Scientific payloads in SpaceShipTwo cabin (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
IIAS Researcher Kellie Gerardi to Fly as Payload Specialist on Research Mission
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Virgin Galactic PR) — Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SPCE) (“Virgin Galactic”), a vertically integrated aerospace and space travel company, has announced a new contract to fly Kellie Gerardi, a researcher for the International Institute for Astronautical Sciences (IIAS), on a dedicated research flight, during which Kellie will conduct experiments and test new healthcare technologies while she is in space.
CHICAGO and DENVER, June 3, 2021 (United Airlines/Boom Supersonic PR) — United Airlines today announced a commercial agreement with Denver-based aerospace company Boom Supersonic to add aircraft to its global fleet as well as a cooperative sustainability initiative – a move that facilitates a leap forward in returning supersonic speeds to aviation.
COMPASSO project – new generation of clocks for time measurement and position determination. (Credit: DLR)
The DLR Institute for Quantum Technologies in Ulm develops such technologies and applies them together with partners from industry.
In this way, DLR supports the development of know-how in a key technology that is important for Germany as a business and science location.
Quantum technologies, for example, enable long-term secure communication and very precise navigation via satellite.
The DLR Institute was officially inaugurated at a digital event on May 27, 2021.
ULM, Germany (DLR PR) — Whether secure communication or reliable navigation by satellite – many space applications rely on high-precision instruments. Technologies based on quantum mechanical effects enable previously unattainable levels of accuracy and safety. The Institute for Quantum Technologies of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) develops such technologies and brings them to prototype maturity with industry. The institute in Ulm thus bridges the gap between basic research and application. The DLR Institute was officially inaugurated at a digital event on May 27, 2021.
NASA FACT SHEET FY 2022 Budget Request Construction & Environmental Compliance & Restoration ($ Millions)
Construction & Environmental Compliance Restoration (CECR) provides for capital repairs and improvements to NASA’s infrastructure and environmental compliance and restoration activities. With installations in 14 states, NASA collectively manages an inventory of more than 5,000 buildings and structures, of which 83 percent are beyond designed life. To ensure American preeminence in space, science, technology, and avionics, the Budget funds repair, replacement, and modernization of NASA’s infrastructure. The FY 2022 budget provides for vital repair and construction work to ensure NASA’s physical assets are safe, reliable, and mission-ready.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (SpaceX PR) — SpaceX is targeting Thursday, June 3 for Falcon 9’s launch of the twenty-second Commercial Resupply Services mission (CRS-22). Liftoff is targeted for 1:29 p.m. EDT, or 17:29 UTC, from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. A backup launch opportunity is available on Friday, June 4 at 1:03 p.m. EDT, or 17:03 UTC. Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s […]
Venus hides a wealth of information that could help us better understand Earth and exoplanets. NASA’s JPL is designing mission concepts to survive the planet’s extreme temperatures and atmospheric pressure. This image is a composite of data from NASA’s Magellan spacecraft and Pioneer Venus Orbiter. (Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected two new missions to Venus, Earth’s nearest planetary neighbor. Part of NASA’s Discovery Program, the missions aim to understand how Venus became an inferno-like world when it has so many other characteristics similar to ours – and may have been the first habitable world in the solar system, complete with an ocean and Earth-like climate.
The New Yorker has a long piece about Virgin Galactic Chairman Chamath Palihapitiya, aka, the King of SPACs for his role in taking companies like Galactic public through special purpose acquisition companies.
Part of the piece recounts a pitch session Palihapitiya made to investors. He was interrupted by an older would-be investor who questions Virgin Galactic’s prospects and Palihapitiya’s track record. The Virgin Galactic chairman responded by calling him a “fucking idiot.”
“Have you even looked at the prospectus? Did you even fucking Google me before you came in here?”
All the eyes in the room went wide. “How lazy are you?” Palihapitiya said. “I don’t even want your fucking money.”
Silence. Then one of the younger listeners started chuckling. Everyone under the age of fifty began grinning uncontrollably: now they had a Palihapitiya story of their own. “It was brilliant,” an attendee told me. “It was completely calculated. That old guy wasn’t ever gonna invest in space tourism. But the other people in the room—they loved it!”
About half of the investors called Palihapitiya’s office afterward to say that they wanted in on the deal. “People either love Chamath or they hate him, and that’s fantastic, because polarization gets attention,” the attendee said. “Polarization gets you on CNBC, it gets you Twitter followers, it gets you a megaphone. If you believe that Chamath can get an hour on CNBC to explain Virgin Galactic, then you want to buy into this deal, because attention is money.” Having a great story, and knowing how to tell it, can be a quick way to get rich. Which is exactly how capitalism, at certain moments, is supposed to work.
Ah, the alpha male culture of Wall Street. It’s never steered us wrong before.
NEW YORK, June 1, 2021 (Levi & Korsinsky PR) – The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:
To: All persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired securities of Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. (“Virgin Galactic”) (NYSE: SPCE) between October 26, 2019 and April 30, 2021. You are hereby notified that a securities class action lawsuit has been commenced in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. To get more information go to:
NASA’s X-59 Quiet SuperSonic Technology X-plane, or QueSST, will fly over communities in the United States to demonstrate quiet supersonic. (Credits: Lockheed Martin)
NASA FACT SHEET FY 2022 Budget Request Aeronautics ($ Millions)
NASA Aeronautics conducts research to advance the safety, capacity, and efficiency of the air transportation system, reduce emissions, and sustain U.S. technological leadership in the aviation industry.
Checking up on Blue Origin’s auction of a seat on the first crewed New Shepard flight, we find that the top bid remains at $2.8 million. That’s exactly where it was a few days after online bidding became public on May 19.
Online bidding will end next Thursday, June 10 at 5 p.m. EDT (2100 UTC). Bidders need to raise their bid limits before that deadline. Two days later, the competition will conclude with a live online auction.
Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov conduct a spacewalk outside the International Space Station on June 2, 2021. (Credit: Roscosmos)
MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — The exit hatch of the Small Research Module “Poisk” is closed, cosmonauts of the Roscosmos detachment Oleg Novitsky and Peter Dubrov completed the 48th planned spacewalk (EVK-48). On their debut, they successfully completed all the equipment installation work on the outer surface of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The hatch of the Poisk docking bay was closed at 16:12 Moscow time on June 2, 2021. The duration of the extravehicular activity was 7 hours 19 minutes.
A landmark agreement between Axiom Space and SpaceX confirms Axiom’s next three planned missions to the International Space Station will fly on SpaceX’s Dragon, in addition to Ax-1.
The growing partnership between Axiom and SpaceX – the industry leaders in human spaceflight and in orbital services and launch, respectively – solidifies the nascent commercial human spaceflight market.
The missions, both managed and launched by private companies, are a validation of NASA’s Commercial Crew strategy to enable a commercial marketplace in low-Earth orbit.
HOUSTON (Axiom Space PR) — Axiom Space revealed Wednesday that it has finalized a deal with SpaceX for three additional Dragon flights, on which Axiom would fly its proposed private crews on its next three fully commercial missions to the International Space Station. The landmark agreement between the industry leaders in human spaceflight as well as launch and orbital services, respectively, ensures the nascent commercial human spaceflight market’s growth will subsist.
