Orbit

Sun probe surprises NASA with incredible photo of Venus

The Parker Solar Probe, NASA’s closest eye on the Sun, was whizzing by Venus last summer for a gravity assist when it snapped a striking new image of the planet’s mysterious nightside, revealing a surprisingly clear view of the Venusian surface. The spacecraft, launched in 2018, is in the midst of its seven-year journey to… Read more

SpaceX announces second crew member of its all-civilian space mission

Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, will join the first all-civilian trip to space, SpaceX announced today. She will orbit Earth for up to five days in the Crew Dragon capsule as part of the Inspiration4 mission. Crew members are being selected based on “mission pillars of leadership, hope, generosity… Read more

NASA picks SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch two key pieces of the Lunar Gateway

NASA chose SpaceX’s heavy-lift Falcon Heavy rocket to launch the first two elements of the agency’s Lunar Gateway, a planned outpost orbiting the moon. The two Gateway pieces, a propulsion module and astronaut living quarters, were originally designed to launch separately, but NASA picked SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy as a one-trip solution for $332 million. Falcon… Read more

China becomes latest country to reach Mars with Tianwen-1 probe

China’s Tianwen-1 spacecraft successfully rolled into Mars orbit Wednesday morning, the China National Space Administration confirmed. The probe’s arrival makes China the sixth space-faring power to reach the planet. It’s also the second country this month to celebrate its first Mars mission, arriving a day after the UAE’s Hope orbiter entered Martian orbit Tuesday morning…. Read more

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is accepting $99 Starlink deposits amid ‘deep chasm’ of red ink

SpaceX started accepting preorders for its Starlink satellite internet service late on Monday, as the company broadens its beta program to “a limited number of users per coverage area.” Members of the public can now enter their home address and put down $99 for an antenna-router bundle that Starlink’s website says will ship “on a… Read more

How to watch the UAE’s first deep space probe reach Mars

A robotic probe owned by the United Arab Emirates is preparing to jump into Mars orbit on Tuesday after launching from Earth last year. For mission managers in Dubai, it’s a nerve-racking climax in the UAE’s first mission to deep space. If successful, the Hope probe will survey the Martian atmosphere. The Emirati cabinet hopes… Read more

Elon Musk’s shot at Amazon flares monthslong fight over billionaires’ orbital real estate

The satellite feud between Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Amazon spilled out into the open on social media this week, after brewing for months in meetings with regulators. It’s only the latest spat in a new race among billionaires for a slice of a $1 trillion telecommunications market. Musk and Bezos, the two richest… Read more

Axiom names first private crew paying $55 million for a trip to the ISS

An American real estate investor, a Canadian investor and a former Israeli Air Force pilot are paying $55 million each to be part of the first fully private astronaut crew to journey to the International Space Station. The trio will hitch a ride on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule early next year, with a veteran NASA… Read more

SpaceX launches record batch of satellites in first in-house rideshare mission

SpaceX launched a batch of 143 spacecraft to space from Florida on Sunday morning under the company’s new cost-cutting SmallSat Rideshare Program, breaking the record for the most satellites lofted into space on a single launch. The Transporter-1 mission kicks off a potentially lucrative business line for SpaceX, which unveiled in 2019 its SmallSat Rideshare… Read more

TechStage | Guide: tablets for homeschooling and learning portals

Testing Tests overview Smartphone Oppo Reno 4 Pro in the test: Top smartphone for 500 € Motorola Moto G 5G Plus test: A lot of battery for little money Huawei P Smart 2021: Budget model with room for improvement Asus Zenfone 7 Pro: Turbo smartphone with flip camera Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro in the test:… Read more

“Cotton candy planet” WASP-107b with a surprisingly small core

The solid core of the “cotton candy planet” WASP – 107 b is obviously much lighter, than previously thought possible with such gas giants. This is the result of a group of astrophysicists who have analyzed the already known exoplanet in more detail. According to this, the celestial body is about as big as Jupiter,… Read more

Numbers, please: Jean-Philippe Baratier – the short life of a “child prodigy”

Exactly to the day before 50 years ago the Huguenot son Jean-Philippe Baratier was born in Schwabach. He was the first “child prodigy” of the Enlightenment. He was able to read at the age of three, and at the age of six he argued in German, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Chaldean, Syriac and Arabic… Read more

Space travel: aim high in 2021

Nothing went as planned in the space sector either 2019. Like almost all sectors, space activities have been hit hard by the pandemic. Observers were particularly looking forward to the start of seven planned space missions, some things went great: SpaceX sent astronauts into space, China brought moon rocks back to Earth. But many other… Read more

Why the risk of orbital collisions is skyrocketing

With each new satellite that reaches orbit, the space above our heads gets a little more congested. There are about 3,000 active satellites in use today, but that number is changing quickly, especially as companies like Starlink send up 60 small satellites in a single launch. Add the 20,000 or so bits of orbital debris… Read more

TechStage | Oppo Reno 4 Pro in the test: top smartphone for 500 €

Testing Tests overview Smartphone Oppo Reno 4 Pro in the test: Top smartphone for 500 € Motorola Moto G 5G Plus test: A lot of battery for little money Huawei P Smart 2020: Budget model with room for improvement Asus Zenfone 7 Pro: Turbo smartphone with flip camera Samsung Galaxy Xcover Pro in the test:… Read more