“These observations of Phobos and Saturn were taken by the Super Resolution Channel of the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express. The video comprises 30 separate images acquired during Mars Express orbit 16 346 on 26 November 2016. The slight up and down movement of Saturn and Phobos in these images is caused by the oscillation of the spacecraft’s orientation after completing the turn towards the moon. Phobos can be seen in the foreground, partially illuminated, with Saturn visible as a small ringed dot in the distance.”
“Against the backdrop of the 1950s Cold War, after the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik, Americans were determined to launch their own Earth-orbiting satellite. Flash back to events leading up to the successful launch of America’s Explorer 1, and the beginnings of America’s Space Age, as told through newsreel and documentary clips of the time.”
“At Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, everything is being prepared to accommodate Europe’s newest launcher, Ariane 6. A new launch pad is under construction and the mobile gantry protecting the launcher will soon be visible. The new assembly building dimensions can now be fully seen as the outer shell is almost complete.
Ariane 6 will guarantee Europe’s independent access to space and should consolidate Arianespace’s leading role on the satellites launch market. The first Ariane 6 launch is scheduled for July 2020.”
“The first hot firing of Ariane 6’s Vulcain 2.1 main engine was performed in January 2018 at the DLR German Aerospace Center test facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany.
The engine, developed by ArianeGroup, has a simplified and more robust nozzle, a gas generator made through additive manufacturing, and an oxygen heater for oxygen tank pressurisation. These features lower the cost of the engine and simplify manufacturing.”
“GOES-17 (formerly GOES-S) is the second of the next generation of weather satellites operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The next satellites of the series (GOES-16, -17, -T, and -U) will extend the availability of the GOES (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite system) until 2036 for weather forecast and meteorology research. The satellite was built by Lockheed Martin, was based on the A2100A platform, and will have an expected useful life of 15 years (10 years operational after five years of standby as an on-orbit replacement).
NOAA’s GOES-R series of satellites is designed to improve the forecasts of weather, ocean, and environment by providing faster and more detailed data, real-time images of lightning, and advanced monitoring of solar activities and space weather. GOES-17 can collect three times more data at four times image resolution, and scan the planet five times faster than previous probes.
GOES-17 has the same instruments and capabilities as GOES-16 (currently serving as GOES-East), and will complement its work by scanning a different area of the world. GOES-17 will become GOES-West and cover the west Coast of US, Alaska, Hawaii, and much of the Pacific Ocean. These two satellites are expected to monitor most of the Western Hemisphere and detect natural phenomena, like hurricanes, wildfires, and fog in almost real time.”
“The first task for spacewalkers Mark Vande Hei and Norishige Kanai is to move a Latching End Effector (LEE), or hand, for the Canadian-built robotic arm, Canadarm2, from a payload attachment on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car to the Quest airlock. This LEE was replaced during an Expedition 53 spacewalk in October 2017 and will be returned to Earth to be refurbished and relaunched to the orbiting laboratory as a spare.
Once they have completed that activity, they will move an aging, but functional, LEE that was detached from the arm during a January 23 spacewalk and move it from its temporary storage outside the airlock to a long-term storage location on the Mobile Base System, which is used to move the arm and astronauts along the station’s truss structure.”
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