Mission | Common News Update

Jan32019 by adminNo Comments

China Moon mission lands Chang'e-4 spacecraft on far side

Media playback is unsupported on your device China says it has successfully landed a robotic spacecraft on the far side of the Moon, the first ever such attempt and landing.At 10:26 Beijing time (02:26 GMT), the un-crewed Chang'e-4 probe touched down in the South Pole-Aitken Basin, state media said.It is carrying instruments to analyse the unexplored region's geology, as well to conduct biological experiments.The landing is being seen as a major milestone in space exploration.There have been numerous missions to the Moon in recent years, but the vast majority have been to orbit, fly by or impact. The last crewed landing was Apollo 17 in 1972.Why China has its eye on the stars ...

Dec42018 by adminNo Comments

Watch live: SpaceX to launch ISS resupply mission

Science

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- After launching 64 miniature satellites into orbit on Monday, a new record, SpaceX is scheduled to execute another rocket launch on the opposite side of the country, a resupply mission for NASA and the International Space Station. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast-off from Cape Canaveral on Tuesday. The rocket will shepherd the company's Drago cargo ship into space. Tuesday's launch is scheduled for 1:38 p.m. ET. The blastoff will be broadcast live on NASA TV. Dozens of science experiments, organized by both NASA and the ISS National Lab, are packed into the cargo ship, as are supplies and equipment for crew members aboard the space station. The payload weighs more than 5,600 pounds. One of the new science tools being carried to ISS is a space laser designed ...

Dec42018 by adminNo Comments

Zumwalt-class stealth destroyer gun dead, vessel mission being redefined

Business

Dec. 3 (UPI) -- The Navy told Congress in a recent hearing that the Advanced Gun System on the Zumwalt-class destroyer is a dead letter for the foreseeable future, despite the long-range gun designed for shore bombardment being one of the cornerstones of the troubled stealth destroyer. Even as the second-in-class USS Michael Monsoor departs from Guantanamo Bay for San Diego to receive commissioning and combat testing, the Navy is only starting to figure out what they will do with the troubled multi-billion dollar Zumwalt-class destroyer. The Zumwalt has been billed as the most advanced destroyer ever built, with stealth capabilities and a gun system that could provide precision fire support deep inland ahead of advancing amphibious forces. It is also equipped with an electrical propulsion...

Nov262018 by adminNo Comments

Nasa's Mars InSight mission heads for '7 minutes of terror'

Science

Media playback is unsupported on your device The American space agency Nasa will attempt to put another robotic probe on Mars later. The InSight lander is being targeted at a flat plain just north of the planet's equator called Elysium Planitia. It carries a suite of instruments - many of them from Europe - to try to determine the rocky world's internal structure. Signals from the probe confirming its safe touchdown should be received at 19:53 GMT, give or take a minute. As with previous surface missions, InSight must survive the "seven minutes of terror" - the time it takes for a probe entering Mars' thin atmosphere at hypersonic speed to slow to walking pace and gently put itself on the ground. Many have tried; most have failed. "As hum...

Oct302018 by adminNo Comments

Parker Solar Probe: Nasa's Sun mission smashes records

Science

America's audacious mission to "touch the Sun" has now got nearer to our star than any previous human-made object.The Parker Solar Probe passed the current record of 42.73 million km (26.55 million miles) from the Sun's surface on Monday.The previous record was set by the German-US Helios 2 satellite back in April 1976. That mission also set the all time speed record of close to 70km/s (43 miles/s). Parker will smash this, too.The expectation is that it will eventually reach peak speeds around 190km/s (690,000km/h; 428,700mph).Parker was launched from Earth in August. It's on a trajectory that will take it inside the Sun's outer atmosphere, or corona.Information from this region promises to crack longstanding mysteries about our ...