Space Exploration

Paris, 28 June 2021. – NASA proceeds to repair the computer on board the Hubble Space Telescope, the U.S. agency said, but was not able, so far, the reboot the backup computer. NASA is continuing to diagnose a problem with the payload computer on the Hubble Space Telescope, the agency said, after completing another set of tests on June 23 and 24. 

by Molly Silk,  PhD Candidate, Chinese Space Policy, University of Manchester SpaceWatch.Global has been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. This is “China is using mythology and sci-fi to sell its space programme to the world”, originally published 25 June 2021 at The Conversation by Molly Silk.

More than 22,000 people from all over Europe submitted an application to become an astronaut for the European Space Agency (ESA), the agency said. ESA launched a search for four new astronauts earlier this year. Around 5,400 of all applicants identified as female.

During this week’s Space Café, SpaceWatch.Global publisher, Torsten Kriening caught up with California-based Danica Remy to discuss all things asteroids. With a career in social justice movements and “fabulous innovation”, Danica serves as President of the B612 Foundation, which leads private sector efforts in research, analysis and systems design to protect Earth from asteroids.

During the second Space Café Canada event, host Jessica West of Project Ploughshares sat down with Tim Kopra, Vice-President of Robotics and Space Operations at MDA, to talk about the role of robotics in Canada’s space program and in the future of space exploration.

Europe cannot afford to stay out of human spaceflight if it wants to rank as a global political and economic power, the head of the European Space Agency (ESA) said. “It’s not possible that a political and economic power like Europe cannot fly its own astronauts to space,” Josef Aschbacher, Director General of ESA, said at the Paris Air Forum at Le Bourget yesterday.

As part of the partnership between SpaceWatch.Global and Orbital Gateway Consulting we have been granted permission to publish selected articles and texts. We are pleased to present “Dongfang Hour China Aerospace News Roundup 14 June – 20 June”. Hello and welcome to another episode of the Dongfang Hour China Aero/Space News Roundup! A special shout-out to our friends at SpaceWatch.Global

Three Chinese astronauts entered the Tiangong space station, Chinese state and international media reported. After a seven-hour flight in the Shenzhou capsule, the crew entered the space stations Tianhe core module as the first people to board China’s new outpost in space, the reports said.

Rocket Lab has been awarded by the University of California Berkeley to design two Photon spacecraft named Blue and Gold for a scientific ESCAPADE mission to Mars, the launch company said. ESCAPADE is a mission that will orbit two spacecraft around Mars to understand the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars' unique hybrid magnetosphere, Rocket Lab said.

The future of the exploration of Moon and Mars took center stage at the IAF Global Space Exploration Conference (GLEX 2021) in St. Petersburg, the federation said. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, announced their plans to send a rover to the Moon by 2024/2025.