Space Coast (FL) Daily reports that NASA’s DART mission “was recognized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics with the organization’s newest award the AIAA Award for Aerospace Excellence at the AIAA Awards Gala, Thursday, May 18, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.” DART was honored with the Award for Aerospace Excellence “which celebrates a unique program or mission in the aerospace community deserving timely recognition, namely for marking ‘humanity’s first time purposely changing the motion of a celestial object by a team of protectors of our home planet.’”
Full Story (Space Coast (FL) Daily)
Tag: astronatical
DART Mission Shows that Dimorphos Has No Water-Ice
SPACE reports that six months following the DART mission slamming a spacecraft into an asteroid, Dimorphos has given NASA scientists time to clarify a profile of the asteroid. Careful scrutiny of the debris “from the impact of NASA’s DART mission into Dimorphos has not found any evidence for water-ice on the asteroid, nor the residue of thruster fuel from the spacecraft, new results from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) show.” However, the data from the MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) “instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope in Chile does indicate differences in the size of particles in the debris, and show how the polarization of the light from the asteroid changed.”
Full Story (SPACE)
NASA’s DART Hailed as Viable Planetary Defense Test
Aviation Week reports that NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) “has been deemed a ‘first successful step’ in demonstrating the viability of a kinetic impact strategy for diverting a near-Earth object, according to findings from five research efforts published March 1 in the journal Nature.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Third US Space Force Launch to be Added to Falcon Heavy 2022 Manifest
Space News reports that the classified geostationary Earth orbit mission USSF-67 is “on track for mid-to-late 2022 launch.” USSF-67, awarded to SpaceX last year, will “fly on a Falcon Heavy rocket with an expendable center core.” Additionally, US Space Force missions USSF-44 and USSF-52 have had their launches delayed to 2022.
Full Story (SpaceNews)
Citizen Astronauts from Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic Commercial Space Missions to Appear Together at 2021 ASCEND in Las Vegas
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 22, 2021 – Reston, Va. – Astronauts from the three different commercial space experiences that occurred in 2021 will appear on stage together in Las Vegas on Monday, 15 November, during 2021 ASCEND. ASCEND is the interdisciplinary community focused on building humanity’s off-world future faster, powered by AIAA. Confirmed speakers include:
- Blue Origin New Shepard Mission NS-18 (October 2021)
- Glen de Vries, Vice-Chair, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Dassault Systèmes; and Co-Founder, Medidata
- SpaceX Inspiration4 Mission (September 2021)
- Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4 Commander
- Sian Proctor, Inspiration4 Mission Pilot
- Virgin Galactic Unity22 Mission (July 2021)
- Sirisha Bandla, Vice President of Government Affairs, Virgin Galactic; and member of the ASCEND Guiding Coalition
The exclusive gathering of these citizen astronauts to share firsthand accounts of their missions epitomizes the ASCEND spirit of community and global partnership. They will discuss the impact of their missions, as well as their experiences during training, flight, and post-launch. The speakers will appear in person in the following 2021 ASCEND sessions:
Opening Keynote
Speakers: Jared Isaacman, Sian Proctor
Monday, 15 November, 0730–0900 hrs PT
Lunch Plenary Session: Citizen Astronauts
Moderator: Kari Byron, Producer and Television Personality, Mythbusters, White Rabbit Project; Host, Crash Test World
Speakers: Sirisha Bandla, Glen de Vries, Jared Isaacman, Sian Proctor
Monday, 15 November, 1145–1245 hrs PT
2021 ASCEND is set for 8–10 and 15–17 November, showcasing a hybrid blend of in-person programming in Las Vegas (Caesars Forum) and Washington, D.C., and online programming on all six days.
The Public is Invited to Attend 2021 ASCEND
ASCEND is an event open to everyone who loves space. The public is invited to register now at the best rates. The full agenda and confirmed speakers are available at ascend.events.
Registration for in-person attendance is limited and only open until 10 November, to ensure all AIAA Health and Safety protocols are met.
Press Passes Available to Media
Journalists interested in covering the citizen astronauts and the full ASCEND program at Caesars Forum in Las Vegas in person should contact [email protected] for credentialing, or request an Online Press Pass here.
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About ASCEND
Powered by AIAA, ASCEND promotes the collaborative, interdisciplinary, outcomes-driven community of professionals, students, and enthusiasts around the world who are accelerating humanity’s progress toward our off-world future! For more information, visit ascend.events, or follow ASCEND on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, or follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
William Shatner Would Become Oldest Person to Visit Space With October 12 Flight
CNBC reports that Star Trek actor William Shatner “is scheduled to launch on the next crewed spaceflight of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.” The launch is scheduled for October 12, and Shatner is to be joined by Blue Origin Vice President of Mission and Flight Operations Audrey Powers, Planet Labs co-founder Chris Boshuizen, and Medidata co-founder Glen de Vries.
Full Story (CNBC)
NASA’s Lucy Mission to Observe Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroid Swarms
CNN reports that the Lucy mission, the first NASA mission to study Jupiter’s Trojan asteroid swarms, “has passed all of its prelaunch tests and is set to leave Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at around 5:30 a.m. ET on October 16.” These asteroids “are remnants from the early days of our solar system” and “the mission will help researchers effectively peer back in time to learn how the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago.” Tom Statler, Lucy project scientist at NASA Headquarters, said: “With Lucy, we’re going to eight never-before-seen asteroids in 12 years with a single spacecraft. This is a fantastic opportunity for discovery as we probe into our solar system’s distant past.” CNN reports that “the Lucy spacecraft is more than 46 feet (14 meters) from tip to tip, largely due to its giant solar panels – each about the width of a school bus – designed to keep up a power supply to the spacecraft’s instruments.”
Full Story (CNN)