Space News and Discussions

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

Northern Lights captured glowing over Europe

4 hours ago

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, have been seen lighting up the night sky over Europe.

Time-lapse videos posted on social media show swirls of green, pink and scarlet moving across the sky.

They became visible after one of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years hit Earth, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issuing a rare solar storm warning.

The lights are caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-68994265

[weatheriscool]

Relativity Space Tests the Aeon R Rocket Engine
May 10, 2024 by Brian Wang

Relativity Space is a private space company that is developing 3D printed rockets, artificial intelligence, and autonomous robotics. They have raised about $1.34 billion and have a valuation of about $5 billion.
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They plan to launch the Terran R from Launch Complex 16 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Base starting in 2026.

It is a SpaceX Falcon 9 class rocket. They also plan to reuse the first stage.

https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2024/05/r ... ngine.html

[Time_Traveller]

NASA's PREFIRE mission is ready to unlock the mysteries of Earth's poles

published yesterday



NASA is preparing to launch its latest climate science mission, the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experiment (PREFIRE), which aims to capture brand new data on how heat is lost to space from Earth's polar regions.

PREFIRE consists of a pair of cubesats that will launch separately into near-polar orbits. The first, "Ready, Aim, PREFIRE," is set to launch no earlier than (NET) May 22, on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Pad B at the company's Launch Complex 1, in Māhia, New Zealand. The second cubesat, "PREFIRE and ICE," will launch a few days later.

The pair are designed to measure far-infrared radiation — wavelengths longer than 15 microns — that account for about 60 percent of the total heat lost at the poles. "We've never measured that before," said PREFIRE Principle Investigator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Tristan L'Ecuyer during a May 15 call with reporters. L'Ecuyer says PREFIRE will help scientists study how different properties at the poles, such as clouds, humidity and the fluctuation of the surface between frozen and liquid states, contribute to the dissipation of heat lost to space.

The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, leading to paradigm shifts for local populations and wildlife habitats at the poles, as well as global ramifications such as rising sea levels. "Ultimately, [PREFIRE] information is going to be combined with our climate models and hopefully we'll be able to improve our ability to simulate what sea level rise might look like in the future, and also how the polar climate change is going to affect the weather systems around the planet," L'Ecuyer said.

The PREFIRE cubesats are each about the size of a loaf of bread, and contain identical thermal infrared spectrometers. Though small, their cost-effective design and singular purpose fit nicely into NASA's growing matrix of climate research missions, such as the much larger SWOT satellite (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) for studying water levels across the entire planet. "NASA needs both our large missions and these smaller missions," said Karen St. Germain, NASA's Earth Science Division director at the agency's headquarters. "You can think of them in some ways as generalists versus specialists to answer this full range of questions we have about understanding the Earth as a system."

https://www.space.com/nasa-prefire-pola ... e-cubesats

[weatheriscool]

World's first commercial spaceplane in final stages before debut ISS flight
By Bronwyn Thompson
May 20, 2024

https://newatlas.com/space/dream-chaser-spaceplane-iss/

The world's first winged commercial spaceplane has arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, its final destination before its first mission to the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.

Following rigorous testing at Ohio's Neil Armstrong Test Facility, the Dream Chaser DC-100 spaceplane named Tenacity got the green light to commence final pre-launch preparations, such as finishing its thermal protection system and payload integration, before it hitches a ride on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket to deliver 7,800 pounds (3,540 kg) of food, water and science experiments to the ISS.

[firestar464]

Boeing’s first crewed Starliner launch pushed back again, next possible opportunity ‘still being discussed’

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/boein ... d-07b1a421

Common Boeing L