Shanghai to foster commercial space ecosystem
HELSINKI — A Shanghai government initiative aims to foster a robust commercial space ecosystem including a range of satellites, launch vehicles and related applications and infrastructure.
Rethink the Mars Program
NASA’s robotic Mars exploration program is in crisis. A recent review of the plan of its flagship Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission pegged its cost at $10 billion, a price tag that threatens to preclude funding any other exploration missions to the Red Planet for the next decade and a half.
DARPA picks 14 companies for lunar architecture study
WASHINGTON — DARPA has selected 14 companies, ranging from small startups to established aerospace corporations, to participate in a study on developing commercial lunar infrastructure.
OSIRIS-REx parachute deployment affected by wiring error
WASHINGTON — The drogue parachute on the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule failed to deploy properly because of a design error, a flaw that did not prevent a safe landing of the capsule.
China launches internet technology test satellite from sea barge
HELSINKI — China launched a new internet technology experiment satellite from a sea platform Tuesday, apparently continuing tests for a low Earth orbit megaconstellation.
Egypt joins China’s ILRS moon base initiative
HELSINKI — Egypt and China signed a series of space agreements Wednesday including cooperation on the China-led International Lunar Research Station.
NASA working with industry to advance inflatable heat shield technology
WASHINGTON — The success of a NASA project last year to demonstrate an inflatable heat shield has attracted interest from several companies who are working with the agency to advance the technology.
NASA revises contract strategy for ISS deorbit vehicle
WASHINGTON — NASA will give companies greater choice in the type of contract to use for producing a deorbit vehicle for the International Space Station.
How exotic alien life could thrive in the giant molecular clouds of deep space
There are several plausible chemical pathways a hypothetical methane-based life-form could use to generate energy.
Life might have been possible just seconds after the Big Bang
Life has found a home on Earth for around 4 billion years. That’s a significant fraction of the universe’s 13.77 billion-year history. Presumably, if life arose here, it could have appeared anywhere. And for sufficiently broad definitions of life, it might even be possible for life to have appeared mere seconds after the Big Bang.
Data science helps cross-check space discoveries ‘across time and telescopes’
“Researchers can extract more knowledge from the same data, contributing to a deeper understanding of the cosmos”
Dark matter may be hiding in the Large Hadron Collider’s particle jets
If dark matter is made from “dark” versions of the basic building blocks of ordinary matter, the world’s largest particle accelerator should be able to pin it down.
Performing evasive maneuvers increases satellites’ collision risk down the road
Researchers have found that trying to avoid collisions in orbit increases the risk of future collisions in the aftermath of each avoidance maneuver. The reason? Current methods of space traffic management can’t adequately deal with the growing numbers of satellites in space.