China says it has successfully landed a craft carrying a robotic rover on the surface of the Moon, the first soft landing there for 37 years.
On Saturday afternoon (GMT), a landing module used thrusters to touch down, marking the latest step in China’s ambitious space exploration programme.
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Why next man on Moon will be Chinese
A Chinese Long March rocket is scheduled to blast off to the Moon on Sunday evening at about 6pm British time carrying a small robotic rover that will touch down on to the lunar surface in about two weeks’ time – the first soft landing on the Earth’s only natural satellite since 1976.
The take-off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in Sichuan Province marks the latest stage in China’s grand ambitions not just to put a man on Moon by the end of the next decade, but to build a permanent lunar base from which it can plan missions to Mars and beyond.
via In the footsteps of the US: Why next man on Moon will be Chinese – Science – News – The Independent.
Russian Topol missile test spotted from ISS
This matches. The missile has three stages (like the old Saturn V rockets that took humans to the Moon), and what the astronauts saw may have been a fuel dump from the second stage or the last of the fuel leaking away after the booster phase was complete. In space, the cloud would expand more or less freely, moving rapidly as it traveled along with the booster in its path. In the photo, you can see a slight streaking to the cloud, most likely due to motion.
via Russian Topol missile test spotted from ISS..
Original tweet from astronaut Mike Hopkins here.
Private Cygnus Spacecraft Makes Historic 1st Rendezvous with Space Station
Orbital officials initially aimed for Cygnus to arrive at the space station on Sunday, Sept. 22, but a data format issue between the spacecraft and orbiting lab forced the company to abort that first rendezvous attempt. Troubleshooting efforts with that glitch and the impending arrival of a new space station crew aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which launched and docked on Wednesday (Sept. 25), pushed Cygnus’ arrival to today.
via Private Cygnus Spacecraft Makes Historic 1st Rendezvous with Space Station | Space.com.
The other firm is SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., which has a $1.9 billion contract for 12 supply missions using its Dragon space capsules and Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX has flown two of those delivery missions already, and is expected to test fly an upgraded version of its Falcon 9 rocket later today in a launch from California. Unlike Cygnus, SpaceX’s Dragon capsules are equipped with a heat shield and can return science experiments and gear to Earth from the station.
Orbital Sciences Launch News
Solar array deployment is complete for Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Cygnus spacecraft, now traveling 17,500 mph in Earth’s orbit to rendezvous with the International Space Station on Sunday, Sept. 22, for a demonstration resupply mission. The spacecraft will deliver about 1,300 pounds (589 kilograms) of cargo, including food and clothing, to the space station’s Expedition 37 crew, who will grapple and attach the capsule using the orbiting laboratory’s robotic arm.
Japan’s Laptop-Controlled Space Rocket Launch
Japan has sent a rocket into space with a launch co-ordinated from two laptops in a control centre manned by a crew of just eight people.
via Japan’s Laptop-Controlled Space Rocket Launch.
A much smaller crew was involved, compared with the about 150 people needed when Japan has previously launched its mainstream H2-A rocket.
NASA aiming for moon again, this time from Va., to probe thinnest of atmospheres, lunar dust
Hitching a ride on LADEE is an experimental laser communication system designed to handle higher data rates than currently available. NASA hopes to eventually replace its traditional radio systems with laser communications, which uses less power and requires smaller transmitters and receivers, while providing lightning-fast bandwidth.
NASA’S Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation
The drive on Tuesday, the mission’s 376th Martian day, or “sol,” took Curiosity across a depression where ground-surface details had not been visible from the location where the previous drive ended. The drive included about 33 feet (10 meters) of autonomous navigation across hidden ground as part of a day’s total drive of about 141 feet (43 meters).
“We could see the area before the dip, and we told the rover where to drive on that part. We could see the ground on the other side, where we designated a point for the rover to end the drive, but Curiosity figured out for herself how to drive the uncharted part in between,” said JPL’s John Wright, a rover driver.
via NASA’S Mars Curiosity Debuts Autonomous Navigation – NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Astronaut Suni Williams: You need to make peace before leaving Earth
US astronaut Sunita Williams spent a total of 322 days in space on two missions to the International Space Station. As part of BBC News’ How to put a human on Mars coverage she explains how she coped and considers whether a crew could endure a voyage to the Red Planet.
via BBC News – Astronaut Suni Williams: You need to make peace before leaving Earth.
Planet Labs Unveils Plan To Launch 28 Nanosats on Antares’ 1st Cargo Run
SAN FRANCISCO — Planet Labs is seeking to revolutionize the Earth imaging industry with a constellation of 28 nanosatellites designed to offer frequent, low-cost images of any point on the globe. By providing high-resolution imagery quickly and inexpensively, the company’s founders hope to expand dramatically the customer base for Earth imagery and the use of that information to address humanitarian, environmental and business concerns
via Planet Labs Unveils Plan To Launch 28 Nanosats on Antares’ 1st Cargo Run | SpaceNews.com.