Month: April 2024

The highest observatory on Earth sits atop Chile’s Andes Mountains — and it’s finally open

NeRD

A new telescope billed as the world’s highest astronomical site is officially open for business. The Japanese University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory, or TAO, which was first conceptualized 26 years ago to study the evolution of galaxies and exoplanets, is perched on top of a tall mountain in the Chilean Andes at 5,640 meters (18,500 feet) above sea level. The facility’s altitude surpasses even the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, which is at an elevation of 5,050 meters (16,570 feet).  TAO is located on the summit of Atacama’s Cerro Chajnantor mountain,…

Read More

NASA Ames Astrogram – March/April 2024

NeRD

Astrogram banner Advanced Composite Solar Sail System Successfully Launches On April 23, the Advanced Composite Solar Sail System CubeSat mission launched successfully aboard an Electron rocket launched by Rocket Lab and carried Ames’ payload from Māhia, New Zealand. The CubeSat was subsequently delivered to a Sun-synchronous orbit around Earth. Ames has pioneered the use of CubeSats and small satellites to run innovative, cost-effective missions and test technologies in space, providing leadership in cost-effective spaceflight missions for NASA. An artist’s concept of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail System spacecraft in orbit. NrediASA/Aero…

Read More

Satellite operator SES acquiring Intelsat in $3.1 billion deal

NeRD

SES plans to buy fellow satellite operator Intelsat, in a deal that could help the combined company compete with SpaceX’s huge Starlink broadband network. Luxembourg-based SES is acquiring Virginia-based multinational Intelsat for $3.1 billion in a deal that’s expected to close next year, the two companies announced today (April 30).  “In a fast-moving and competitive satellite communication industry, this transaction expands our multi-orbit space network, spectrum portfolio, ground infrastructure around the world, go-to-market capabilities, managed service solutions and financial profile,” SES CEO Adel Al-Saleh said in a statement.  “I am…

Read More

Einstein Probe X-ray telescope releases 1st images taken with ‘lobster vision’

NeRD

A joint Chinese and European X-ray telescope mission called Einstein Probe is successfully viewing the universe in widescreen, with a telescope design that mimics the eyes of lobsters. Einstein Probe, which launched on Jan. 9 aboard a Chinese Long March rocket, is currently undergoing testing and calibration of its instruments as it orbits the Earth at an altitude of 600 kilometers (373 miles). Its first observations were revealed at a symposium in Beijing. The problem with X-rays is that they are so high in energy that they are difficult to…

Read More

International Space Station Program Manager Dana Weigel

NeRD

“What you eventually realize is that your success as a leader is not really yours, it’s the team’s. You’re not successful without the team, so it’s your ability to support, motivate, and guide the team that allows us to accomplish amazing things.” — Dana Weigel, International Space Station Program Manager, NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Read More

Evidence for Planet 9 found in icy bodies sneaking past Neptune

NeRD

More evidence for a hypothetical extra planet lurking in the most distant reaches of our solar system has come to light — and the clues are associated with icy bodies that cross the orbit of Neptune while traversing  long, looping paths around the sun. Planet Nine, as the predicted planet is referred to, was first postulated in 2016 by Caltech’s Konstantin Batygin and Michael Brown, the latter having also discovered the dwarf planet Eris in 2005. Their original evidence predominantly focused on the clustering of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), which are…

Read More

NASA Marshall Prepares for Strategic Facilities Updates 

NeRD

4 min read Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater) NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center is getting ready for the next big step in the evolution of its main campus in Huntsville, Alabama. Through a series of multi-year infrastructure projects, Marshall is optimizing its footprint to assure its place as a vibrant and vital hub for the aerospace community in the next era.  Near-term plans call for the carefully orchestrated take-down of 19 obsolete and idle structures – among them the 363-foot-tall Dynamic Test Stand, the Propulsion and Structural Test…

Read More

NASA crew announced for simulated Mars mission next month

NeRD

NASA has selected four volunteers to go on a mission to Mars — without actually leaving Earth. The simulated mission to the Red Planet will take place at a habitat created at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston; it will simulate what it would be like for astronauts to live and work on Mars for 45 days. The team includes Jason Lee, Stephanie Navarro, Shareef Al Romaithi and Piyumi Wijesekara. The four will call the agency’s Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) home from May 10 through June 24. Two alternate…

Read More

NASA’s Viper moon rover gets its ‘neck’ and ‘head’ installed for mission later this year

NeRD

NASA”s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) has earned its “neck” and “head,” aka its “mast,” meaning it now stands proudly at 8 feet (2.4 meters) tall.  The photo below,  taken in a clean room at NASA’s Johnson Space Center earlier this month, shows progress on quite the impressive robot. It is expected to take a trip to the South Pole of the moon later this year, embarking on a 100-day mission. The mission  will involve learning more about water on the moon and gleaning what other resources may be…

Read More