Space News from SpaceDaily.com
March 18, 2020
ROCKET SCIENCE
NASA's mobile moon rocket tower 44% over budget, IG says



Washington DC (UPI) Mar 17, 2020
Construction on NASA's mobile launcher program for the new Space Launch System moon rocket is 44 percent over budget and three years behind schedule, a new report said. The space agency has built one massive rolling platform to move its moon rockets, with another on the way. Crews are adapting the first launcher to be mated with the SLS rocket for its first launch, planned later this year. But the first launcher cost $308 million more than a budget set in 2014, for a total of $693 millio ... read more

ROCKET SCIENCE
Spacex Falcon 9 launches sixth batch of Starlink satellites
Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
The Falcon 9 carrier rocket with satellites for the Starlink system will be launched on Wednesday, private US aerospace manufacturer SpaceX said on Twitter. "Targeting Wednesday, 18 March at 8 ... more
DRAGON SPACE
China's Long March-7A carrier rocket fails in maiden flight
Beijing (XNA) Mar 18, 2020
The first of China's new medium-sized carrier rocket Long March-7A suffered a failure Monday. The rocket blasted off at 9:34 p.m. Beijing Time from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coas ... more
SPACEMART
Soyuz to launch another batch of OneWeb constellation satellites
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
For its fourth mission of the year - and the second flight in 2020 with the Soyuz medium-lift launcher - Arianespace will perform the third launch for the OneWeb constellation, orbiting 34 satellite ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
Sea Launch command ship arrives in Russia from US
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 18, 2020
The Sea Launch Commander command ship, which left the United States at the end of February, has arrived in Slavyanka in the Primorsky Territory in Russia's Far East, according to global ship-trackin ... more
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MARSDAILY
Waves in thin Martian air with wide effects
Lisboa, Portugal (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
Mars has a very thin atmosphere, with nearly one hundredth the density of ours on Earth, and gravity pulls with little more than one third of the strength we feel on our planet. As a result, dust st ... more
SPACEWAR
India stalled launch of its spy satellite GSAT-1 under pressure from the US - Reports
New Delhi (Sputnik) Mar 17, 2020
India's space agency announced the launch of its Geo Imaging Satellite (GSAT-1) on 5 March. However, a day ahead of the launch, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced the launch had ... more
MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS
Space and Missile Systems Center's multi-manifest satellite vehicle ready for integration on AEHF-6 mission
Los Angeles AFB CA (AFNS) Mar 17, 2020
The Space and Missile Systems Center's Launch Enterprise Mission Manifest Office delivered a fully tested and integrated multi-manifest small satellite vehicle, known as TDO-2, to Cape Canaveral Air ... more
MICROSAT BLITZ
Exolaunch to deliver UAE Space Agency's small satellite into orbit on Soyuz-2
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
Berlin-based Exolaunch has told SpaceDaily that the launch of a 3U cubesat, MeznSat, for the UAE Space Agency will be performed aboard a Soyuz-2 rocket. The purpose of the satellite is to study and ... more
SPACEMART
Coronavirus and ESA's duty of care
Paris (ESA) Mar 18, 2020
With significant developments in the coronavirus situation and recent directives in our host nations, ESA has taken steps ensure the operation of its critical tasks while carefully reinforcing its d ... more
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SPACE MEDICINE
On mission to eradicate virus germs, China firms see the UV light
Beijing (AFP) March 13, 2020
Ultraviolet light is being beamed through public buses and lifts in China to wipe out any possible germs as part of efforts to clear the country of the deadly coronavirus epidemic. ... more
SPACE MEDICINE
Growing stem cells for deep space exploration
Darmstadt, Germany (ESA) Mar 18, 2020
Earth's magnetosphere protects us from the most harmful cosmic rays that bombard our planet but beyond this natural shield, astronauts are subjected to radiation that is a hundred times more than at ... more
EARTH OBSERVATION
More reliable rainfall forecasts for South Asian summer monsoons in coming decades
Beijing, China (SPX) Mar 16, 2020
The South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) provides the principal water supply for over a billion people. In good monsoon years, farmers reap a rich harvest, while in bad monsoon years, severe droughts w ... more
ICE WORLD
What causes an ice age to end
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Mar 16, 2020
New University of Melbourne research has revealed that ice ages over the last million years ended when the tilt angle of the Earth's axis was approaching high values. During these times, longe ... more
TIME AND SPACE
Long-distance fiber link poised to create powerful networks of optical clocks
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
An academic-industrial team in Japan has connected three laboratories in a 100-kilometer region with an optical telecommunications fiber network stable enough to remotely interrogate optical atomic ... more


Artificial intelligence helps prevent disruptions in fusion devices

IRON AND ICE
Asteroid Ryugu likely link in planetary formation
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 17, 2020
The Solar System formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Numerous fragments that bear witness to this early era orbit the Sun as asteroids. Around three-quarters of these are carbon-rich C-type ... more
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TIME AND SPACE
Discovery of zero-energy bound states at both ends of a one-dimensional atomic line defect
Beijing, China (SPX) Mar 14, 2020
In recent years, the development of quantum computers beyond the capability of classical computers has become a new frontier in science and technology and a key direction to realize quantum supremac ... more
ROBO SPACE
Help NASA design a robot to dig on the Moon
Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Mar 17, 2020
Digging on the Moon is a hard job for a robot. It has to be able to collect and move lunar soil, or regolith, but anything launching to the Moon needs to be lightweight. The problem is excavators re ... more
ROCKET SCIENCE
Guiana Space Center suspends launch campaigns
Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Mar 17, 2020
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need to fully implement the measures decided by the French government, launch campaigns underway at the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana have been ... more
SOLAR DAILY
Bendy, ultra-thin solar cell
Paris (ESA) Mar 16, 2020
ESA has backed the creation of this flexible, ultra-thin solar cell to deliver the best power to mass ratio for space missions. Just about 0.02 mm thick - thinner than a human hair - the proto ... more
MOON DAILY
Russia eyes Oct 2021 launch for first lunar mission in 45 years
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 17, 2020
The launch of the first Russian spacecraft to the Moon after a 45-year hiatus is planned for 1 October 2021, a Russian space scientist announced at a meeting of the Space Council of the Russian Acad ... more
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Astronauts grounded in Russia's Star City over virus
Moscow (AFP) March 12, 2020
Astronauts awaiting a space mission are banned from leaving Star City training centre outside Moscow due to the novel coronavirus and will skip traditional pre-launch rituals, the centre's head said Thursday. The next launch to the International Space Station is due to blast off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on April 9 with Russian cosmonauts Ivan Vagner and Anatoly Ivanishin and NASA astronau ... more
+ Science takes time, even in a lab moving 17,500 miles per hour
+ Beyond human toll, coronavirus could shake up global politics
+ Insects, seaweed and lab-grown meat could be the foods of the future
+ Orbion and Xplore partner to accelerate deep space exploration
+ Visitors vanish from Asia's most visited sites
+ Life support upgrades arrive at station, improve reliability for Moon, Mars Missions
+ Plant growth on ISS has global impacts on Earth
Student Launch adjusts competition structure to remove need for travel
Huntsville AL (SPX) Mar 16, 2020
The health and safety of our Student Launch teams, our NASA workforce and our challenge partners has always been, and continues to be, NASA's first priority. NASA has been carefully monitoring the health concerns related to the COVID-19 virus, particularly the risk of large gatherings and travel. NASA has determined that the best course of action is to replace this year's in-person year-en ... more
+ SpaceX aborts Sunday launch from Florida at last moment
+ NASA's mobile moon rocket tower 44% over budget, IG says
+ Spacex Falcon 9 launches sixth batch of Starlink satellites
+ Sea Launch command ship arrives in Russia from US
+ Guiana Space Center suspends launch campaigns
+ Aerojet Rocketdyne installs rocket motor casting bell as Camden rocket motor facility nears completion
+ Rocket Lab's next mission to launch satellites for NASA, NRO and Australian university


Europe-Russia delay mission to find life on Mars
Moscow (AFP) March 12, 2020
A joint Russian-European expedition to find life on Mars has been postponed for two years, the Russian and European space agencies said Thursday, citing the novel coronavirus and multiple technical issues. The unmanned ExoMars, whose mission is to land a robot on the Red Planet to seek out signs of life, was scheduled to launch later this year after experiencing several delays. But even that ... more
+ ExoMars to take off for the Red Planet in 2022
+ Waves in thin Martian air with wide effects
+ Organic molecules discovered by Curiosity Rover consistent with early life on Mars
+ Moreux Crater on Mars offers evidence of dunes and glacial processes
+ Virginia Middle School names NASA's next Mars rover Perseverance
+ Curiosity Mars Rover Snaps Highest-Resolution Panorama Yet
+ Seismic activity on Mars resembles that found in the Swabian Jura
China's Long March-7A carrier rocket fails in maiden flight
Beijing (XNA) Mar 18, 2020
The first of China's new medium-sized carrier rocket Long March-7A suffered a failure Monday. The rocket blasted off at 9:34 p.m. Beijing Time from the Wenchang Space Launch Center on the coast of south China's Hainan Province, but a malfunction occurred later. Chinese space engineers will investigate the cause of the failure. span class="BDL">Source: Xinhua News Agency /span> ... more
+ China's Yuanwang-5 sails to Pacific Ocean for space monitoring mission
+ Construction of China's space station begins with start of LM-5B launch campaign
+ China Prepares to Launch Unknown Satellite Aboard Long March 7A Rocket
+ China's Long March-5B carrier rocket arrives at launch site
+ China to launch more space science satellites
+ China's space station core module, manned spacecraft arrive at launch site
+ China to launch Mars probe in July
Soyuz to launch another batch of OneWeb constellation satellites
Baikonur, Kazakhstan (SPX) Mar 18, 2020
For its fourth mission of the year - and the second flight in 2020 with the Soyuz medium-lift launcher - Arianespace will perform the third launch for the OneWeb constellation, orbiting 34 satellites. This 51st Soyuz mission conducted by Arianespace and its Starsem affiliate will be operated from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It will pave the way for the constellation's deployment phase - for w ... more
+ Coronavirus and ESA's duty of care
+ Hughes and OneWeb form Global Distribution Partnership for LEO satellite service
+ Making aerospace workforce training a national mandate for the future
+ Elon Musk dismisses astronomy concerns over Starlink network
+ The impact of satellite constellations on astronomical observations
+ Blast off: space minnow Indonesia eyes celestial success
+ Blast off: space minnow Indonesia eyes celestial success
European Gateway experiment will monitor radiation in deep space
Paris (ESA) Mar 16, 2020
The first science experiments that will be hosted on the Gateway, the international research outpost orbiting the Moon, have been selected by ESA and NASA. Europe's contribution will monitor radiation to gain a complete understanding of cosmic and solar rays in unexplored areas as the orbital outpost is assembled around the Moon. The first module for the Gateway, the Power and Propulsion E ... more
+ RUAG Space to supply payload adapters and separation systems for the Soyuz launchers
+ L3Harris Technologies introduces new reflector antenna tailored for smallsat missions
+ Raytheon completes first tests of radar for anti-hypersonic sensor
+ Pentagon seeks 'to reconsider' cloud contract to Microsoft
+ Discovery points to origin of mysterious ultraviolet radiation
+ World Centric announces new World Centric leaf fiber lids
+ Creating custom light using 2D materials


Scientists have discovered the origins of the building blocks of life
New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Mar 17, 2020
Rutgers researchers have discovered the origins of the protein structures responsible for metabolism: simple molecules that powered early life on Earth and serve as chemical signals that NASA could use to search for life on other planets. Their study, which predicts what the earliest proteins looked like 3.5 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, is published in the journal Proceedings of the N ... more
+ Salmon parasite is world's first non-oxygen breathing animal
+ Observed: An exoplanet where it rains iron
+ ESO telescope observes exoplanet where it rains iron
+ New technique could elucidate earliest stages of planet's life
+ Orbital tilt measurements in youngest planetary star system ever
+ Astronomers pinpoint rare binary brown dwarf
+ Safety zone saves giant moons from fatal plunge
Jupiter's Great Red Spot shrinking in size, not thickness
Paris, France (SPX) Mar 17, 2020
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, is mainly made up of liquids and gases. Its clouds are shaped by jet streams, winds and vortices into numerous parallel bands, as well as coloured patches, one of which clearly stands out: the Great Red Spot. This is an Earth-sized anticyclone that has been observed for over 350 years, but has suddenly decreased in size in recent years. The ... more
+ Researchers find new minor planets beyond Neptune
+ Ultraviolet instrument delivered for ESA's Jupiter mission
+ One Step Closer to the Edge of the Solar System
+ TRIDENT Mission Concept Selected by NASA's Discovery Program
+ Findings from Juno Update Jupiter Water Mystery
+ A close-up of Arrokoth reveals how planetary building blocks were constructed
+ New Horizons team discovers a critical piece of the planetary formation puzzle


DARPA awards contracts for work on Manta Ray program
Washington DC (SPX) Mar 12, 2020
DARPA's Manta Ray Program aims to demonstrate critical technologies for a new class of long duration, long range, payload-capable unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs). UUVs that operate for extended durations without the need for on-site human logistics support or maintenance offer the potential for persistent operations during longer term deployments. DARPA has selected three companies to ... more
+ Scientists quantify how wave power drives coastal erosion
+ Lockheed Martin receives $12.3 million to develop underwater drone
+ Ship noise disrupts camouflage abilities of shore crabs
+ Changes in oxygen, temperature could reshape deep sea fish communities
+ Waves and tides have bigger impact on marine life than human activity
+ Coral reefs in Turks and Caicos Islands resist global bleaching event
+ Reef-building coral exhibiting 'disaster traits' akin to the last major extinction event
Chinese smartphone-maker debuts device with embedded ISRO navigation system
New Delhi (Sputnik) Mar 13, 2020
In October 2019, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) developed an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System - equivalent to the US Global Positioning System (GPS). The operational name of the Indian geo-navigation network is NavIC. On Thursday, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi launched its latest mobile device series - the Redmi Note 9 - in India, priced between $175 - $215 appr ... more
+ China launches new BeiDou navigation satellite
+ Beijing to beef up support for Beidou-related industry
+ Regulators move to fine telecoms for selling location data
+ Four BeiDou satellites join system to provide services
+ Four BeiDou satellites start operation in network
+ Third Lockheed Martin-Built GPS III satellite delivered to Cape Canaveral
+ Honeywell nets $3B+ deal for new Air Force navigation system sustainment


Russia eyes Oct 2021 launch for first lunar mission in 45 years
Moscow (Sputnik) Mar 17, 2020
The launch of the first Russian spacecraft to the Moon after a 45-year hiatus is planned for 1 October 2021, a Russian space scientist announced at a meeting of the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The last Soviet interplanetary automatic station was Luna-24, launched in 1976. Russia in its history has not yet sent a spacecraft to the moon. "Therefore, the name of ou ... more
+ NASA selects first science instruments to send to Lunar Gateway
+ UNM scientists find Earth and moon not identical oxygen twins
+ Join the Artemis Generation
+ China's lunar rover travels nearly 400 meters on moon's far side
+ Gemini Telescope Images "Minimoon" Orbiting Earth
+ Mission Control to Develop Lunar Surface Autonomous Science Payload for CSA
+ Digging into the far side of the moon: Chang'E-4 probes 40 meters into lunar surface
Ammonium salts found on Rosetta's comet
Paris (ESA) Mar 16, 2020
Scientists have detected ammonium salts on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (shown in this image on the right) by analysing data collected by the Visible, Infrared and Thermal Imaging Spectrometer (VIRTIS) on ESA's Rosetta mission between August 2014 and May 2015. The new study, led by Olivier Poch of Institut de Planetologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble, France, and publis ... more
+ Asteroid Ryugu likely link in planetary formation
+ Puzzle about nitrogen solved thanks to cometary analogues
+ Bennu's boulders shine as beacons for NASA's OSIRIS-REx
+ Over 9,000 asteroids feasible for mining may help ignite new space race
+ Fire from the sky
+ First official names given to features on asteroid Bennu
+ OSIRIS-REx Swoops Over Sample Site Nightingale


More reliable rainfall forecasts for South Asian summer monsoons in coming decades
Beijing, China (SPX) Mar 16, 2020
The South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) provides the principal water supply for over a billion people. In good monsoon years, farmers reap a rich harvest, while in bad monsoon years, severe droughts wipe out crops. And heavy rains during monsoon season cause floods and hit economy badly. Policy-makers and stakeholders urgently need projection of SASM for the coming 15-30 years - usually termed as ... more
+ China's polar-observing satellite completes Antarctic mission
+ Emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals are larger than expected
+ Observing animal migration from space - ISS experiment ICARUS begins
+ Kleos Data to Target Environmental Challenges in Brazil
+ Space video company Sen awards multimillion-euro contract to NanoAvionics
+ World View Stratollite fleet to provide high resolution imagery and data analytics in the Americas
+ NASA images show fall in China pollution over virus shutdown
Want to catch a photon? Start by silencing the sun
Hoboken NJ (SPX) Feb 25, 2020
Researchers at Stevens Institute of Technology have created a 3D imaging system that uses light's quantum properties to create images 40,000 times crisper than current technologies, paving the way for never-before seen LIDAR sensing and detection in self-driving cars, satellite mapping systems, deep-space communications and medical imaging of the human retina. The work, led by Yuping Huang ... more
+ Solar wind samples suggest new physics of massive solar ejections
+ First Solar Orbiter instrument sends measurements
+ ESA's next Sun mission will be shadow-casting pair
+ Solar Orbiter launches on mission to reveal Sun's secrets
+ Solar Orbiter set to launch in mission to reveal Sun's secrets
+ Sun explorer spacecraft set for launch
+ How ESA-NASA's Solar Orbiter beats the heat


Citizen scientists enlisted to chart galaxies
Washington DC (UPI) Mar 13, 2020
A study of spiral structure, reduced in complexity so citizen scientists can participate, could offer insight into how galaxies evolve, researchers say. Researchers at the North Carolina Museum on Natural Sciences in Raleigh used software and tracings of known spiral galaxies on paper, and found that no artificial intelligence program, algorithm or other approach was as accurate in depi ... more
+ Proposals selected to study volatile stars, galaxies, cosmic collisions
+ Scientists discover pulsating remains of a star in an eclipsing double star system
+ Astrophysicists utilize polarization to watch quasars
+ Beyond the Brim, Sombrero galaxy's halo suggests turbulent past
+ Slime mold simulations map the Universe's dark matter
+ How big is a neutron star
+ 'Strange' glimpse into neutron stars and symmetry violation
Discovery of zero-energy bound states at both ends of a one-dimensional atomic line defect
Beijing, China (SPX) Mar 14, 2020
In recent years, the development of quantum computers beyond the capability of classical computers has become a new frontier in science and technology and a key direction to realize quantum supremacy. However, conventional quantum computing has a serious challenge due to quantum decoherence effect and requires a significant amount of error correction in scaling quantum qubits. Therefore, t ... more
+ Long-distance fiber link poised to create powerful networks of optical clocks
+ Breakthrough made towards building the world's most powerful particle accelerator
+ Paper sheds light on infant Universe and origin of matter
+ New telescope observations shed new light on black hole ejections
+ Tracking down the mystery of matter
+ Astronomers detect biggest explosion in the history of the Universe
+ NASA's OSIRIS-REx students catch unexpected glimpse of newly discovered black hole
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