[ad_1] “Mary W. Jackson was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space. Mary never accepted the status quo, she helped break barriers and open opportunities for African Americans and women in the field of engineering and technology,” Bridenstine said in a statement. Jackson was […]
Category: Space
NASA plans to use private spacecraft for crewed suborbital flights
[ad_1] NASA’s private spaceflight plans extend well beyond launching people into orbit. The agency is forming a plan to fly astronauts, investigators and other staff aboard suborbital spacecraft. Once a Suborbital Crew office inside the Commercial Crew Program has qualified a suborbital system as safe to use, NASA will buy seats aboard suborbital flights for […]
Potential NASA mission would explore Neptune’s moon Triton
[ad_1] NASA’s quest to explore the Solar System’s many moons might include one of the most distant. Researchers have proposed a NASA mission that would explore Neptune’s eccentric moon Triton. Nicknamed Trident for its “three-pronged” goals, the mission would probe the magnetic field to determine the presence of an ocean, map the entirety of the […]
Scientists propose tethering asteroids to prevent Earth impacts
[ad_1] Many proposed anti-asteroid solutions involve knocking them off-course, which carries its own problems — what if you create a fragment that hits Earth regardless? Researchers might have a safer solution. They’ve proposed a system (spotted by Parabolic Arc) that would tether a threatening asteroid to a smaller rock, throwing off the larger body’s center […]
Astronomers find the first known regular pattern of fast radio bursts
[ad_1] Just what’s causing the bursts isn’t certain. The scientsists know that it’s coming from a “star-churning” area on the outskirts of a giant spiral galaxy, but not what it is. Neutron stars are believed to be a frequent source, but there are a number of possible explanations. They may be coming from a single […]
SpaceX plans seaborne spaceports for Mars missions and hypersonic flights
[ad_1] Don’t think SpaceX is toning down its spaceflight ambitions in light of the pandemic — if anything, the company is ramping things up. Elon Musk has confirmed a SpaceXFleet scoop (via TechCrunch) that SpaceX is hiring staff to help build “floating, superheavy-class spaceports” for Mars and Moon missions, not to mention hypersonic flights for […]
CommStar will launch a relay satellite to talk to astronauts on the Moon
[ad_1] In theory, by using CommStar-1, governments and other private space ventures will be able to focus more resources on other aspects of their missions. In this way, CommStar is following in the footsteps of SpaceX, which just ferried its first NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. “CommStar-1 is a major step by the […]
Scientists locate the first fast radio burst in the Milky Way
[ad_1] The discovery could shed much more light on the nature of the bursts. This burst’s proximity to Earth made it possible to detect bursts in other wavelengths, like X-rays, that weren’t practical with more distant examples. It might be possible to determine the cause, whether it’s the product of the magnetic fields themselves or […]
Australia aims to launch locally-made hybrid rockets by 2022
[ad_1] Australia is increasingly keen on greater independence in spaceflight. The University of Queensland and Gilmour Space are moving forward on a domestically-made “next-generation” hybrid rocket that could start launching satellites into low Earth orbit in 2022. Crucially, all the rockets and components would be made in Australia — they wouldn’t have to lean on […]
Interstellar is still struggling to put private rockets in space
[ad_1] Japan’s budding private spaceflight industry is still struggling, even with some early signs of success. Interstellar Technologies’ MOMO-5 sounding rocket failed to reach space after its launch from Hokkaido early on June 14th. The engine was “manually stopped in an emergency” about 70 seconds into the flight, the company said. Interstellar pinned the flaw […]