DID A HAM RADIO ENTHUSIAST ACTUALLY SPEAK TO CREW DRAGON? - In a strange turn of events, a ham radio enthusiast in Gujarat, India falsely claimed to have made contact with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley during their historic journey to the International Space Station last weekend. Engineer Adhir Saiyadh told the Ahmedabad Mirror he decided to try to connect with the ISS as it sped over India and "coincidentally got connected to their frequency and received a response from one of the commandants of the capsule," he said. But NASA says it simply isn't true. More (Source: Popular Mechanics - Jun 7)
CHINA WILL BEGIN CONSTRUCTING ITS SPACE STATION IN 2021 - The Chinese space agency is building a brand new space station, and they’re going about it in a suitably impressive way: an ambitious schedule of 11 planned launches crammed into only two years. When it’s done, the 66-ton space station will host crews of three astronauts for up to six months at a time, lasting for a planned 10 years before de-orbiting. More (Source: Universe Today - Jun 7)
WASHINGTON'S NEW BLACK LIVES MATTER STREET MURAL IS CAPTURED IN SATELLITE IMAGE - Washington's new BLACK LIVES MATTER street mural is so huge, you can see it from space. New satellite images from Planet Labs clearly show the bright yellow message amid the gray Lego-looking buildings on the street leading to the White House, its grandeur minimized by the distance. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser commissioned the mural, which spans two blocks of 16th Street, as protests across the nation and the globe continue against police brutality after the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. More (Source: CNN - Jun 7)
CHINA LAUNCHES 2 ROCKETS IN 2 DAYS, LOFTING 4 SATELLITES TO ORBIT - SpaceX's first astronaut launch wasn't the only spaceflight action last weekend. While NASA and SpaceX were busy supporting the historic Demo-2 mission from Florida last weekend — the first crewed orbital flight from the U.S. in nearly a decade — the Chinese were making space strides of their own. China once again picked up the pace of its launches with two successful rocket flights back to back, around the same time that Demo-2 blasted off toward the International Space Station on May 30. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 7)
ASTRONOMERS WARN ABOUT EFFECTS OF OTHER SATELLITE MEGACONSTELLATIONS - Astronomers who have spent the last year worried about the effect that SpaceX’s Starlink satellites will have on their observations say they are increasingly concerned about the impact from other proposed megaconstellations. Astronomers became alarmed about the effect the Starlink satellites would have after the launch of the initial set of 60 spacecraft in May 2019. More (Source: SpaceNews - Jun 5)
ASTRONAUTS 'CAPTURE THE FLAG' FOR SPACEX IN RACE TO REACH SPACE STATION - "Congratulations SpaceX, you got the flag." Just one day after riding SpaceX's Crew Dragon "Endeavour" to a historic docking with the International Space Station, spacecraft commander Doug Hurley held out a small American flag for the company behind his and fellow NASA astronaut Bob Behnken's arrival at the orbiting complex. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 5)
EARTH FROM SPACE: 'OVERVIEW EFFECT' COULD HELP TROUBLED COUNTRY, ASTROPHYSICIST NEIL DEGRASSE TYSON SAYS - Neil deGrasse Tyson thinks we could all use a strong dose of the overview effect right now. "Amid the turbulence of a pandemic & racedemic, I offer this reflection on what Earth looks like from space, as only an Apollo astronaut can tell it," the astrophysicist and science communicator, who directs the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, said via Twitter on Saturday (May 30). More (Source: Space.com - Jun 4)
SPACEX LAUNCHES 60 STARLINK SATELLITES AND LANDS ROCKET IN DAZZLING NIGHTTIME LIFTOFF - SpaceX successfully launched a new batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit late Wednesday (June 3) and nailed a rocket landing at sea to top off the mission. The launch is the second in five days for the California-based rocket builder. On Saturday (May 30), a different Falcon 9 rocket sent NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley toward the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule, kicking of SpaceX's landmark Demo-2 mission. The duo docked with the orbiting lab about 19 hours later and will remain there from one to four months. More (Source: Space.com - Jun 4)
CHINA OUTLINES AMBITIOUS PLAN TO BUILD SPACE STATION IN ORBIT - China has an ambitious new plan to build a space station in orbit by 2023. Why it matters: The U.S. sees China as a rival in space, so any large undertaking like this one will be watched closely. The space station also represents the evolution of China's space program, which made use of two smaller test stations in orbit that hosted crew before moving on to this more complex design. More (Source: Axios - Jun 3)
Previous Next
