• DLR, CNES and ArianeGroup inaugurate the expansion of the European research and technology test bench P8.3 with a virtual celebration.
• Whether science or industry – the P8.3 offers a unique research and innovation environment for liquid-chemical space propulsion and promotes the fast industrial application of innovative technologies of future propulsion systems.
• Operation with different fuel combinations.
• Development and validation of demonstrators with different levels of technology maturity possible.

LAMPODSHAUSEN, Germany (DLR PR) — The German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the French Space Agency Center National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and the company ArianeGroup the European research and technology test bench P8 expanded. The partners opened the new P8.3 test cell on April 14, 2021 as part of a virtual celebration. 

With the expansion, DLR has created the prerequisites for future space propulsion systems to be developed and tested almost entirely at the DLR site in Lampoldshausen. DLR Lampoldshausen has unique skills, infrastructure and many years of experience in this area. The interaction between research and development creates important synergies and strengthens engine expertise as an important pillar of European space transport.

PARIS (CNES PR) — The Council of Ministers of Wednesday April 14, 2021 appointed Philippe Baptiste, President of the National Center for Space Studies (CNES). Born in 1972, Philippe Baptiste holds a doctorate from the University of Technology of Compiègne and a civil engineer from Mines de Nancy. He also holds an MSc from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, a DEA from Sorbonne University and accreditation to supervise research.

A digital scientist, Philippe Baptiste is a specialist in algorithms, combinatorial optimization, operations research and artificial intelligence. He pursued an academic career as a researcher at the CNRS (1999), at IBM’s Watson Research Center (2000-2001), and as a lecturer at the École Polytechnique (2002-2012). 

He is the author of several books and about 150 scientific publications and communications. He headed the computer science laboratory of École Polytechnique, created the Institute of Information Sciences and their interactions before becoming in 2014 Deputy Managing Director of CNRS, one of the first partners of CNES. Member of the High Scientific Council of ONERA, he also sat on the Board of INRIA.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA is targeting no earlier than Monday, April 19, for the first flight of its Ingenuity Mars Helicopter at approximately 3:30 a.m. EDT (12:30 a.m. PDT).

The following is a statement from Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk on Friday’s announcement of the intended nomination by President Joe Biden of former NASA astronaut Pam Melroy to serve as the agency’s deputy administrator: “Pam’s experience as an astronaut, space shuttle commander, and U.S. Air Force test pilot would bring to NASA a unique perspective on the opportunities and challenges facing the agency. Pam is driven by a desire to […]

State of California, NASA JPL, and Planet team up with University of Arizona, ASU, RMI, High Tide Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies in unique coalition to fight climate change

SAN FRANCISCO, April 15, 2021 (Carbon Mapper PR) — Carbon Mapper, a new nonprofit organization, and its partners – the State of California, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA JPL), Planet, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University (ASU), High Tide Foundation and RMI – today announced a pioneering program to help improve understanding of and accelerate reductions in global methane and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. In addition, the Carbon Mapper consortium announced its plan to deploy a ground-breaking hyperspectral satellite constellation with the ability to pinpoint, quantify and track point-source methane and CO₂ emissions.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, along with Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Sergey Kud-Sverchkov, returned to Earth on Saturday, following six months living and working aboard the  International Space Station.

IRVINE, Calif. (ICEYE PR) – ICEYE, the global leader in persistent monitoring of Earth from its constellation of radar imaging satellites, today announced that it has opened a new manufacturing facility in Irvine, California. The company’s U.S. headquarters will host the production of multiple spacecraft simultaneously and also contain a research and development lab, offices, and a customer engagement space. Importantly, the Irvine location also houses a Mission Operations Center for monitoring and operating U.S. licensed spacecraft.

“With our new production facility in the U.S., we will add significant next-generation capabilities to our space and ground segments,” said Jerry Welsh, CEO of ICEYE US. “This will provide us with the most reliable operational foundation, and give us the flexibility and efficiency to best accommodate the requirements of our U.S. government customers.”

Now 50 times as far from the Sun as Earth, History-Making Pluto Explorer photographs Voyager 1’s location from the Kuiper Belt

LAUREL, Md. (NASA PR) — In the weeks following its launch in early 2006, when NASA’s New Horizons was still close to home, it took just minutes to transmit a command to the spacecraft, and hear back that the onboard computer received and was ready to carry out the instructions.

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts 2021 Phase III Award
Amount: $2 million

Nickolas Solomey
Wichita State University
Wichita, Kan.

This is a proposal for the development of a Neutrino Detector for a Spacecraft that has a science mission to fly close to the Sun and study the nuclear furnace core and search for and study the neutrino gravitational lens at 20 to 50 AU of the 2nd brightest neutrino source in the sky – the galactic core – and along the way, search for direct interaction of dark matter. The neutrino intensity can dramatically change as the distance from the Sun squared and the solar neutrino flux (a background to dark matter) can be dramatically decreased going away from the Sun.

WASHINGTON (White House PR) – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate eight leaders to key Administration posts: Pamela Melroy, Nominee for Deputy Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration Pam Melroy (Colonel, USAF, ret) is an aerospace executive with government and industry experience across civil, commercial, and national security space. She is a retired U.S. Air Force test pilot and former NASA astronaut and Space Shuttle commander. Melroy […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA is getting ready to send astronauts to explore more of the Moon as part of the Artemis program, and the agency has selected SpaceX to continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface. At least one of those astronauts will make history as the first woman on the Moon. Another goal of the Artemis program includes landing the first person of color on the lunar surface.

The Washington Post is reporting that SpaceX has won a single-source contract to develop the Human Landing System (HLS) based on its Starship design that will take humans back to the moon.

SpaceX beat out Dynetics and the Blue Origin-led National team that included Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper. SpaceX’s $2.9 billion bid was well below that of its competitors, according to the Post.