WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — The James Webb Space Telescope team has fully deployed the spacecraft’s 70-foot sunshield, a key milestone in preparing it for science operations.

The sunshield – about the size of a tennis court at full size – was folded to fit inside the payload area of an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket’s nose cone prior to launch. The Webb team began remotely deploying the sunshield Dec. 28, 2021, three days after launch.

• The Ariane 6 core stage and upper stage intended for the combined tests on the launch pad in French Guiana have left the ArianeGroup sites in Les Mureaux and Bremen and begun their journey to Europe’s Spaceport.
• These stages will be integrated by ArianeGroup in the Launcher Assembly Building (BAL) to create the central core for the Ariane 6 combined tests model.
• The combined tests are a crucial step in the development of Ariane 6: for the first time, the rocket and its new launch pad will be tested together and the Vulcain 2.1 motor will be hot-fired.

BREMEN, Germany (ArianeGroup PR) — The Ariane 6 core stage and upper stage are now en route to Europe’s Spaceport. After final assembly at ArianeGroup’s Les Mureaux site and completion of all its functional acceptance tests, the core stage was taken to the French port of Le Havre. The ship then sailed to Bremen, Germany, to load the upper stage – assembled and inspected on-site by ArianeGroup – before setting sail for French Guiana. The two stages are scheduled to arrive at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana in January.

MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — When NASA’s Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, explores and samples the soils at the Moon’s South Pole, scientists anticipate it will reveal answers to some of the Moon’s enduring mysteries. Where is the water and how much is there? Where did the Moon’s water come from? What other resources are there?

ANITA-2 has been developed by SINTEF in collaboration with ESA and OHB, and supported by the Norwegian Space Center.

By Berit Ellingsen

OSLO, Norway — At the International Space Station, it is not just a matter of opening a window if astronauts suspect the leak of one of the many gases used on board.

Here the air consists of the same gases as on earth: nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other gases in small amounts. But both people, interior and equipment emit different trace gases. Several different types of spacecraft carry supplies and experiments to the space station, and they can also be a source of gases.

VIENNA, 21 December 2021 (UN Information Service PR) – The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the United Kingdom have signed an agreement to address the information gap for space-related climate actions. The scientific community and the United Nations (UN) system have long recognized and utilized space-based technologies, data and applications as essential components in climate change research, monitoring, and policy enactment. However, a comprehensive overview of the broad spectrum of current and planned activities in using space for climate action has been missing.

Through this new partnership, the UN and the United Kingdom strive to address this information gap and build synergies, facilitate coherence, and contribute to avoiding duplication of existing efforts. With a Strategic Mapping Exercise, the core of the mutual work, the two parties are going to review existing activities at the international and regional levels, in the UN system, for non-UN groups, partnerships, organizations and other relevant entities.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — As the International Space Station enters its third decade of continuous human presence, the impact of microgravity research conducted there keeps growing. The months between Nov. 2020 and Nov. 2021 saw publication of more than 400 scientific papers based on studies aboard the orbiting lab.

Here are some highlights of recent results from groundbreaking space station science:

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Relativity Space PR) — Relativity Space, the first company to 3D print complete rockets and make the world’s largest metal 3D printer, has announced a major investment in the future of its software-driven manufacturing platform with the appointment of Scott Van Vliet, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering.

In his new role, Scott will lead the integrated software and additive manufacturing teams, overseeing more than 150 employees today and doubling the team before the end of the year to expand the Plant Operating System in Relativity. Relativity’s Factory Operating System is a unified platform that integrates data collection, correlation, machine learning, visualization, and workflow tools to enable faster rates of compound progress across Relativity’s Stargate printers, production plants, test and launch infrastructure, and missile development. As the software division represents a large and growing portion of the company’s talent, the relative recently exceeded 600 employees in total. With teams at Long Beach, Vandenberg, Seattle, Washington, DC, Stennis and Cape Canaveral locations, Relativity is expanding its revolutionary large-scale approach to 3D printing and automation to build a new technology stack for aerospace manufacturing — one capable of building rockets and other products.

First Layer of Webb’s Sunshield TightenedJan. 3, 2022 Today, at 3:48 pm EST, the Webb team finished tensioning the first layer of the observatory’s sunshield– that is, tightening it into its final, completely taut position. This is the first of five layers that will each be tightened in turn over the next two to three days, until the observatory’s sunshield is fully deployed. The process began around 10 am EST. This layer […]

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — In 2021, a decision was made to start the preliminary design of the Russian space station. The creation of a Russian space station will allow the Russian Federation to maintain its presence in low Earth orbit and ensure the fulfillment of a wide range of tasks. Based on the results of the preliminary design of the station, decisions on its appearance and orbit will be made. It is not excluded that foreign partners will be allowed to participate in the project of the new orbital station.

LANCASTER, Pa. (ACT PR) — Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) is excited to announce a $5 Million NASA Sequential Phase II SBIR Program Award, “Development of Lunar Vehicle and Payload Thermal Control Systems for Extreme Lunar Environments”.  As part of this project, ACT is subcontracting Astrobotic to provide their industry experience with lunar landers and rovers, including system-level architecture and critical design requirements. Astrobotic will validate the technology using their Peregrine lander, Griffin lander, and CubeRover thermal system architectures as a baseline.

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — In 2021, NASA completed its busiest year of development yet in low-Earth orbit, made history on Mars, continued to make progress on its Artemis plans for the Moon, tested new technologies for a supersonic aircraft, finalized launch preparations for the next-generation space telescope, and much more – all while safely operating during a pandemic and welcoming new leadership under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Reuters reports that SpaceX raised nearly $1.5 billion last year to fund development of its Starlink satellite broadband constellation and Super Heavy/Starship launch system. Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX has raised $337.4 million in equity financing, the rocket company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. SpaceX, which counts Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) and Fidelity Investments among its investors, hit $100 billion in valuation following a secondary share sale in October, according to CNBC. It had raised […]