The Robotic Arm on NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander carrying a scoop of Martian soil bound for the spacecraft’s microscope. (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Tools on Mars Exploration Rovers, Phoenix Lander and Mars Science Laboratory have completed 300 total excavations of Mars rocks and soil over the last decade, moving approximately 450 cc’s of material for scientific analysis

NEW YORK, NY (Honeybee PR) — Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation today announced that its tools on the last three generations of NASA’s Mars landers have reached a milestone, collectively completing 300 excavations of Martian dirt and rocks. This marks an important milestone for the physical exploration of the Martian landscape in the search for a habitable environment and in preparation for future human missions. In total, Honeybee’s four contact science tools have moved approximately 450 cc’s of material.

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Scaled has conducted four hot fires of the RM2 engine over the past month, including the powered flight of the SpaceShipTwo on Sept. 6. The log entries are of limited value because three of them lack details about the lengths of the hot fires. The powered flight had an engine burn of 20 seconds. RocketMotorTwo Hot-Fire Test Summaries Via Scaled Composites Fire: 33 Date: 06 Sep 13 Objectives: Thirty-third full […]

SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo on display during the Virgin Galactic career fair at TSC’s FAITH hangar in Mojave, Calif. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

MOJAVE, Calif. (VG PR) – Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline and flagship of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, along with its sister space vehicle manufacturing organization, The Spaceship Company, recently hosted a career fair in Mojave, Calif., and online to bring new talent to their best-in-class teams.

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After receiving more than 400 responses to the Asteroid Initiative RFI, a team of NASA scientists, engineers, and mission planners evaluated the proposed ideas. Nearly 100 respondents have been invited to present their ideas and concepts during the Asteroid Initiative Idea Synthesis Workshop alongside NASA personnel and members of the larger community, including virtual participants. The abstracts are posted here. Due to capacity constraints, onsite attendance will be limited to […]

Cygnus Mission Update Via Orbital Sciences Corporation The final cargo bound for the International Space Station was loaded into our Cygnus spacecraft, and technicians closed the hatch and performed final close-outs to the Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM). Cygnus was encapsulated in the 9.9 meter (32.48 ft.) long Antares fairing on Sept 9, 2013 at the Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Wallops Island Flight Facility. Technicians will perform final close outs […]

Amsterdam, 11 September 2013 (SXC PR) — Earlier today Space Expedition Corporation formally confirmed the news that singer, philantropist and Nobel Price nominee Sir Bob Geldof has secured a seat in one of their upcoming flights, that way officially becoming an astronaut.

Geldof said: “Being the first Irishman in space is not only a fantastic honor but pretty mind-blowing. The first rock astronaut space rat! Elvis may have left the building but Bob Geldof will have left the Planet! Wild! Who would have thought it possible in my lifetime.”

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View of a CubeSat equipped with an inflated antenna, in a NASA radiation chamber. (Credit: Alessandra Babuscia)

By Jennifer Chu
MIT News Office

The future of satellite technology is getting small — about the size of a shoebox, to be exact. These so-called “CubeSats,” and other small satellites, are making space exploration cheaper and more accessible: The minuscule probes can be launched into orbit at a fraction of the weight and cost of traditional satellites.

But with such small packages come big limitations — namely, a satellite’s communication range. Large, far-ranging radio dishes are impossible to store in a CubeSat’s tight quarters. Instead, the satellites are equipped with smaller, less powerful antennae, restricting them to orbits below those of most geosynchronous satellites.

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OSC’s Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus freighter are almost as global as the International Space Station itself.

Antares/Cygnus Mission Summary

Company: Orbital Sciences Corporation
Launch Vehicle: Antares
Payload: Cygnus cargo freighter
Destination: International Space Station
Launch Date: Sept. 17, 2013
Launch Site: Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Island, Virginia
Orbit: LEO
Program: NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems (COTS)
Mission Description:  Inaugural test flight of the first Cygnus cargo freighter to the International Space Station under NASA’s COTS program. Cygnus will carry a token cargo to astronauts aboard the orbiting laboratory. This is the second flight of the Antares launch vehicle. A successful maiden flight was flown in April.

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Payerne, Switzerland (S3 PR) — The CleanSpace One satellite has a new ally in its mission to clean up space debris. EPFL has entered into a partnership with Swiss Space Systems (S3). The company will invest CHF 15 million [$16 million] in the project and will launch the satellite into orbit.

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Mission Overview

Company: SpaceX
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 v. 1.1
Date: Sept. 14, 2013
Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Orbit: Elliptical Polar
Primary Payload: CASSIOPE (CAscade, SmallSat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer)
CASSIOPE Funding Authority: Canadian Space Agency
CASSIOPE Builder: MDA

CASSIOPE Description: Cascade commercial communications system  and a scientific payload called ePOP (enhanced Polar Outflow Probe)

Secondary Payloads: CUSat-1 and CUSat-2 microsatellites (Cornell University); DANDE (Drag and Atmospheric Neutral Density Explorer) microsatellite (University of Colorado at Boulder); and three POPACS (Polar Orbiting Passive Atmospheric Calibration Sphere) 3U CubeSat (Morehead State University, University of Arkansas, Planetary Systems Corporation, Montana State University, Drexel University)

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