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☆ NASA hasn't heard from its InSight lander in 5 days. It may have run out of power and died on Mars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

NASA's InSight lander on Mars isn't responding to communications from Earth, likely due to low power levels. The solar arrays on NASA's InSight lander are deployed for a test at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, on April 30, 2015. An illustration of the InSight Mars lander. An artist illustration of the InSight lander on Mars. Then they instructed the robot to scoop up dirt and slowly trickle it next to the solar panels.

☆ Defense firm L3Harris to buy Aerojet for $4.7 bln with eye on missile demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc (LHX.N) said on Sunday it would buy Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc (AJRD.N) in a $4.7 billion all-cash transaction, as it looks to tap into rising demand for missiles amid the Ukraine conflict. Reuetrs had first reported on Saturday that L3Harris was nearing the deal to acquire U.S. rocket maker Aerojet. The deal, which is expected to be completed in 2023, would add on to L3Harris' Space & Airborne Systems unit, which makes electronic warfare equipment and avionics sensors. Aerojet develops and manufactures liquid and solid rocket propulsion and hypersonic engines for space, defense, civil and commercial applications. Aerojet makes the RS-25 engines for NASA's launch vehicle, as well as the RL10 engines that power launch vehicles made by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing Co (BA.N) and Lockheed Martin.

Dec 17 (Reuters) - L3Harris Technologies Inc (LHX.N) is nearing a $4.7 billion deal to acquire U.S. rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc (AJRD.N), 10 months after the latter's $4.4 billion sale to Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) fell through, people familiar with the matter said on Saturday. L3Harris is a defense contractor that is mostly a competitor rather than a customer of Aerojet. Aerojet's solid fuel rocket motors and other propulsion systems would help L3Harris expand its space defense systems and precision munitions businesses. Spokespeople for Aerojet, L3Harris and General Electric did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Its customers include the Pentagon, Boeing (BA.N), Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N).

☆ SpaceX rocket launches world's first global water survey mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The upper stage of the two-stage rocket was expected to reach its initial orbit about 530 miles (850 km) above Earth within minutes. Its payload, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography satellite, or SWOT, incorporates advanced microwave radar technology to collect high-definition measurements of oceans, lakes, reservoirs and rivers over 90% of the globe. Components of the SUV-sized satellite were built primarily by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and French space agency CNES. SWOT's ability to discern smaller surface features also will help study the impacts of rising ocean levels on coastal areas. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and John StonestreetOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] The Pentagon is seen from the air in Washington, U.S., March 3, 2022, more than a week after Russia invaded Ukraine. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File PhotoWASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The Pentagon's new push to investigate reports of UFOs has so far not yielded any evidence to suggest that aliens have visited Earth or crash-landed here, senior military leaders said on Friday. However, the Pentagon's effort to investigate anomalous, unidentified objects -- whether they are in space, the skies or even underwater -- led to hundreds of new reports that are now being investigated, they say. But so far they have seen nothing that indicates intelligent alien life. We will go through it all," Kirkpatrick said, speaking at the first news conference since AARO was established in July.

☆ NASA fixed a glitch on Voyager 1 after consulting 45-year-old manuals. The spacecraft was beaming information through a dead computer.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-13 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In May, NASA reported its Voyager 1 spacecraft was sending strange data back to Earth. An engineer works on an instrument for one of NASA's Voyager spacecraft, on November 18, 1976. NASA/JPL-CaltechDuring the first 12 years of the Voyager mission, thousands of engineers worked on the project, Dodd said. In late August, Voyager engineers located the source of the garbled data: the spacecraft's attitude-control system was routing information through a dead computer. NASA/JPLFrom discovering unknown moons and rings to the first direct evidence of the heliopause, the Voyager mission has helped scientists understand the cosmos.

☆ Forget the F-150 Lightning and Hummer EV. Ford and GM's real battle is for electric delivery vans.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-11 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But perhaps their real battle will happen with electric delivery vans. "But the electrification of the commercial vehicle market," he said, "I think is underappreciated." Now, government support through incentives has bolstered EV momentum, and as a result, companies looking for electric fleets will only ask for more. How electric delivery van-makers plan to nail this downFord and GM's inherent advantages over rivals include name recognition, robust supply bases, and ample resources. "We've seen over the decades how strong brand loyalty is in the commercial vehicle segment," said AutoPacific analyst Robby DeGraff.

[1/4] NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with the Orion crew capsule, lifts off from launch complex 39-B on the unmanned Artemis 1 mission to the moon, seen from Sebastian, Florida, U.S. November 16, 2022. REUTERS/Joe Rimkus Jr.Dec 11 (Reuters) - NASA's uncrewed Orion capsule hurtled through space on Sunday on the final return leg of its voyage around the moon and back, winding up the inaugural mission of the Artemis lunar program 50 years to the day after Apollo's final moon landing. The gumdrop-shaped Orion capsule, carrying a simulated crew of three mannequins wired with sensors, was due to parachute into the Pacific at 9:39 a.m. PST (1739 GMT) near Guadalupe Island, off Mexico's Baja California peninsula. They were the last of 12 NASA astronauts to walk on the moon during a total of six Apollo missions starting in 1969. "It is our priority-one objective," NASA's Artemis I mission manager Mike Sarafin said at a briefing last week.

☆ Pentagon debuts its new stealth bomber, the B-21 Raider
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

The B-21 Raider is the first new American bomber aircraft in more than 30 years. Both the Air Force and Northrop also point to the Raider's relatively quick development: The bomber went from contract award to debut in seven years. And we will build the bomber force in numbers suited to the strategic environment ahead," Austin said. The B-21 Raider, which takes its name from the 1942 Doolittle Raid over Tokyo, will be slightly smaller than the B-2 to increase its range, Warden said. Northrop Grumman has also incorporated maintenance lessons learned from the B-2, Warden said.

☆ Rolls-Royce uses hydrogen produced with wind and tidal power to test jet engine
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Anmar Frangoul | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The test used a converted regional aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, with hydrogen produced at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. LONDON — Plans to reduce the significant environmental effects of aviation took a step forward this week after Rolls-Royce and easyJet said they had carried out the ground test of a jet engine that used hydrogen produced from tidal and wind power. The test, which was carried out at an outdoor site in the U.K., used a converted regional aircraft engine from London-listed Rolls-Royce. "This is a true British success story, with the hydrogen being used to power the jet engine today produced using tidal and wind energy from the Orkney Islands of Scotland," Shapps added. Using hydrogen to power an internal combustion engine is different to hydrogen fuel cell technology, where hydrogen from a tank mixes with oxygen, generating electricity.

Nov 30 (Reuters) - Industrial conglomerate General Electric Co (GE.N) and defense contractor L3Harris Technologies Inc (LHX.N) are among those competing to acquire rocket maker Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc (AJRD.N), according to people familiar with the matter. Aircraft producer Textron Inc (TXT.N) and private equity firm Veritas Capital are also vying to acquire El Segundo, California-based Aerojet, which has a market value of about $4 billion, the sources said. Aerojet has been running a process to sell itself after its $4.4 billion sale to Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) was thwarted by antitrust regulators in February, Reuters has previously reported. Spokespeople for Aerojet, General Electric, Textron and Veritas Capital did not respond to requests for comment. Its customers include the Pentagon, Boeing (BA.N), Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N).

☆ Airbus develops fuel-cell engine for hydrogen plane
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Airbus has started developing a fuel-cell engine, it said on Wednesday, sticking with plans to introduce a hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft by 2035. The system is one of several options being considered for a potential zero-emission aircaft based on hydrogen, Airbus said. Jet engine makers Rolls-Royce , General Electric , Safran and Pratt & Whitney are among its biggest suppliers. An alternative approach based on combusting liquid hydrogen in more conventional jet engines depends on heavy cooling in larger and heavier tanks. Airbus will start ground and flight testing fuel-cell architecture towards the middle of the decade, the company said during a two-day sustainability event.

☆ Rolls-Royce successfully tests hydrogen-powered jet engine
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Britain's Rolls-Royce (RR.L) said it has successfully run an aircraft engine on hydrogen, a world aviation first that marks a major step towards proving the gas could be key to decarbonising air travel. The ground test, using a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine, used green hydrogen created by wind and tidal power, the British company said on Monday. They said they were already planning a second set of tests, with a longer-term ambition to carry out flight tests. Planemaker Airbus is working with French-U.S. engine maker CFM International to test hydrogen propulsion technology. Other technologies backed by companies such as Rolls-Royce include electric engines, which would be initially suitable for short flights, and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

☆ Listen to the Best Songs From the Opportunity Rover's Morning Playlist
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

There's a new documentary about the Opportunity rover's life on Mars. For more than 15 years, NASA's Opportunity rover was a robot geologist on the Martian surface. From ABBA to George Michael, wake up with the stirring playlist NASA engineers made for the Opportunity Mars rover. While dusty storms can silence rovers, dust devils can blow away some of the dust that blankets the rover's solar panels. Months later, mission engineers hoped Opportunity would reboot once the weather cleared, as it had in the past.

☆ The Visions of Octavia Butler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lynell George | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. Mural with a portrait of Octavia Butler and her name, composed of dots of various densities in 3-D space. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. “‘Kindred’ was a story of ordinary people trapped in fantastic circumstances,” Butler wrote in a 1988 notebook. Her point of view was one not traditionally found in science fiction and, simply by writing, she demanded a larger world.

☆ How Joby and Delta are making flying taxis a reality
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Andrew Evers | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The world has long dreamed of a day when flying cars become part of daily life. Startups Joby, Archer, Vertical , Lilium and more are developing eVTOLs, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, with the vision of making air taxis a reality. CNBC got an inside look at Joby Aviation, one of the eVTOL players with grand ambitions of not only building the aircraft but also operating an Uber-like air taxi business. Founded in 2009 in Santa Cruz, California, the company has received investments from Toyota , Delta Air Lines , Uber and the U.S. Department of Defense. Joby is currently manufacturing and performing flight tests at its pilot facility outside of Monterey in Marina, California.

☆ Why Delta is betting on Joby to make electric flying taxis a reality
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Andrew Evers | Jeniece Pettitt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWhy Delta is betting on Joby to make electric flying taxis a realityAdvances in battery and electric propulsion technology have enabled entirely new types of aircraft to take to the skies. Startups Joby, Archer, Vertical, Lilium and more are developing eVTOLs, electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, with the vision of making air taxis a reality. CNBC got an inside look at Joby Aviation, one of the eVTOL players that has grand ambitions of not only building the aircraft, but operating an Uber-like air taxi business.

North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of provoking tensions on the peninsula. “I think we should focus on the facts not on what North Korea claims.”North Korea didn't release information about the specific missile models test fired last week. North Korea missile launches, unknown location, North Korea, November 2022. “What if North Korea conducted tests to obtain certain data it wanted to verify during the missile development?” Kim asked. Shin said the multiple launches could be a sign that North Korea is racing to prove its capabilities.

☆ Would you pay $1 million to live aboard this 753-foot ‘sustainable’ megaship? Take a look inside
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Storylines' MV Narrative residential cruise ship is set to launch in 2025, with 547 private residences priced between $1 million and $8 million to own. That's when Miami-based residential shipbuilder Storylines plans to launch its new $1.5 billion, 753-foot megaship filled with 547 private residences. Storylines bills the cruise ship, called the MV Narrative, as "the world's first environmentally sustainable private residence ship." Storylines' MV Narrative will offer 547 luxury private residences with anywhere from one to four bedrooms. People who live on the MV Narrative will get to circumnavigate the globe every three years.

☆ Latest U.S. defense-intelligence report on UFOs to be made public soon
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 3 (Reuters) - A declassified version of the latest U.S. defense-intelligence report on UFOs - rebranded in official government parlance as "unidentified aerial phenomena" - is expected to be made public in the coming days. "We are collecting as much data as we can, following the data where it leads, and will share our findings whenever possible." The first such defense-intelligence UAP report to Congress in June 2021 looked at 144 sightings by U.S. military aviators dating back to 2004, most of them documented with multiple instruments. "We are working to mitigate these shortfalls for the future and to ensure we have sufficient data for our analysis." The forthcoming release of the latest Pentagon assessment comes after a first-of-its-kind panel organized by NASA opened a separate, parallel study on Oct. 24 of unclassified UFO sightings data from civilian government and commercial sectors.

☆ As North Korea flexes its military muscles, some of South Korea's best submarines may be sidelined
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Nine of South Korea's submarines have defects that could sideline them for extended periods. The issue comes to light as North Korea launches scores of missiles in shows of force to its neighbors. South Korea's sub woes come as North Korea continues to issue threats over joint US-South Korean military exercises that Pyongyang claims are a rehearsal for an invasion. Aircraft in particular would be key to destroying North Korean nuclear sites, artillery emplacements, and even decapitation strikes against the North's leaders. Superior US and South Korean naval capabilities — perhaps assisted by Japanese forces — allow for amphibious landings, special-forces raids, blockades, and shore bombardment.

That hearing discussed an unclassified report issued by a Department of Defense task force in 2021. There is precedent for the Defense Department, scientists and the media playing down reports of UFOs rather than prioritizing truly open scientific inquiry. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Air Force established a UFO task force named Project Blue Book and commissioned an independent scientific study of the phenomena. There is now a danger that the NASA study, which is also supposed to be objective, may not live up to this scientific ideal. If government and academia don’t do so with UFOs, we may end up with another independent scientific panel in another 50 years, but be no closer to the truth.

☆ China's booming electric-car industry could transform its military's submarine fleet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Stephen Chen | South China Morning Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Solutions for problems with the batteries have been found through work in the booming electric car market, their study says. China has the world's largest conventional submarine fleet, with an estimated 60 to 70 vessels. The main purpose of China's conventional submarine fleet is to protect its coastal areas and strategic waters including the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. JMSDF/TwitterThe booming electric car market has also brought changes in the defence industry. Germany and France have also developed prototype lithium batteries for submarine use with plans for military service in the near future.

☆ Climate Change Is Real. Markets, Not Governments, Offer the Cure. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Bret Stephens | Mr. Stephens Is An Opinion Columnist. Mr. Winter Is A Staff Photographer On Assignment In Opinion. | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +32 min

worse-case, highest-carbon-emission scenario.” (The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is the U.N. body that assesses climate change.) How do we weigh the risks of underreacting to climate change against the risks of overreacting to it? While he’s not an expert on climate change, he has spent decades thinking deeply about every manner of risk. That’s particularly true if climate change is akin to cancer — manageable or curable in its earlier stages, disastrous in its later ones. Maybe, I realized, in assessing my newfound concerns about climate change, my long-held beliefs might provide a solution — look to the market.

☆ Investing in Space: Rockets are only the beginning
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CNBC's Investing in Space newsletter offers a view into the business of space exploration and privatization, delivered straight to your inbox. But the CEOs of these companies will tell you that tapping into the global launch market isn't enough. "The big space companies of the future are not just a launch company on its own or a spacecraft manufacturer on its own. Breaking into the launch market may seem hard (and expensive) enough on its own. Virgin Orbit is similarly developing a satellite business, which CEO Dan Hart told CNBC he hopes can "unlock" space-based services.

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