ScientistPankaj: Rocket Lab launches Earth-observation satellite in 1st mission from new pad

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February 28, 2022

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The Launchpad

Rocket Lab launches Earth-observation satellite in 1st mission from new pad

(Rocket Lab)

Pad B's debut mission went off without a hitch. Rocket Lab lofted a private Earth-observation satellite today (Feb. 28) from the newly finished second pad at its Launch Complex 1, on New Zealand's North Island. An Electron rocket topped with Strix-β, which will be operated by the Japanese company Synspective, lifted off from Pad B at 3:37 p.m. EST (2037 GMT) on a mission Rocket Lab calls "The Owl's Night Continues."

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Advanced new GOES-T weather satellite is 'go' for launch on March 1, NASA says

(NASA/Ben Smegelsky)

The next advanced weather satellite for the United States is officially ready to launch into orbit this week on an Atlas V rocket. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cleared the new GOES-T weather satellite for a planned March 1 launch, the two agencies announced Saturday (Feb. 26). Liftoff is set for 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, with the United Launch Alliance conducting the flight.

Full Story: Space (2/27)

Russia halts Soyuz rocket launches from South America over European sanctions on Ukraine invasion

(ESA/CNES/Arianespace/Optique vidéo du CSG - P Piron)

The Russian space agency Roscosmos is stopping all Soyuz rocket launches from Europe's spaceport in French Guiana due to European Union sanctions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Full Story: Space (2/26)

Spaceflight

Ingenuity helicopter aces 20th Mars flight

(NASA/JPL-Caltech)

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has now outflown its Red Planet expectations by a factor of four. The 4-pound (1.8 kilograms) Ingenuity landed on the floor of Jezero Crater with NASA's life-hunting, sample-caching Perseverance rover on Feb. 18, 2021. The solar-powered chopper soon embarked on a five-flight technology-demonstrating mission designed to show that powered flight is possible in the Red Planet's thin air.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

New GOES-T weather satellite to offer scientists sharper eyes on Earth's climate

(Lockheed Martin)

The GOES-T satellite is ready to take its place as part of the U.S.'s most sophisticated weather and environmental observation system. The satellite, which will be operated by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will launch on Tuesday (March 1) aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

On This Day in Space! Feb. 28, 1959: Discoverer 1 spy satellite goes missing after launch

(U.S. Air Force)

On Feb. 28, 1959, the U.S. Air Force launched a new spy satellite prototype called Discoverer 1. But the mission didn't go entirely according to plan. After Discoverer 1 passed out of radar range somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, it went missing. See how it happened in our "On This Day in Space" video series!

Full Story: Space (2/27)

Science & Astronomy

Humanity faces 'grave and mounting threat' of climate change — unless we act, IPCC report reveals

(Pixabay)

From food insecurity to our physical and mental health, the impact of climate change is affecting people around the world, and the window is rapidly closing for us to prevent catastrophic and irreversible consequences, according to a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which evaluates climate science for the United Nations.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

A mystery in Jupiter's atmosphere sheds light on solar system's past

(NASA/ESA/J. Nichols)

Jupiter's atmosphere has a strange composition, but it could be explained if the planet formed farther away from the sun than where it orbits today, a new study suggests.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Venus' extreme surface heat drives swirling winds in upper atmosphere, study finds

(NASA/JPL)

Scientists have shown how the swirling winds and searing heat on Venus work together in a revealing new study. The surface of Venus is hot enough to melt lead with temperatures averaging 872 degrees Fahrenheit (467 degrees Celsius). This extreme heat is maintained by a thick atmosphere of carbon dioxide that traps the heat on the planet in a greenhouse effect. This atmosphere also sports acid sulfuric clouds and a perpetual, swirling windstorm. In a new study, researchers reveal new insights into this planet's strange wind and heat.

Full Story: Space (2/27)

Tonga volcano eruption yields insights into asteroid impacts on Earth

(NASA Earth Observatory)

On Jan. 15, 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted off the coast of Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean, generating a tsunami and triggering resulting wave action alerts around the world. The underwater volcanic eruption spewed ash, steam, and gas a radius of over 160 miles (260 kilometers) and more than 12 miles (19 km) into Earth's atmosphere. We now know quite a bit about the undersea upsurge. And there appear to be takeaway messages for those concerned about an impacting space rock and the creation of similar effects.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Mysterious repeating fast radio burst from space looks strangely familiar, scientists realize

(Chalmers University of Technology/Daniëlle Futselaar)

Scientists got a strange sense of déjà vu when they took a close look at a mysterious series of bright flashes in a galaxy just 12 million light-years away. The flashes, known as a repeating fast radio burst (FRB), appear surprisingly similar to flashes found in the Crab Nebula. The Crab Nebula is a famous remnant from an old stellar explosion, or supernova, that humans observed in 1054 AD, which was recorded by several distinct cultures. The colorful remnants have displayed bright and brilliant flashes that look a lot like the newly found FRBs, which occurred in the galaxy M81, researchers said.

Full Story: Space (2/26)

SpaceX

Elon Musk says SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service is active in Ukraine with more terminals on the way

(Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library)

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said his space company's Starlink satellite internet service is available in Ukraine and more terminals to use it are on the way. Musk made the statement on Twitter Saturday (Feb. 26) after being asked by a Ukrainian government official if SpaceX could provide more Starlink services to the country after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last week. Internet services in Ukraine has seen "significant disruptions" in the capital city of Kyiv and across much of the country due to Russian military operations and the ensuing fighting, the monitoring group Netblocks reported on Thursday (Feb. 24).

Full Story: Space (2/27)

SpaceX hints at replacing Russian space services

(Esa/Getty Images)

Could SpaceX replace Russia in space? Last week, Russia invaded Ukraine in a series of attacks that sparked some of the most intense conflict in Europe in decades. Most recently, on Sunday night (Feb. 27) Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a nuclear alert, a move that only furthered international concern. With tensions rising ever higher, companies and countries around the world are breaking ties with Russia in space.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Technology

Soviet-era space shuttle carrier aircraft destroyed in Russian attack on Ukraine

(Antonov)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destroyed a "large" part of its own space history, with reports now confirming the fate of an enormous aircraft that was originally built to transport Soviet space shuttles. Once the world's largest flying machine by both wingspan and weight, the Antonov An-225 "Mriya" ("Dream") was parked in an open-air hangar undergoing repairs at Hostomel (or Gostomel) airport, located to the northwest of Ukraine's capital city of Kyiv, when Russia launched its attack against the country on Thursday (Feb. 24). Four days later, the news came that the one-of-a-kind aircraft was no more.

Full Story: Space (2/28)

Physicists get closer than ever to measuring the elusive neutrino

(Naeblys via Shutterstock)

Ghost-like particles called neutrinos hardly ever interact with normal matter, giving the teensy apparitions supreme hiding powers. They are so elusive that, in the decades since their initial discovery, physicists still haven't pinned down their mass. But recently, by plopping them onto a 200-ton "neutrino scale," scientists have put a new limit on the neutrino's mass.

Full Story: Space (2/27)