May 27 – June 2, 2019 | Colorado Space News

NASA’s Webb Telescope Has Successful Final Thermal Vacuum Test

The James Webb Space Telescope’s spacecraft element being prepared for entry into Northrop Grumman’s large thermal vacuum chamber in Los Angeles, California. Image Credit: Northrop Grumman

May 31, 2019 – NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has successfully cleared another critical testing milestone, taking this ambitious observatory one step closer to its 2021 launch. The spacecraft has gone through its final thermal vacuum test meant to ensure that its hardware will function electronically in the vacuum of space, and withstand the extreme temperature variations it will encounter on its mission. Read More

SwRI’s Singer Wins Urey Prize For Planetary Research

SwRI’s Dr. Kelsi Singer will receive the AAS Division for Planetary Science 2019 Harold C. Urey Prize, the highest honor for a young planetary scientist, recognizing outstanding achievements in planetary research. Image Credit: SwRI/Rayna Tedford

May 31, 2019 – Dr. Kelsi Singer, a senior research scientist at Southwest Research Institute, is being awarded the 2019 Harold C. Urey Prize by the American Astronomical Society’s Division for Planetary Sciences. The prize is the highest DPS honor for a young planetary scientist, recognizing outstanding achievements in planetary research. Read More

Build! A Martian Habitat And Explore Life Off Earth At Space Foundation Discovery Center

May 31, 2019 – Do you have what it takes to live on Mars? Getting there is one small step, but the giant leap will be living on the red planet. This summer, the Space Foundation Discovery Center is inviting the public to Build!, a limited-engagement exhibit that opens this Saturday, June 1. Read More

A New View Of Exoplanets With NASA’s Upcoming Webb Telescope

This illustration shows an exoplanet orbiting its much brighter star. With its onboard coronagraphs, Webb will allow scientists to view exoplanets at infrared wavelengths they’ve never seen them in before. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

May 31, 2019 – While we now know of thousands of exoplanets — planets around other stars — the vast majority of our knowledge is indirect. That is, scientists have not actually taken many pictures of exoplanets, and because of the limits of current technology, we can only see these worlds as points of light. However, the number of exoplanets that have been directly imaged is growing over time. When NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2021, it will open a new window on these exoplanets, observing them in wavelengths at which they have never been seen before and gaining new insights about their nature. Read More

Sierra Nevada Corp. Test Fires Next-Gen Rocket Engine

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) test fires its VORTEX rocket engine. Image Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation

May 31, 2019 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) recently showcased its patented VORTEX rocket engine, showcasing next-generation technology available to NASA, the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and commercial launch companies. The engine, which uses green and clean propellants, will be used for the SNC Dream Chaser spacecraft when it services the International Space Station for NASA missions starting in spring 2021. Read More

Lockheed Martin Conducts Orion Forward Bay Cover Jettison Test

Orion Structural Test Article Forward Bay Cover Jettison Test. Image Credit: Lockheed Martin Space

May 31, 2019 – Lockheed Martin recently tested a critical event on NASA’s Orion spaceship – the jettison of the forward bay cover on the program’s structural test article. Read More

NASA Astrobiology Researchers Identify Features That Could Be Used To Detect Life-Friendly Climates On Other Worlds

This artist’s concept illustrates a young, red dwarf star surrounded by three planets. NASA’s Galaxy Evolution Explorer is helping to identify young, red dwarf stars that are close to us by detecting their ultraviolet light. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

May 28, 2019 – Scientists may have found a way to tell if alien worlds have a climate that is suitable for life by analyzing the light from these worlds for special signatures that are characteristic of a life-friendly environment. This technique could reveal the inner edge of a star’s habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water could exist on the surface of a rocky planet. Read More

Atlas V Departs Factory For Historic Mission

The Atlas V booster and Centaur stages leave the Decatur factory today for CFT launch. Image Credit: United Launch Alliance

May 28, 2019 – The first Atlas V rocket to launch astronauts into space emerged from the United Launch Alliance factory last week, rolling into a giant cargo ship for transport to Cape Canaveral. Read More

NASA Invites Public To Help Asteroid Mission Choose Sample Site

This image shows the wide variety of boulder shapes, sizes and compositions found on asteroid Bennu. It was taken by the PolyCam camera on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on March 28 from a distance of 2.1 miles (3.4 km). The field of view is 162.7 ft (49.6 m). For scale, the large, light-colored boulder at the top of the image is 15.7 ft (4.8 m) tall. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

May 28, 2019 – NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission to the asteroid Bennu needs extra pairs of eyes to help choose its sample collection site on the asteroid – and to look for anything else that might be scientifically interesting. Read More