Mission | Common News Update

Jan242021 by adminNo Comments

SpaceX launches record-setting mission without a hitch

Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Elon Musk's SpaceX launched 143 small satellites into space Sunday morning, setting a world record for the most spacecraft sent to orbit on a single mission. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellites for the Transporter-1 mission lifted off at 10 a.m. EST under partially cloudy skies -- but satisfactory enough for a safe launch -- toward a somewhat rare polar orbit, controllers said. Advertisement With more than a dozen customers, the mission's largest number of satellites came from San Francisco-based Planet (formerly Planet Labs), with 38 SuperDove spacecraft for Earth observation and imaging. [embedded content] SpaceX packed 10 its Starlink communications satellites on board, which were the last to be deployed into orbit at 11:32 a.m. EST. The also rocket carried thre...

Jan62021 by adminNo Comments

NASA prepares Orion simulator for lunar mission training

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 6 (UPI) -- NASA is setting up a high-tech simulator, made by Lockheed Martin, to teach astronauts how to operate the Orion capsule during planned moon missions. Weak funding from Congress has cast doubt over the schedule for such lunar missions, but NASA is moving forward with preparations, officials have said. Advertisement Lockheed delivered the Orion simulator to Johnson Space Center in mid-December, ahead of the first potential crewed flight to the moon in 2023. Astronauts will practice every step of their planned flights to the moon, from launch to lunar landing, NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik told UPI. "The training teams will be able to have the highest-fidelity, most realistic flight simulations that are possible," said Bresnik, who trained in simulators for his...

Dec32020 by adminNo Comments

China’s Chang’e-5 mission leaves Moon’s surface

Science

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Dec32020 by adminNo Comments

British troops deployed to war-torn Mali for UN’s most dangerous peacekeeping mission

World

British soldiers have arrived in Mali to join the world's most dangerous UN peacekeeping mission in the war-torn west African country.The 300 troops from the Light Dragoons and Royal Anglian Regiment will work alongside 16,000 peacekeepers from 56 different countries. Their role will be to provide specialist long-range reconnaissance for the United Nations mission, gathering intelligence in areas of the country hard to reach. Image: The British troops will work side-by-side with 16,000 peacekeepers from 56 different countries. Pic: Ministry of Defence In recent months, security has deteriorated in Mali.Two-and-a-half thousand civilians were killed over the past year and the effects of climate change - rising temperatures and migrating...

Dec32020 by adminNo Comments

Space balloon company plans stratospheric mission in early 2021

Science

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A new space tourism company plans its first uncrewed test flight of a capsule suspended from a hydrogen balloon in late March from Florida, its founders said. Arizona-based Space Perspective plans to launch the balloon from Kennedy Space Center's former space shuttle landing strip, sending it on an hour's long ascent to the edge of space, about 20 miles high. Advertisement The company's ambitions are part of a nascent space tourism industry that includes such major firms as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX. Initial interest and signups for potential customers on company's website far outstripped anything the founders expected in June when it first announced its plan, said Jane Poynter, the Space Perspective founder and co-CEO wit...