U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researchers have detected hydrogen in lunar samples received from the Apollo mission. According to the NRL, the presence of solar wind hydrogen on lunar soil samples indicates the presence of water on the moon – a vital resource for future lunar bases and long-range space exploration. Katherine Burgess, a geologist at […]
Bradley Smith, director of NASA’s Launch Services Office, said a Mars small satellite mission “will very likely” be part of the inaugural flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket. Smith added that he expects the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers mission launch to take place in one year, while his documents and past […]
The Department of Defense plans to collaborate with partners as the U.S. Space Force readies its weather monitoring satellites. While waiting for the satellites, the department will augment the gap using data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Japan Meteorological Agency and other partners. The department has been dependent on an aging Defense […]
A NASA official has indicated that SpaceX’s Starship lunar lander needs to complete “high teens in the number of launches” before it could be deployed to the moon. Speaking at a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council’s human exploration and operations committee on Friday, Lakiesha Hawkins, assistant deputy associate administrator in NASA’s Moon to Mars […]
The U.S. Space Force’s Space Training and Readiness Command has released new guidance on space domain awareness. Created by Space Delta 10 in collaboration with Guardians throughout the service, Space Doctrine Publication 3-100 compiles existing best practices on SDA, STARCOM said Thursday. The document is intended to tie the U.S. Space Force’s SDA approach to […]
NASA has sent and received data at a distance of nearly 10 million miles, marking the first time the agency transmitted lasers beyond the moon. Under the two-year Deep Space Optical Communications experiment, NASA scientists beamed a near-infrared laser from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Optical Communications Telescope Lab to the Psyche spacecraft. The DSOC payload […]
Rep. Frank Lucas, chairman of the House Science Committee, has put off a vote on a commercial space bill until after Thanksgiving due to the White House’s release of a related legislative proposal. Co-introduced by Lucas earlier in November, the Commercial Space Act of 2023 would establish a mission authorization system at the Department of […]
Jim Free, associate administrator for NASA’s Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate, has been promoted to associate administrator of the agency, succeeding Robert Cabana, who is retiring at the end of 2023 after serving two years at the post. Catherine Koerner, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development, will succeed Free and assume responsibility for developing the Moon to […]
Northrop Grumman has concluded a critical design review for satellites that will be used for the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 Tracking Layer, allowing the company to start producing the T1TRK satellites. Candace Givens, vice president of overhead persistent infrared and geospatial systems at Northrop, said the milestone puts the company closer to delivering missile defense […]
Karl Mathias, the Department of Health and Human Services’ chief information officer, has announced that he will step down on Dec. 1 to assume an undisclosed role at NASA. HHS Deputy CIO Jennifer Wendel will serve as acting CIO when Mathias exits, Federal News Network reported. Meanwhile, La Monte Yarborough, the department’s chief information security […]
