Weekly Spacecraft Mission News (English, German) – 18.06.20

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ESAIL maritime satellite ready for launch

The ESAIL microsatellite for tracking ships worldwide – developed under an ESA Partnership Project – has completed its accommodation on Vega’s new dispenser for small satellites and is ready for launch.

NASA’s Mars Rover Drivers Need Your Help

Using an online tool to label Martian terrain types, you can train an artificial intelligence algorithm that could improve the way engineers guide the Curiosity rover.

Another delay: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope won’t launch in March 2021

We’ll have to wait a bit longer still to see NASA’s next big space telescope get off the ground.

New Horizons’ “Alien View” from the Outer Solar System

NASA’s New Horizons mission deep in the Kuiper Belt has measured the parallax to two nearby stars with the help of Earth-based observers.

University-built CubeSat launched with swarm of auroral science nodes

Rocket Lab successfully launched five small satellites from New Zealand Saturday for customers in the United States and Australia, including a CubeSat with a novel swarm of tiny magnetometers to measure the plasma currents that shape colorful auroras.

After crane problem, ULA caps build-up of Atlas 5 rocket for Mars rover launch

United Launch Alliance has completed stacking of the major elements of the Atlas 5 rocket assigned to power NASA’s Perseverance rover toward Mars, but the mission’s launch date has been pushed back three days to July 20 after teams repaired an issue with a crane in the Atlas 5’s assembly building.

New Horizons is so Far From Earth That the Positions of the Stars Look a Little Different From its Perspective

From its current position in the Kuiper Belt, the New Horizons spacecraft recently conducted a parallax experiment that is not only groundbreaking, but historic!

ExoMars spots unique green glow at the Red Planet

ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has detected glowing green oxygen in Mars’ atmosphere – the first time that this emission has been seen around a planet other than Earth.

Rocket Motors for First NASA Artemis Moon Mission Arrive at Spaceport

The rocket booster segments that will help power NASA’s first Artemis flight test mission around the Moon arrived at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday for launch preparations.

NASA lit a fire in space to keep future astronauts safe (video)

NASA deliberately set a fire in a spacecraft to see if a “smoke eater” and carbon dioxide scrubber could make future moon missions safer for astronauts.

Hilarious Supercut of Astronauts Falling on the Moon

The Apollo astronauts walked on the Moon, yes. But they also hopped, bounded, and shuffled. And sometimes they fell, spectacularly. That caused a lot of consternation back on the Earth, especially for the engineers who designed the Apollo spacesuits. James McBarron was an aerospace technologist who worked on spacesuits for every NASA program, from Mercury …

Solar Orbiter: Europäische Sonnensonde im Perihel

Die europäische Sonnensonde Solar Orbiter hat gestern den sonnennächsten Punkt ihrer aktuellen Umlaufbahn um die Sonne erreicht und war dabei lediglich noch 77 Millionen Kilometer von unserem Zentralstern entfernt. Da sich die Mission noch in einer sehr frühen Phase befindet, sollen in diesen Tagen hauptsächlich die Instrumente kalibriert werden. Erste Bilder werde Mitte Juli erwartet.

Solar Orbiter makes first close approach to the Sun

ESA’s Sun-exploring mission Solar Orbiter has made its first close approach to the star on June 15, getting as close as 77 million kilometres to its surface, about half the distance between the Sun and Earth.

Crew Gears Up for Spacewalks, Continues Space Science

Two spacewalks are set to continue upgrading power systems at the International Space Station at the end of the month. The Expedition 63 crew is getting ready for the summer excursions while also researching a variety of space phenomena to benefit Earth and space industries.

Station Buzzing With Science in Middle of Spacewalk Preps

The International Space Station is buzzing today with a broad array of research to improve life for humans on and off the Earth. The five-person Expedition 63 crew has also been preparing for a set of spacewalks as the pace of space science ramps up.

SpaceX’s 1st Crew Dragon astronauts settle into life at the space station

NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken, who recently became the first crew to fly in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft, talk about the “overview effect” and their first week of work in space.

Storm hunter turns two

The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor or ASIM, mounted outside the European laboratory of the International Space Station, enters its second year of science operations.Launched in April 2018, the payload began operating on 14 June 2018 and has been studying thunderstorms 400 km above Earth ever since.

Students from Across US to Speak with NASA Astronauts Aboard Space Station

Students from across the nation will have an opportunity this week to ask questions of NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will air live at 1:10 p.m. EDT Friday, June 19, on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Crew Starts Week With Spacewalk Preps, Satellite Work

The Expedition 63 crew is starting the week getting ready for a pair of upcoming spacewalks and a satellite deployment. The International Space Station residents are also setting up research gear that will analyze hazardous particles and plasma crystals.

The International Space Station is getting a new toilet this year

Later this year, if all goes well, the International Space Station will receive a very important delivery: a new and improved toilet system.

ISS: Der Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) beginnt sein zweites wissenschaftliches Betriebsjahr

Der Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) der Europäischen Weltraumorganisation ESA hat an der Internationalen Raumstation ISS sein zweites Betriebsjahr zur Untersuchung von Gewittern begonnen. ASIM sei insbesondere auf der Suche nach schwer fassbaren elektrischen Entladungen in der oberen Atmosphäre oder nach Blitzen, die sich nach oben in den […]

Biology and Physics as Crew Enters BEAM, Preps for Spacewalk

Tuesday’s science aboard the International Space Station encompassed life science, fluids and flames to help humans on Earth and in space. The Expedition 63 crew also configured spacewalk tools and opened up an expandable module.

Week in images: 8-12 June 2020

The Space In-between: Aurora Australis

Like a wisp of green smoke, the aurora australis seemingly intersects with the Earth’s airglow as the International Space Station orbited above the Indian Ocean halfway between Australia and Antarctica.

PICASSO, ESA’s CubeSat to sift secrets from sunrise

There is always a sunrise and sunset happening somewhere on our planet. Soon ESA’s newest CubeSat – flying aboard Europe’s Vega launcher this Friday – will be keeping watch. The miniature PICASSO mission will use the filtering of sunlight by Earth’s atmosphere to check the health of our protective ozone layer.

Simba CubeSat to swivel from Earth to Sun to help track climate change

Due to launch aboard Friday’s Vega rocket, ESA’s Simba CubeSat is a tiny mission with a big ambition: to measure one of the fundamental drivers of climate change in a new way. The 30-cm long nanosatellite will turn from Earth to space to the Sun and back again, to calculate our planet’s overall energy budget.

China’s Chang’e 4 moon rover mission is back in action on lunar farside

China’s Chang’e 4 mission is back in action for its 19th lunar day of activity on the far side of the moon, with the Yutu 2 rover set to scope out a new crater.

Grand Finale: One of Cassini’s Last Dives

This illustration imagines the view from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft during one of its final dives between Saturn and its innermost rings.

Bennu in Unprecedented Detail

After months of careful work, NASA’s Insight mission has its mole burrowed in the Martian soil.

The “mole” of NASA’s Insight mission is back in business on Mars. The team scientists have been quiet on the progress of the mole, which has had difficulty digging into the Red Planet’s surface to measure the heat it emits. But the DLR’s mission blog finally released word of progress on June 3rd.

Titan is Drifting Away from Saturn Surprisingly Quickly

Where did Saturn’s bizarro-moon Titan form? Did it form where it is now, or has it migrated? We have decades of data to look back on, so scientists should have some idea. A new study based on all that data says that Titan is drifting away from Saturn more quickly than thought, and that has …

While Stargazing on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity Rover Spots Earth and Venus

This new portrait of the Red Planet’s neighbors was taken during a time when there’s more dust in the air on Mars.

Mystery solved: Odd bright patches on Saturn moon Titan are dry lake beds

Strange bright patches observed in the southern tropical regions of Saturn’s biggest moon, Titan, more than a decade ago are likely the beds of dried-up hydrocarbon lakes or seas, a new study reports.

Hubble Glimpses a Galaxy Among Many

Looking deep into the universe, the Hubble Space Telescope catches a passing glimpse of the numerous arm-like structures that sweep around this barred spiral galaxy, known as NGC 2608. Appearing as a slightly stretched, smaller version of our Milky Way, the peppered blue and red spiral arms are anchored together by the prominent horizontal

Hubble Makes a Bright Find

Seen here in incredible detail is the starburst galaxy formally known as PLCK G045.1+61.1. The galaxy, which appears as multiple reddish dots near the center of the image, is being gravitationally lensed by a cluster of closer galaxies, also seen in the image.

Black hole caught spewing jets into space at nearly the speed of light (video)

A black hole shooting out gassy material at nearly the speed of light has been caught on video by NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

SSMS inaugural flight on Vega

Vega’s new SSMS dispenser provides routine affordable access to space for small satellites.

Rideshare service for light satellites to launch on Vega

Europe’s next Vega launch will premiere a new dispenser called the Small Spacecraft Mission Service, or SSMS. It will transport more than 50 satellites at once into orbit on the first rideshare mission dedicated to light satellites. Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana is set for next week.

SpaceX-Konzern startet erfolgreich 61 Satelliten

Der SpaceX-Konzern von Elon Musk hat am Samstag erfolgreich 61 Satelliten gestartet. Die schwere Falcon 9-Trägerrakete mit 58 Starlink-Internet-Satelliten und drei Erdbeobachtungssatelliten der Firma Planet labs an Bord stieg um 11.21 Uhr deutscher Zeit vom Weltraumbahnhof Cape Canaveral (Florida) auf, wurde auf Twitter mitgeteilt.

China startet Satelliten zur Meeresbeobachtung

China hat am Donnerstag den Meeresbeobachtungssatelliten HY-1D gestartet. Er stieg an der Spitze einer Langer Marsch-2C-Trägerrakete vom Weltraumbahnhof Taiyuan in der Nordprovinz Shanxi auf, meldet die Pekinger Nachrichtenagentur Xinhua. Der Satellit bildet zusammen mit HY-1C, der seit dem September 2018 die Erde umkreist, eine zivile maritime Konstellation.

China launches Haiyang 1D satellite to monitor Earth’s oceans

An ocean observation satellite soared into space from China’s Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s north Shanxi Province on Thursday (June 11).

Japan’s Interstellar Technologies fails to reach space with private rocket launch

Japanese space startup Interstellar Technologies Inc. failed to reach space with its latest sounding rocket launch, the flight of Momo-F5, from Taiki Town, Hokkaido this weekend.

Once Starship Prototypes are Done Exploding, we could see an Orbital Launch this Year

According to a leaked internal email, SpaceX is all-in on the development of the Starship, which the company’s chief engineer says could make an orbital flight before the end of the year.

GRALS-Testumgebung

Dieser Roboterarm, der sich auf einer 33 Meter langen Bahn bewegt, ist Bestandteil der sogenannten GRALS-Einrichtung der ESA, was für GNC (Guidance, Navigation, Control) Rendezvous, Approach and Landing Simulator steht.

Martian rover motors ahead

European engineers, together with Canada, are working on the technologies needed to find and retrieve samples from Mars, as part of ESA’s plans to send material from the Red Planet to Earth.

SEOSAT-Ingenio ready for shipment to Kourou

The Spanish high-resolution land imaging mission, known as SEOSAT-Ingenio, is currently at the premises of Airbus in Madrid, Spain and is ready to be packed and shipped to Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana – following the mission’s latest successful tests and final technical review. This is another significant milestone in preparing the Earth observation satellite’s ride into orbit on a Vega rocket.

Russland nimmt Produktion der Konversionsrakete Rokot wieder auf

Russland nimmt die Produktion der Konversionsrakete Rokot wieder auf. Der erste Start der Rokot-M (M steht für modernisiert), die nunmehr ausschließlich aus russischen Bauteilen besteht, sei für 2022 geplant, teilte der Generaldirektor des Herstellers Zentrum Chrunitschew, Alexej Warotschko, mit. Bisher stammte die Steuerung aus der Ukraine.

China postpones launch of Beidou global navigation satellite

China will have to wait to finish a long-awaited upgrade of its global navigation satellite system.

Last Beidou satellite launch postponed by rocket trouble

Ground crews at the Xichang launch center in China postponed the launch of a Long March 3B rocket into orbit Tuesday that was to complete the deployment of the Beidou navigation fleet, a project approved by the Chinese government in 1994 to end reliance on the U.S. military’s GPS network.

LightSail 2 Enters Extended Mission Phase

One year after launch, The Planetary Society’s solar sail spacecraft is embarking on an extended mission dedicated to further advancing solar sailing technology.

GK Roskosmos und Arianespace verhandeln über Wiederaufnahme der Sojus-Starts in Kourou

Die GK Roskosmos und Arianespace verhandeln derzeit über die Wiederaufnahme der Sojus-Starts auf dem europäischen Weltraumbahnhof Kourou in Französisch-Guyana. So sei geplant, den Satelliten Falcon Eye-2 der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate (VAE) nun am 17. Oktober ins All zu schießen, berichten russische Medien unter Berufung auf einen […]

Kathy Lueders ist die neue NASA-Direktorin für bemannte Raumflüge

Kathy Lueders ist von NASA-Chef Jim Bridenstine zu seiner Stellvertreterin und Direktorin für bemannte Raumflüge ernannt worden. Zu ihren Aufgaben gehört auch das Artemis-Mondprogramm, bei dem 2024 die erste Amerikanerin auf dem Erdtrabanten landen soll. Die bisherige Managerin des bemannten kommerziellen Raumfahrtprogramms tritt die Nachfolge von Doug […]

Gravity Assist: Puffy Planets, Powerful Telescopes, with Knicole Colon

NASA astrophysicist Knicole Colon describes her work on the Kepler, Hubble, TESS and Webb missions, and takes us on a tour of some of her favorite planets.

Ideas for Sustainable Cities and Urban Farming… on Mars?

The annual Mars City Design Challenge is looking for new and innovative ideas for how humans could live sustainably on Mars.

China’s quantum satellite helps send secure messages over 1200km

Quantum communication using entangled particles is essentially unhackable, and now it has been extended to the longest distance ever, about 1200 kilometres