NASA CONSIDERS SENDING SCIENTISTS TO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION: REPORT - NASA is considering sending "hyper-specialized" scientists to the International Space Station to work alongside career astronauts. The idea is by no means new, as NASA used to fly payload specialists assigned to specific space shuttle experiments in the early 1980s, notably including three-time spaceflyer Charlie Walker on behalf of his employer, McDonnell Douglas. Payload specialist requirements were changed, however, when the Challenger launch disaster of 1986 killed seven crew members and shifted NASA safety protocols.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 21)

CHINA SIWEI SURVEY LAUNCHES FIRST SAR SATELLITES - China launched two satellites on July 15 onboard a Chang Zheng 2C. The launch was conducted from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center (TSLC) in the Shanxi province. Liftoff was at 22:57 UTC and confirmed to be a success a few minutes later. The payloads went to a Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO) and are called Siwei Gaojing-2 01/02, or SuperView Neo-2 01/02. They are operated and constructed by China Siwei Survey and Mapping Technology Co. Ltd., which is a Beijing company that focuses on the area of mapping technology and instruments that are needed for such mapping.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight.com - Jul 21)

LANDSAT: A GUIDE TO THE EARTH OBSERVATION SATELLITE FLEET - Landsat is an eagled-eyed satellite fleet that's kept a watchful eye on Earth since 1972. According to NASA, it is the "longest continuous space-based record (opens in new tab) of Earth's land in existence." The program takes images of the Earth at a range that allows scientists to see large-scale changes in the landscape, including those changes induced by human-driven climate change. Landsat 9, the most recent of the series, launched in September 2021 and as late as 2019, researchers have said the program's consistent, multi-decadal record is a boon to science.   More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 21)

L3HARRIS, NORTHROP GRUMMAN TO BUILD 28 MISSILE-TRACKING SATELLITES FOR U.S. SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY - The Space Development Agency announced July 18 it selected L3Harris Technologies and Northrop Grumman to each build 14 missile-tracking satellites for a low Earth orbit constellation known as the Tracking Layer. L3Harris won a $700 million contract and Northrop Grumman a $617 million deal for the Space Development Agency’s Tracking Layer Tranche 1.    More
(Source: SpaceNews - Jul 20)

SATELLITES CAPTURE EUROPE BROILING IN RECORD-BREAKING HEATWAVE - It's rare for satellites to get a perfectly cloud-free view of the entirety of Europe, but on Monday (July 18), the European weather satellite Eumetsat captured exactly that. The clear view means a bright blue sky even for those Europeans who usually worry more about remembering an umbrella than sunscreen. The clear blue sky also offers no respite from a heatwave that has engulfed the continent, bringing record-high temperatures across the continent and sparking devastating wildfires that have already ravaged hundreds of square miles of land.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 20)

FIRST LAB MODULE FOR CHINA SPACE STATION ROLLED OUT TO LAUNCH PAD, EXPECTED TO BE LAUNCHED SOON - The combination of China's space station lab module Wentian and the Long March-5B Y3 carrier rocket has been transferred to a launch pad, the Global Times learned from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Monday, which revealed that it will be launched at an appropriate time in the near future. A slew of pre-launch function checks and joint tests will be carried out in the following days, the CMSA noted. The logo for this launch mission has also been released on the same day.    More
(Source: Global Times - Jul 19)

CREW UNPACKING NEW SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS FROM DRAGON - New science experiments continue to be unpacked from inside the newly-arrived SpaceX Dragon resupply ship. The seven Expedition 67 crew members also ensured the International Space Station continues orbiting Earth in tip-top shape. NASA Flight Engineers Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines spent Monday unloading some of the more than 5,800 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies delivered on Saturday inside the Dragon cargo craft. The duo transferred time-critical research samples into the orbital lab to begin exploring a variety of space phenomena to benefit humans on and off the Earth.   More
(Source: NASA - Jul 19)

NORTHROP WINS SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY'S CONTRACT TO BUILD 14 SATELLITES - Defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N) said on Monday it had won a contract to build and deploy a low-Earth orbit constellation of 14 satellites for the U.S. Space Development Agency. The satellites are part of the agency's plan to build the Tranche 1 Tracking Layer for detecting, identifying and track hypersonic weapons and other advanced missiles from their earliest stages of launch through interception.   More
(Source: Reuters - Jul 19)

SATELLITE DODGES SPACE DEBRIS AS IT SCRAMBLES AGAINST SPACE WEATHER - A European satellite that has been scrambling to escape premature death in Earth's atmosphere due to bad space weather has narrowly avoided a collision with a random piece of space junk. The satellite, part of the constellation Swarm, which monitors Earth's magnetic field, has been climbing to a higher altitude after it experienced increased drag due to changes in the density of the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere that occurred in response to solar activity.    More
(Source: Space.com - Jul 19)

Previous Next