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☆ To Help Cool a Hot Planet, the Whitest of White Coats
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Cara Buckley | More About Cara Buckley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

It is cool to the touch, even under a blazing sun, Dr. Ruan said. Unlike air-conditioners, the paint doesn’t need any energy to work, and it doesn’t warm the outside air. In 2021, Guinness declared it the whitest paint ever, and it’s since collected several awards. While the paint was originally envisioned for rooftops, manufacturers of clothes, shoes, cars, trucks and even spacecraft have come clamoring. Last year, Dr. Ruan and his team announced that they’d come up with a more lightweight version that could reflect heat from vehicles.

Persons: Xiulin Ruan, didn’t, Ruan, Guinness, they’d Organizations: Purdue University, Guinness World Records

☆ US Senator Warren, others warn against L3Harris plan to buy Aerojet
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat and frequent merger critic, joined three other lawmakers on Tuesday to urge the Defense Department to thoroughly review defense contractor L3Harris Technologies' (LHX.N) $4.7 billion deal for Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings (AJRD.N). The letter was sent to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. In addition to Warren, the letter was signed by Representatives Chris Deluzio, John Garamendi and Mark Pocan. With the Ukraine war driving up demand for missiles and defense systems, Aerojet became an attractive takeover target. Aerojet develops and manufactures liquid and solid rocket propulsion and hypersonic engines for space, defense, civil and commercial applications.

Persons: Elizabeth Warren, Warren, Lockheed Martin, Lloyd Austin, William LaPlante, Chris Deluzio, John Garamendi, Mark Pocan, Aerojet, Diane Bartz, David Gregorio Our Organizations: Defense Department, L3Harris Technologies, Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, The Defense Department, Raytheon, Boeing, Defense, L3 Technologies, Harris Corp, United, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, United States

Companies Boeing Co FollowJune 7 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N) was sued on Wednesday by a Colorado company that accused the aerospace giant of stealing trade secrets for NASA's Space Launch System rocket, and then building components with "critical" safety flaws that could endanger astronauts. "Boeing has captured billions of dollars in revenue because of the infringement of Wilson's trade secrets," and must turn over "all revenues and profits Boeing has obtained as a result," the complaint said. Wilson also said Boeing stole trade secrets related to bolt installation tools for its 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Boeing has described NASA's Space Launch System as the most powerful rocket ever built, and "the backbone for a permanent human presence in deep space." The case is Wilson Aerospace LLC v Boeing Co, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, No.

Persons: Wilson, David Wilson, Jonathan Stempel, Marguerita Choy Organizations: Boeing Co, Boeing, Wilson Aerospace, NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Western District of Washington, Thomson Locations: Colorado, Seattle, Arlington , Virginia, Fort Collins , Colorado, Western District, New York

☆ Analysis: Boeing, Northrop face obstacles in commercializing flagship US rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-07 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/3] NASA's next-generation moon rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket with its Orion crew capsule perched on top, is shown on its launch pad as it is prepared for launch in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. November 12, 2022. NASA's SLS vision has its skeptics. NASA currently manages SLS production, with Boeing and Northrop its top contractors, each having contracts under which the space agency bears any delay costs. Boeing and Northrop executives have declined to discuss plans for cutting SLS costs under the proposed commercial contract. Boeing has said the SLS program has created 28,000 jobs.

Persons: Joe Skipper, Colonel Douglas Pentecost, Glenn, Jeff Bezos's, Cristina, Jim Free, Artemis, Amit Kshatriya, Kshatriya, Joey Roulette, Will Dunham, Ben Klayman Organizations: Orion, REUTERS, WASHINGTON, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Pentagon, Northrup, U.S . Department of Defense, DoD, U.S, military's Space Force, NASA, SLS, Elon Musk's SpaceX, Office, U.S . Congress, Northrop, Artemis, Space, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Cape Canaveral , Florida, U.S, Florida

☆ NASA’s Psyche mission will launch to an unexplored metal world this fall
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The endeavor, known as the Psyche mission, was originally expected to lift off in 2022. But the launch window opened on August 1 and closed October 11 before the spacecraft’s flight software was ready. The analysis included ways to address issues with the mission as well as “JPL institutional issues” that caused the delay. This rendering shows how scientists think the Psyche asteroid appears up close. Rubin/NASA/JPL-CaltechThe Psyche asteroid is so metal-rich, some scientists believe it’s the exposed core of a planetesimal, or a planet in the making that separated into layers.

Persons: “, ”, Laurie Leshin, ” Leshin, Peter Rubin The, ’, Nicola Fox, Psyche, Rubin Organizations: CNN, NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, JPL, Engineers, Caltech, Arizona State Univ, Systems Locations: Pasadena , California, Florida, Arizona

☆ Taste testing the space food of the future
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The competition led the Astra Gastronomy team at Nonfiction, a design and innovation firm based in San Francisco, to develop the Space Culinary Lab. Bringing that level of agency to astronauts is where designers like us start.”The Space Culinary Lab made it through the first phase of the Deep Space Food Challenge in October 2021. This rendering shows what the Space Culinary Lab might look like inside a spacecraft. Time for a taste testThe futuristic space food prepared using the culinary lab was available for a taste test at Nonfiction during CNN’s visit in March, including space coffee and algae mixed with different flavors. The fruit powders masked the algae flavor and made it taste more like a slightly sweet treat without added sugars.

Persons: San Francisco CNN —, ”, Phnam Bagley, “, Bagley, munch, sizzle, bok, Mona Lisa ”, CNN’s, Mark Alexander, Mardis Bagley, Nadia Kutyreva, Fifile Nguyen, ” Bagley Organizations: San Francisco CNN, NASA, Canadian Space Agency, Astra Locations: San Francisco, Mars

☆ Italy bets on quietest of places to host world-leading telescope
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Federico Maccioni | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Sos Enathos lead and zinc mine, extending 300 metres underground below lush vegetation, has been picked by the Rome government as its candidate to host the so-called Einstein Telescope (ET). Italy is betting that its 1.9-billion-euro ($2.09 billion)project can bring much-needed investment to the island of Sardinia, one of the country's poorest regions. Mirrors at the end of each tunnel will reflect laser beams whose lengths are affected by the passage of gravitational waves. "The mine has become the alternative to the mine," Mario Calia, the 63-year-old mayor of Lula, told Reuters. Calia, himself a former miner, said the project would leave Lula's unspoiled natural landscape untouched while bringing in investment.

☆ NASA looks to spice up astronaut menu with deep space food production
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/4] A team member from Interstellar Lab of Merritt Island, Florida, prepares Daikon Radish sprouts during NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge Phase 2 prize announcement on May 19, 2023. The NASA-sponsored Deep Space Food Challenge prompted Sheehan to modify his invention as a way of producing edible proteins, carbohydrates and fats from the same system. TASTES LIKE ... SEITANThe resulting single-cell protein drink entered in NASA's contest has the consistency of a whey protein shake, Sheehan said. But the imperative for self-contained, low-waste food production requiring minimal resources has become more pronounced as NASA sets its sights on returning astronauts to the moon and eventual human exploration of Mars and beyond. Advances in space-based food production also have direct applications for feeding Earth's ever-growing population in an era when climate change is making food more scarce and harder to produce, Fritsche said.

☆ Hurricanes of Data: The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Porter Fox | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +35 min

The Tiny Craft Mapping Superstorms at Sea Shortly after dawn on Sept. 30, 2021, Richard Jenkins watched a Category 4 hurricane overrun his life’s work. That August, a sister ship, SD 1031, successfully entered Tropical Storm Henri, but only in its early stages. Hurricane research, modeling and forecasting requires many terabytes of data for every square mile the storm passes through, including vitally important sea-level data from inside a storm. The next day, the depression was upgraded to a tropical storm and officially given the name Sam. And four months later, Tropical Storm Megi killed more than 150, wiped out several villages with landslides and displaced more than a million people.

REUTERS/Joe SkipperLOS ANGELES, April 20 (Reuters) - The spectacular explosion of SpaceX's new Starship rocket minutes after it soared off its launch pad on a first flight test is the latest vivid illustration of a "successful failure" business formula that serves Elon Musk's company well, experts said on Thursday. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECTAt least two experts in aerospace engineering and planetary science who spoke with Reuters agreed that the test flight delivered benefits. "This is a classical SpaceX successful failure," said Garrett Reisman, an astronautical engineering professor at the University of Southern California who is a former NASA astronaut and is also a senior adviser to SpaceX. Reisman called the Starship test flight a hallmark of a SpaceX strategy that sets Musk's company apart from traditional aerospace companies and even NASA by "this embracing of failure when the consequences of failure are low." She said the risks of a single flight test were small in comparison to the ambitious gains at stake.

☆ NASA to announce astronauts chosen for Artemis II lunar flyby mission
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/6] People gather ahead of an event of NASA to announce the crew of the Artemis II space mission to the moon and back in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 3, 2023. REUTERS/Go NakamuraApril 3 (Reuters) - NASA plans on Monday to introduce the four astronauts for its Artemis II lunar flyby mission, set for launch as early as next year in what would be the first crewed voyage around the moon since the end of the Apollo era more than 50 years ago. The newly introduced crew will include the first Canadian astronaut for a moon mission, as well as three Americans from a pool of 18 NASA astronauts - nine women and nine men - selected for the Artemis program in 2020. They were the last of 12 NASA astronauts who walked on the moon during six Apollo missions starting in 1969 with Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. If Artemis II is a success, NASA plans to follow up a few years later with the programs' first lunar landing of astronauts, one of them a woman, on Artemis III, then continue with additional crewed missions about once a year.

☆ Why SpaceX's Starship mega-rocket looks unlike anything the company has ever built before
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Rupendra Brahambhatt | Jessica Orwig | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Not only is Starship the world's largest, most powerful rocket, it also looks unlike anything SpaceX has ever built. Veronica G. Cardenas/ReutersThis silver-black color scheme is a vast change from SpaceX's white Falcon 9 rockets or NASA's orange and white Space Launch System. SpaceX's silver rocket made of steelSpaceX's Starship rocket is made of stainless steel. SpaceX's black-studded Starship spacecraftStarship is covered on one side with black tiles to help protect it upon atmospheric re-entry. SPACEXSpaceX wouldn't comment on whether, or not, that's the reasoning for their silver Starship rocket.

CNN —SpaceX just attempted to ignite all 33 engines in a test fire of its gargantuan Super Heavy rocket booster. The Super Heavy booster started its engines for less than 10 seconds while still strapped to the launchpad. Only 31 engines were lit, however, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk confirmed Thursday in a tweet. SpaceX conducted the test fire without the Starship spacecraft mounted on top of the booster. It should be noted that SpaceX is still awaiting a license from the Federal Aviation Administration to move forward with an orbital flight test.

☆ NASA and DARPA plan to test a nuclear-powered rocket that could take humans to Mars in record time
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

NASA aims to test a nuclear-powered rocket within five years, the agency said Tuesday. The space agency aims to put humans on Mars for the first time by the late 2030s. The agency is teaming up with the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to make a rocket that could reach Mars in record time. The agency aims to put humans on Mars, for the first time, by the late 2030s or early 2040s. Transit to Mars using a nuclear-powered rocket could take four months, a lot shorter than the usual nine months for older rocket models, Reuters reported.

☆ Boeing's role in building NASA's new rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

The mobile launcher with NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “I worked over 50 Space Shuttle launches,” Boeing SLS program manager John Shannon told CNN by phone. Though more than 1,000 companies were involved with designing and building SLS, Boeing’s work involved the largest and most expensive portion of the rocket. The SLS rocket ended up flying its first launch more than six years later than originally intended. All of the “major components” for a third SLS rocket are also completed, Shannon added.

☆ There's no GPS on the moon. NASA and ESA have to fix that before humans return in 2 years.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Space agencies are working to put satellite navigation, or satnav, on rockets traveling the 239,000 miles between Earth and the moon. That means that most of the satellites' signal is blocked and only a little spills over. They were 116,300 miles away — about halfway to the moon, Ventura-Traveset said. So the plan is to give the moon its very own fleet of communication and navigation satellites, called the Moonlight initiative. Moon settlers will need high-speed internetSatellites could help future moon astronauts navigate on the moon, as can be seen in this artist's impression.

The first full-color image released from the next-generation James Webb Space Telescope is the sharpest infrared image of the distant universe ever produced, according to NASA. Space Telescope Science Institut / NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERONASA released the first batch of images from the tennis court-sized observatory to much fanfare in July. The exoplanet HIP 65426 b in different bands of infrared light, as seen from the James Webb Space Telescope. Back to the moonFifty years after the final Apollo moon mission, NASA took key steps toward returning astronauts to the lunar surface. Chinese officials have also said they intend to use the space station for space tourism and commercial space initiatives.

☆ It should take another 300 years for NASA's Voyager 1 probe to reach the most distant region of our solar system. Until then, it's cruising through the void between the stars.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Voyager 1 and 2 are exploring the mysterious region between stars, called interstellar space. Both plucky spacecraft continue to send data back from beyond the solar system — and their cosmic journeys are far from over. A diagram showing both of NASA's Voyager probes in interstellar space as of November 2018. An illustration of the Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud in relation to our solar system. NASA/JPL-CaltechFor the last decade, Voyager 1 has been exploring interstellar space, which is full of gas, dust, and charged energetic particles.

☆ The Year in Pictures 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( The New York Times | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +57 min

Every year, starting in early fall, photo editors at The New York Times begin sifting through the year’s work in an effort to pick out the most startling, most moving, most memorable pictures. But 2022 undoubtedly belongs to the war in Ukraine, a conflict now settling into a worryingly predictable rhythm. Erin Schaff/The New York Times “When you’re standing on the ground, you can’t visualize the scope of the destruction. Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb. 25. We see the same images over and over, and it’s really hard to make anything different.” Kyiv, Ukraine, Feb 26.

☆ 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.

☆ Elon Musk’s SpaceX Prepares for Starship Launch
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Micah Maidenberg | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

SpaceX is gearing up for a key test of its immense rocket that is designed for commercial launches, as well as the Mars mission Elon Musk has long sought. Near a beach east of Brownsville, Texas, employees at Mr. Musk’s space company are preparing for the inaugural orbital flight of Starship, the towering rocket system the company has been developing for years to one day launch into deep space. The initial test mission would last around 90 minutes, beginning with a fiery blast of the ship’s booster over the Gulf of Mexico, SpaceX has said in a regulatory filing.

After a 26-day mission that took it on a historic journey around the moon, NASA’s next-generation Orion capsule has returned to Earth. NASA has touted the Artemis I test flight as laying the foundation for returning U.S. astronauts to the moon. Artemis I was designed to test the Orion capsule and the huge Space Launch System rocket that carries it into orbit. NASA plans two more Artemis test flights before it launches regular missions to the moon to establish a lunar base camp. Artemis II will launch four astronauts in the Orion spacecraft on an expedition around the moon.

☆ Fact Check-Lengthier Artemis I trajectory toward Moon compared to Apollo 11 is not proof that space travel is a hoax
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Artemis I mission took a different, less direct route toward the Moon compared to the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. The Artemis I lengthier trajectory is not proof of inferior technology, nor is it proof that space travel is a hoax, despite claims made online. Social media users shared a meme claiming to show the number of days it took for the Apollo 11 spacecraft to reach the Moon compared to the November 2022 Artemis I mission. A graphic released by NASA showing the Apollo 11 flight trajectory can be viewed (here), with the Artemis I trajectory viewable (here). “The Apollo 11 mission had a very direct path to a low lunar orbit to deliver the crew to the lunar surface.

☆ 7 times NASA's James Webb Space Telescope spotted something Hubble missed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The James Webb Space Telescope can capture a more complete view of galaxies, stars, and planets. Before Webb, astronomers had another workhorse cosmic observatory: the Hubble Space Telescope. Webb is 100 times stronger than Hubble, which allows astronomers to peer even further into space. Webb spied countless galaxies that Hubble missedA side by side collage of the same area taken by the Hubble and the James Webb space telescopes. Where Hubble saw a faint dot, Webb resolved 2 distinct mystery objectsOne of the lensed images of MACS0647-JD, from the James Webb Space Telescope.

☆ NASA's Orion capsule heads home on Artemis I moon mission
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —The NASA Orion spacecraft, the core of the Artemis I mission, is making a farewell pass by the moon on its historic journey before heading home to Earth. The Orion spacecraft is now expected to take another lap around the moon. That will mark the end of the historic Artemis I mission, which kicked off when the Orion spacecraft launched atop NASA’s new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket on November 16. If the Artemis I mission is successful, NASA will then look to choose a crew to fly on the Artemis II mission, which could take off as soon as 2024. Read more: The big numbers that make the Artemis I moon mission a monumental feat‘Outstanding’ performanceThe spacecraft’s performance during this mission has been “outstanding,” Howard Hu, the Orion program manager, told reporters Monday evening.

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