight touched down on the Martian surface Nov. 26, and since then it has been carefully analyzing its environment and setting up its sensitive suite of instruments. The mission’s seismometer still sits on the lander’s deck, measuring InSight’s vibrations rather than the planet’s, and the heat-sensing mole remains undeployed as well. But the lander’s meteorology suite is already gearing up to measure the pressure, temperature and three-dimensional wind patterns on the Red Planet.

NASA’s InSight Lander Plays the Claw Game on Mars for 1st Time (Video)

Thankfully, NASA’s InSight Mars lander is far better at the claw game than I am.

The robot, which landed on the Red Planet on Nov. 26, has already used its claw-like grapple to snag one of its main science instruments, as a newly released image sequence shows. You can see a video of InSight’s Martian claw game.

International Spacestation (ISS)

After Harrowing Launch Abort, Astronaut Nick Hague Is Ready for Another Chance at Space

NASA astronaut Nick Hague is excited to clamber atop a Russian Soyuz rocket 11 weeks from now, even though his first experience with the booster didn’t go so well.
On Oct. 11, the Soyuz sending Hague and cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin toward the International Space Station (ISS) malfunctioned about 2 minutes after liftoff, causing the two spaceflyers to make a scary but successful emergency landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Crew Prepares to Split Up While Researching Space Biology

Half of the Expedition 57 crew is getting ready to depart International Space Station while the other half is getting used to life on orbit. Amidst those preparations, all six space residents are researching what microgravity does to their bodies while keeping the orbital lab in tip-top shape. Commander Alexander Gerst continues unpacking the Space Dragon cargo craft today with its near 5,700 pounds of science, supplies and hardware. The German astronaut from ESA (European Space Agency) is also packing the Soyuz MS-09 crew ship that will take him and two crewmates home next week. He’ll parachute to a landing aboard the Soyuz in Kazakhstan Dec. 20 at 12:03 a.m. EST with fellow crew members Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Sergey Prokopyev after 197 days in space.

Rogosin kündigt superschnelle bemannte Zubringerflüge zur ISS an

Russland will in eineinhalb Jahren Kosmonauten und auch Weltraumtouristen in nur eineinhalb Stunden zur Internationalen Raumstation ISS bringen.

Earth / Erde

NASA Space Lasers Creating Most Detailed Map Ever of Antarctica’s Ice

A satellite launched in September, NASA’s ICESat-2 ,or the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, is revealing previously unmapped valleys in Antarctica, filling in details of the terrian that other satellites can’t see. But ICESat-2 isn’t only out to create ice sheet maps; it is also gathering information on other parts of the world, including the heights of land terrain, rivers, lakes and forests, as well as the depth of seafloors.

Solar System / Sonnensystem

Jupiter

PIA22941: South Equatorial Belt Brown Barge Close-up

PIA22940: Juno Sees South Equatorial Belt ‘Brown Barge’

PIA22938: South Tropical Disturbance Close-up

PIA22937: Jupiter’s South Tropical Disturbance

PIA22935: Jupiter’s ‘Pop-up’ Storms

PIA22934: High-Altitude Bands of Haze over Jupiter’s north pole

PIA22932: Jupiter’s Northern Circumpolar Cyclones

PIA22906: Juno Flyby Movie

Auroras, Lightning and Rings of Jupiter Amaze in Surprising NASA Juno Photos

Parker Solar Probe

So sieht es in der Sonnen-Atmosphäre aus – erstes Bild von Sonde “Parker Solar Probe”

Insgesamt 24-mal soll die Nasa-Sonde “Parker Solar Probe” durch die Atmosphäre der Sonne fliegen. Vom 31. Oktober bis 11. November 2018 unternahm sie ihren ersten Durchflug. Nun hat die Nasa die ersten Bilder des Rekordflugs veröffentlicht.

Millions of Degrees and Plasma Dreams: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Basks in the Sun

The Parker Solar Probe is doing well after its first flyby of the sun, and it will soon begin returning groundbreaking data about how our star behaves. Yesterday (Dec. 12), four researchers gathered at this year’s fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Washington, D.C., to share the early success of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe.

Martian methane—spotted in 2004—has mysteriously vanished

Mars’s methane has gone missing. Scientists first detected traces of the gas—a critical indicator of life on Earth—in the planet’s atmosphere decades ago. But today, researchers reported that a European satellite hasn’t spotted a single trace of methane. The finding, if it holds up, could complicate scientific dreams that martian microbes might be spewing the gas in the planet’s subsurface.

Mastcam-Z Flight Hardware!

After a more-than-four-year adventure spanning endless reviews, PowerPoint slides, CAD models, and engineering models, I’m super excited to report that the flight versions of the Mars 2020 rover Mastcam-Z left and right cameras, as well as their electronics assembly that will go inside the rover, have been fully assembled! Their first test images look great, and every reasonable indication so far is that the careful planning of the design and fabrication of the hardware has resulted in cameras that will meet our science and mission requirements! Woo-hoo!

Mars Rover 2020

It’s a holiday gift for @NASA’s #Mars2020 rover 🎁
The spacecraft’s backshell arrived and was unwrapped in its cleanroom this week. Get the latest on our next #Mars mission: https://t.co/OPjyOwtUBU pic.twitter.com/Wzh8WBx4vJ

— NASA JPL (@NASAJPL) December 12, 2018

Hayabusa 2 / Asteroid Ryugu

Naming our MINERVA-II1 rovers

On September 21, 2018 (JST), the two MINERVA-II1 rovers (Rover-1A and Rover-1B) separated from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to land on the surface of asteroid Ryugu, where they successfully imaged and hopped across the asteroid surface autonomously. These two rovers have now been given names.

Asteroid photos ‘show no sign of smooth area for spacecraft landing’

More than 200 photos taken by two small rovers on an asteroid show no signs of a smooth area for the touchdown of a spacecraft early next year, Japan’s space agency said. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the two solar-powered rovers have become inactive and are probably in the shade but are still responding to signals after three months, exceeding their projected life of several days.

Asteroid photos ‘show no sign of smooth area for spacecraft landing’ – Gibraltar Chronicle

More than 200 photos taken by two small rovers on an asteroid show no signs of a smooth area for the touchdown of a spacecraft early next year, Japan’s space agency said.

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said the two solar-powered rovers have become inactive and are probably in the shade but are still responding to signals after three months, exceeding their projected life of several days.

Operation Status | News | JAXA HAYABUSA2 PROJECT

★ Hayabusa2 status (2018.12.03) ★

We are continuing operations for the solar conjunction period, and full scale “Beacon Operations” have begun. This made us realise we are approaching the deepest part of solar conjunction. [1/6]

— HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) December 13, 2018

NASA’s Voyager 2 Went Interstellar the Same Day a Solar Probe Touched the Sun

Call it a cosmic coincidence: Two probes launched four decades apart, traveled in opposite directions — and used similar instruments to gather milestone data within hours of each other. That scientific poetry took place on Nov. 5. Without orchestrated calculations or trajectory maneuvers, the grizzled Voyager 2 probe crossed into interstellar space the same day that the freshly launched Parker Solar Probe made its first close approach to our sun. Both spacecraft were equipped with unique Faraday cup instruments, which they used to gather milestone data about nearby highly charged plasma particles streaming off the sun.

Hubble Space Telescope Will Track Comet 46P/Wirtanen As It Flies Close by Earth

A comet is set to pass close to Earth this weekend, providing a treat for skywatchers — and for astronomers hoping to learn more about the building blocks of the early solar system.

Tour Jezero Crater! Fly Over the Landing Site of NASA’s Next Mars Rover (Video)

A new video gives a bird’s-eye view of the ancient lake bed that NASA’s next Mars rover will scour for signs of long-dead life. Last month, NASA officials announced that the 2020 Mars rover will touch down inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, which lies about 19 degrees north of the Red Planet’s equator.

BepiColombo’s first routine firing in space

After meticulous testing of the spacecraft’s four high-tech ion thrusters, the mission team have now fired up the spacecraft for its first thruster burn ‘arc’. Travelling nine billion kilometers in total, BepiColombo will make nine flybys at Earth, Venus and Mercury, looping around the Sun 18 times.

Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos

The Universe of Gaia

Launched in December 2013, ESA’s Gaia satellite has been scanning the sky to perform the most precise stellar census of our Milky Way galaxy, observing more than one billion stars and measuring their positions, distances and motions to unprecedented accuracy. The second Gaia data release, published in April, has provided scientists with extraordinary data to investigate the formation and evolution of stars in the Galaxy and beyond, giving rise to hundreds of scientific studies that are revolutionising our view of the cosmos.

Politics / Politik

Here Comes The Space Force

“President Donald Trump will order in the coming days the establishment of a new military space command, a move that comes as Vice President Mike Pence plans two high-profile visits related to the US space program, three US officials tell CNN…<2

President Trump Issues Order to Create US Space Command

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday directed the Department of Defense to establish a U.S. Space Command as a unified combatant command.

Vice President Mike Pence announced the presidential decision on Tuesday during an appearance at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, along with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson.

Technology / Technologie

Rocket Lab Launches 13 Cubesats on 1st Mission for NASA

Rocket Lab’s ramp-up is going well so far. The spaceflight startup launched 13 tiny satellites on its first-ever mission for NASA early this morning (Dec. 16), just a month after acing its first commercial flight. A Rocket Lab Electron booster lifted off from the company’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 1:33 a.m. EST today (0633 GMT and 7:33 p.m. local New Zealand time), kicking off the ELaNa-19 mission for NASA. [In Photos: Rocket Lab and Its Electron Booster]

Rocket Lab Postpones Launch of NASA Cubesats Due to Bad Weather

Editor’s note: Rocket Lab is now aiming for an 11 p.m. EST launch of NASA’s ElaNa-19 mission on Saturday, Dec. 15 (0400 Dec. 16 GMT), after several days of bad weather.

Original story: Bad weather forced the private spaceflight company Rocket Lab to postpone the launch of more than a dozen small satellites, including 10 for a NASA education program, late Wednesday (Dec. 12).

NASA Lunar Orbiter Now Supporting Commercial and International Missions

A NASA spacecraft originally built as part of the previous effort to return humans to the moon is now playing a key role in the new effort at human lunar return, including aiding commercial landers. One element of the Vision for Space Exploration, announced by President George W. Bush in 2004, was a series of robotic missions to the moon intended to start no later than 2008. The first such mission was an orbiter to collect high-resolution imagery of the lunar surface and other data to assist planning for future robotic and lunar lander missions.

Blue Origin to Launch Next New Shepard Test Flight Tuesday

Blue Origin plans to conduct the next test flight of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle Dec. 18 as the company moves closer to flying people into space. In a statement Dec. 17, the company said the next New Shepard flight, designated NS-10, will take place Dec. 18 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern from its West Texas test site that has hosted all previous New Shepard tests. The flight, like several past flights, will be webcast. The statement came after the publication by the Federal Aviation Administration of restricted airspace around the company’s launch site for a three-day period starting Dec. 18.

Blue Origin Delays New Shepard Launch Due to Ground Issue

UPDATE for 9 am ET: Blue Origin has officially called off today’s launch of a New Shepard spacecraft carrying NASA experiments due to a ground issue. “We are scrubbing today’s #NewShepard launch due to a ground infrastructure issue. The vehicle is in good standing. Stand by for updates as we see what weather looks like for tomorrow,” company officials said.

Key milestone for Euclid mission, now ready for final assembly

ESA’s Euclid mission has passed its critical design review, marking the successful completion of a major phase in the progress of the project. The review verified that the overall mission architecture and detailed design of all its elements is complete, ensuring that it will be able to perform the unprecedented galaxy survey needed to tackle the mysteries of the dark Universe, and clearing the way to start assembling the whole spacecraft.

Entertainment / Unterhaltung

‘Mars’ Finale Wraps Season 2 with Terror and Tragedy on the Red Planet

The whirlwind second season of National Geographic’s “Mars” concluded Monday tonight (Dec. 17) with a bang. In this final episode, the world watches as boundaries are pushed and lives are both saved and lost on the Red Planet.

World / Welt

Türkei und Australien gründen Raumfahrtagenturen

Der türkische Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan hat eine nationale Raumfahrtagentur gegründet.

Oleg Nowizki. Stimme des Herzens. Tagebuch einer Kosmonautenfrau. Zweites Buch (Rezension)

Nach dem ersten Flug ihres Mannes Oleg (23. 10. 2012 – 16. 3. 2013) hatte die Journalistin Julija Nowizkaja erstmals in der Geschichte der russisch-sowjetischen Raumfahrt ein sehr persönlich gehaltenes Tagebuch veröffentlicht (siehe dazu meine Rezension vom 17. März 2014). Nunmehr liegt die Fortsetzung über den zweiten Flug (17. 11. 2016 – 2. 6. 2017) vor.

Kosmodrom Baikonur wird jetzt per Video überwacht

Das Kosmodrom Baikonur, das Russland bis 2050 von Kasachstan gepachtet hat, wird jetzt per Video überwacht.

NASA Advisory Council Recommends Review of Planetary Protection Policies

The NASA Advisory Council has recommended that NASA review its existing planetary protection guidelines to balance the needs of science and exploration, an effort that could set the stage for a similar revision at the international level.

Raumfahrt in Europa: ESA und DLR vereinbaren Zusammenarbeit von Raumfahrtkontrollzentren

Die Europäische Weltraumorganisation (ESA) und das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) bündeln ihre Kompetenzen: In den Bereichen Missionsbetrieb und Bodeninfrastruktur werden das Europäische Raumfahrtkontrollzentrum (ESOC) in Darmstadt und das Deutsche Raumfahrtkontrollzentrum (GSOC) Synergieeffekte nutzen und gemeinsam neue Konzepte, Technologien und Verfahren entwickeln. Die Unterzeichnung des Kooperationsvertrags erfolgte am 18. Dezember 2018 am DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen im Rahmen des “Interoperability Plenary” Treffens, welches Vertreter von weltweit 12 Raumfahrtagenturen zusammenführt.

World’s First Private Moon Lander Will Carry Israeli Time Capsule

The first-ever private moon mission is expected to launch in February 2019, and it will carry some extra-special Israeli cargo to the lunar surface. The nonprofit SpaceIL and the government-owned corporation Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which manufactured the spacecraft, announced in a statement Monday (Dec. 17) that the lunar spacecraft, dubbed Beresheet will carry a digital time capsule with Israeli national memorabilia.

NASA Looks to Private Companies for Help Building Reusable Moon Landers for Astronauts

NASA has serious plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2028, and the agency is looking for help from U.S. companies to develop technology to accomplish this feat. On Dec. 13, NASA announced plans under Space Policy Directive-1 to partner with U.S. companies to design and develop new reusable systems for astronauts to land on the lunar surface, according to a statement from the space agency.