Monthly Archives: October 2021

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope arrives in French Guiana ahead of Dec. 18 launch

A cargo ship carrying the $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope arrived in French Guiana on Tuesday (Oct. 12), wrapping up a 16-day ocean voyage that covered 5,800 miles (9,300 kilometers), NASA officials said.

The ship, known as the MN Colibri, departed from Seal Beach in Southern California’s Orange County on Sept. 26. It entered the Panama Canal on Oct. 5, moving from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea, and then made its way to French Guiana, a French territory on South America’s northeastern coast.

How to watch NASA’s Lucy asteroid mission launch this week online

Lucy — which will study Trojan asteroids, or asteroids that share the orbit of the giant planet — will fly to space from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. With blast-off targeting 5:34 a.m. EDT (0934 GMT), live launch coverage will begin at 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) on NASA Television, the NASA app, NASA social media channels and here at Space.com.

Rocket Lab to launch NASA smallsat using SBIR award

Rocket Lab will launch a NASA technology demonstration satellite under an unconventional arrangement as the agency works on a more standardized approach for launching smallsats.

Rocket Lab announced Oct. 6 that NASA selected the company to launch the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System (ACS3) spacecraft on an Electron rocket. The 12-unit cubesat will test the deployment of a solar sail using composite booms seven meters long. Those booms, which will unspool over the course of 20 to 30 minutes, are designed to be lighter that traditional metallic booms while also being less susceptible to thermal distortion.

Orionid meteor shower 21-22 October 2021: When, where & how to see it

While a Full Moon will dampen visibility, the Orinid Meteor Shower will happen 21-22 October, 2021.

Highly porous rocks are responsible for asteroid Bennu’s surprisingly craggy surface

Scientists thought asteroid Bennu’s surface would be like a sandy beach, abundant in fine sand and pebbles, which would have been perfect for collecting samples. Past telescope observations from Earth’s orbit had suggested the presence of large swaths of fine-grain material called fine regolith that’s smaller than a few centimeters.

Why a Labrador crater is the perfect training ground for future moon explorers

One of the most iconic moments of the 20th century was the first step by a human on the surface of another planetary body. That first footprint was, of course, made by Neil Armstrong on the moon on July 21, 1969. Like many of you, I was not alive to witness this historic event, and so have spent much of my career dreaming of the time when humans will once again venture beyond the protection of low Earth orbit, back to the moon, and then on to Mars. That day is getting tantalizingly close with the launch of NASA’s Artemis Program. 

Planet with iron rainfall is even more extreme than scientists thought

On this sizzling exoplanet hundreds of light-years from Earth, droplets of iron rain fall from the sky at night. Now, researchers have also detected sodium and ionized calcium in the planet’s atmosphere, based on observations from the Gemini North Telescope, which is located near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.

William Shatner’s Blue Origin launch on New Shepard: Live updates

William Shatner, the actor who portrayed Captain Kirk on the original “Star Trek” TV series and films will launch into space on Oct. 12, 2021 aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft. Liftoff is set for 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) from Blue Origin’s Launch Site One in West Texas with Shatner and three others aboard. 

NASA reassigns 2 astronauts from Boeing’s Starliner to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon

Two astronauts expected to fly on early missions of Boeing’s crew capsule will instead ride to orbit with SpaceX, NASA announced on October 6, 2021. The agency has reassigned astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada to SpaceX’s Crew-5 mission, which is expected to launch toward the International Space Station no earlier than the fall of 2022. 

Soyuz delivers cosmonaut and film crew to ISS

A Soyuz spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station Oct. 5 carrying a cosmonaut as well as an actress and director who will film scenes for a Russian movie. A Soyuz-2 rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:55 a.m. Eastern and placed the Soyuz MS-19 spacecraft into orbit. The Soyuz docked with the Rassvet module of the ISS at 8:22 a.m. Eastern after a two-orbit approach. The spacecraft’s commander, Anton Shkaplerov, had to perform a manual docking after a problem with the automated Kurs docking system.

Japanese carmaker Honda developing reusable rocket for LEO satellites

SEOUL, South Korea — Japanese carmaker Honda is developing a partially reusable launch vehicle for small satellites with a test launch to be conducted by 2030.  The company unveiled the plan Sept. 30, saying its core automotive technologies for combustion, fluid, remote control and guidance will be applied to the rocket.

Automation a Key Enabler of the Future Space Economy

Robotics and automation are playing a huge role across the rapidly evolving new space economy and value chains adjacent to space. The new space economy is being driven by more than billionaires and tourists wishing to go to the great beyond, or governments seeking to commercialize space missions.