Space Daily 29 10 2018

October 29, 2018

Japan launches environment monitoring satellite  Tokyo (AFP) Oct 29, 2018 - Japan's space agency on Monday launched a rocket carrying a satellite that will monitor greenhouse gases, as well as the first satellite built entirely in the United Arab Emirates. The nation's H-IIA rocket lifted off Monday afternoon at 1:08 pm (0308 GMT) from the Tanegashima Space Centre, according to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). About 16 minutes later, it sent a Japa ... more

China, France launch satellite to study climate change  Beijing (AFP) Oct 29, 2018 - The first Franco-Chinese satellite was launched into orbit on Monday to study ocean surface winds and waves around the clock, better predict cyclones and improve scientists' understanding of climate change. A Long March 2C carrier rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert at 0043 GMT to enter orbit 520 kilometres (323 miles) above the Earth, ... more

Viasat, SpaceX Enter Contract for a Future ViaSat-3 Satellite Launch  Carlsbad CA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - Viasat Inc has selected SpaceX to launch one of its ViaSat-3 satellite missions. The Viasat mission is scheduled to launch in the 2020 - 2022 timeframe from the Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission will launch aboard a Falcon Heavy. Viasat chose the SpaceX Falcon Heavy for its ability to fly a near direct-injection mission, inserting a ViaSat- ... more

Free satellite data to help tackle public sector challenges  London, UK (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 - Government departments, emergency services and local authorities will receive free access to thousands of high-resolution satellite images of Britain, under plans announced by Science Minister Sam Gyimah. The UK Space Agency's Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP) will provide access to archives of images and radar data for research and development projects. This will stimula ... more

Third ASPIRE test confirms Mars 2020 parachute a go  Wallops Island, VA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - In the early hours of Sept. 7, NASA broke a world record. Less than 2 minutes after the launch of a 58-foot-tall (17.7-meter) Black Brant IX sounding rocket, a payload separated and began its dive back through Earth's atmosphere. When onboard sensors determined the payload had reached the appropriate height and Mach number (38 kilometers altitude, Mach 1.8), the payload deployed a parachut ... more

Auction house made false claims about the "Moon Puzzle" it sold  New York NY (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - On Friday, October 19th, in a widely publicized sale, a buyer spent $612,500 on a meteorite described by the internet auctioneer RR Auction as "The Largest Known Complete Lunar Puzzle." It was neither the largest nor was it complete. Other attributes were also falsified. A group of scientists and meteorite experts called the false claims that RR Auction's "Moon Puzzle" was "One of the most ... more

Scientist explores a better way to predict space weather  San Antonio TX (SPX) Oct 24, 2018 - Findings recently published by a Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) space scientist shed new light on predicting the thermodynamics of solar flares and other "space weather" events involving hot, fast-moving plasmas. The science of statistical mechanics is one of the pillars of understanding the thermodynamic behavior of phenomena with a large number of particles, such as gases. Classical ... more

ESA on the way to Space19+ and beyond  Madrid, Spain (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - European ministers in charge of space activities met this week at ESA's European Space Astronomy Centre near Madrid, Spain, to preview ESA's vision for the future of Europe in space. Called the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting, this was a milestone on the road to ESA's next Ministerial Council, called 'Space19+', which will be held in November 2019. This week, the ministers from ESA Member ... more

The surprising coincidence between two overarchieving NASA missions  Washington DC (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - Two vastly different NASA spacecraft are about to run out of fuel: The Kepler spacecraft, which spent nine years in deep space collecting data that detected thousands of planets orbiting stars outside our solar system, and the Dawn spacecraft, which spent 11 years orbiting and studying the main asteroid belt's two largest objects, Vesta and Ceres. However, the two record-setting missions h ... more  India successfully conducts crucial test of Moon lander  New Delhi (Sputnik) Oct 29, 2018 - The test demonstrated the capability of the navigation, guidance and control system of the lander to meet the mission requirement of a safe, soft and precise landing on the lunar surface by steering the module horizontally, as well as vertically down to a pre-defined target. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the crucial Lander Actuator Performance Tes ... more  Bepicolombo magnetometer boom deployed  Paris (ESA) Oct 29, 2018 - The 2.5 m long boom carrying the magnetometer sensors onboard ESA's BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) has been successfully deployed. The sensors are now prepared to measure the magnetic field on the way to Mercury. Following launch last weekend, and having completed the 'launch and early orbit phase' on Monday, confirming the spacecraft and systems were healthy and functioning n ... more  Astronauts confident of next crewed Soyuz mission to Space Station  Moscow (Sputnik) Oct 29, 2018 - Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques says he is more confident than ever in the Russian Soyuz rocket booster which sends astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), despite a spectacular failure of the one of the rockets on October 11, about two minutes into its flight. Saint-Jacques was initially scheduled to fly to the ISS on December 20 for Expedition #58. However, since the ... more  Getting the most out of atmospheric data analysis  Kanazawa, Japan (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - New-particle formation in the atmosphere provides the nucleation centres required for the formation of clouds, making it an important process for understanding climate. Efforts to investigate the complex balance of chemistry and physics that leads to new-particle formation have resulted in the acquisition of very large data sets. A team of researchers based at a number of centers, includin ... more  How hibernators could help humans treat illness, conserve energy and get to Mars  New Orleans LA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - Researchers gathered Friday to discuss the potential for hibernation and the related process, torpor, to aid human health in spaceflight at the American Physiological Society's (APS) Comparative Physiology: Complexity and Integration conference in New Orleans. To survive times when food is scarce and temperatures are low, some animals enter hibernation - a physiological process that reduce ... more  Desert test drive for Mars rover controlled from 1,000 miles away  London, UK (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - A UK-built Mars rover was taken for a test drive in Spain's Tabernas Desert this week, under remote control from the Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire - 1,000 miles away. The ExoFiT Mars rover testing team will use a new model called 'Charlie' to test hardware, software and to practise science operations for the future European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars rover, which will look for life ... more  Northrop Grumman to upgrade IBNS systems for Burke-class vessels  Washington (UPI) Oct 25, 2018 - Northrop Grumman has received a contract to provide common integrated bridge and navigation systems, or IBNS, for the U.S. Navy's New Construction Ship Program and Midlife Modernization Program. The $18 million firm-fixed-price contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, calls on Northrop to produce base hardware for IBNS systems for both new DDG-51 vessels and upgrades ... more  Gravitational waves could shed light on dark matter  Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 24, 2018 - The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will enable astrophysicists to observe gravitational waves emitted by black holes as they collide with or capture other black holes. LISA will consist of three spacecraft orbiting the sun in a constant triangle formation. Gravitational waves passing through will distort the sides of the triangle slightly, and these minimal distortions can be de ... more  Discovery of new superconducting materials using materials informatics  Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 - A NIMS-Ehime University joint research team succeeded in discovering new materials that exhibit superconductivity under high pressures using materials informatics (MI) approaches (data science-based material search techniques). his study experimentally demonstrated that MI enables efficient exploration of new superconducting materials. MI approaches may be applicable to the development of ... more