WASHINGTON — The White House said Feb. 23 has no schedule for nominating a NASA administrator as a new round of rumors swirl about who might be selected to lead the agency. The topic arose at a press conference when a reporter asked press secretary Jen Psaki about rumors that the Biden administration was considering
Science
Taken from the February 2021 issue of Physics World, where it appeared under the headline “Improving nuclear fuel safety”. Members of the Institute of Physics can enjoy the full issue via the Physics World app. A decade after the Fukushima disaster, Michael Allen investigates claims from academia and industry that the next generation of nuclear
WASHINGTON — A Falcon 9 booster failed to land after its most recent launch Feb. 15 because of “heat damage” it sustained, but a SpaceX official said he was confident that the boosters can be reused 10 or more times. During a session of the 47th Spaceport Summit Feb. 23, Hans Koenigsmann, senior adviser for
WASHINGTON — Just days after NASA said it was ready to perform a second static-fire test of the Space Launch System core stage, the agency announced Feb. 22 that the test would be delayed because of a valve problem. NASA said it was postponing the Green Run static-fire test, which had been scheduled for Feb.
Shipping containers: scientists in Italy and the US have used cosmic muons to peer inside the steel boxes. (Courtesy: Patrick Denker/CC BY 2.0) A full-scale prototype muon tomograph that can peer inside cargo containers has been created by researchers in Italy and the US. The team, led by Francesco Riggi at the University of Catania,
Austin has “communicated to Air Force leaders that he supports their decision-making process about the preferred location of Space Command headquarters.” WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has issued a statement in support of the U.S. Air Force’s handling of the basing decision for U.S. Space Command, his spokesman said. Austin’s statement follows an announcement
WASHINGTON — As NASA’s management of its human spaceflight programs evolves to incorporate greater roles for companies, the agency needs to take a strategic look at its workforce and infrastructure requirements, a safety panel advised. At the Feb. 18 meeting of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), members reiterated concerns cited in its annual report
Sunlight sensing: Artist’s impression of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) analysing the Martian atmosphere (Courtesy: ESA)”> Sunlight sensing: Artist’s impression of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) analysing the Martian atmosphere (Courtesy: ESA) Scientists in Russia have observed trace amounts of hydrogen chloride in Mars’ atmosphere for the first time. The detection, which was
Correction: This article was corrected on Feb. 19 at 5:26 pm Eastern time to note that the latest delivery order calls for GeoOptics alone to supply 1,300 daily radio occultations. SAN FRANCISCO – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced plans Feb. 19 to dramatically expand the number of daily radio occultation soundings it acquires
WASHINGTON — NASA remains cautiously optimistic that the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket can take place before the end of the year despite having to perform a second hotfire test of the rocket’s core stage. That test, the culmination of the Green Run test campaign for the core stage that started in
Thin polymer discs self-propel by repeated “snapping” motions. Credit: Yongjin Kim, UMass Amherst A polymer-based gel made by researchers in the US and inspired by the Venus flytrap plant can snap, jump and “reset” itself autonomously. The new self-propelled material might have applications in micron-sized robots and other devices that operate without batteries or motors.
By Allison Kubo Hutchison Elevation map of the Jezero Crater, landing site of the Perseverance Rover. NASA/Tim Goudge Located on the Northwest side of Isidis Basin, Jezero Crater’s lay undisturbed except for dust storms and meteorite impacts for countless eons. Jezero Crater is an uneven half-circle where the Northeast side is worn away. There are
WASHINGTON — A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket launched a Cygnus spacecraft carrying supplies and experiments for the International Space Station Feb. 20. The Antares 230+ rocket lifted off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia at 12:36 p.m. Eastern. The Cygnus spacecraft separated from the rocket’s upper stage nine minutes
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) said in a statement Feb. 19 that he requested the IG investigation a month ago. WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s inspector general will begin a probe into how the Air Force decided U.S. Space Command should move its headquarters from Colorado to Alabama. “We plan to begin the subject evaluation in February
HELSINKI — Chinese private firm Landspace is working towards a potential first orbital launch attempt with a methane-fueled launch vehicle later this year. Landspace completed assembly of the four Tianque-12 liquid methane-liquid oxygen engines which power the first stage of the Zhuque-2 rocket in early February. This was preceded by a payload fairing separation test
SAN FRANCISCO – The Quebec government will invest 400 million Canadian dollars ($315.5 million) in Telesat’s Lightspeed low-Earth orbit communications network. MDA will produce the constellation’s phased array antennas. And Thales Alenia Space will manufacture the satellites in Quebec, under a memorandum of understanding announced Feb. 18. “The Lightspeed program will create 600 high-paying STEM
Illustration of NASA’s Perseverance rover firing its descent stage engines as it nears the Martian surface (Courtesy: NASA/JPL-Caltech) NASA’s Perseverance rover has landed on Mars, completing its seven-month journey to the red planet. The Mars 2020 mission will search for signs of ancient microbial life and collect rock samples that will be returned to Earth