Lifeboat Foundation

A team of astronomers from Harvard and other institutions are collaborating on a new project to scan the skies for technological signatures from alien civilizations.

It’s a noteworthy new project, as it’s the first to receive a NASA grant for SETI-specific research in more than 30 years, according to a statement.

“Technosignatures relate to signatures of advanced alien technologies similar to, or perhaps more sophisticated than, what we possess,” said Avi Loeb, the chair of the Harvard astronomy department Harvard, in a statement. “Such signatures might include industrial pollution of atmospheres, city lights, photovoltaic cells (solar panels), megastructures, or swarms of satellites.”

Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk called Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos “a copy cat” on Twitter after the online retailer announced it is acquiring self-driving startup Zoox Inc.

.@JeffBezos is a copy 🐈 haha

Amazon acquires self-driving start-up Zoox for over $1.2bn https://t.co/76W80p2RTJ— Financial Times (@FT) June 26, 2020

Continue reading “Elon Musk calls Jeff Bezos a copy cat after Amazon buys self-driving startup” »

SpaceX called off the launch of its latest Starlink satellite mission Friday (June 26) to allow more time for preflight checks.

Smart phone apps provide nearly instantaneous navigation on Earth; the Deep Space Atomic Clock could do the same for future robotic and human explorers.

As the time when NASA will begin sending humans back to the Moon draws closer, crewed trips to Mars are an enticing next step. But future space explorers will need new tools when traveling to such distant destinations. The Deep Space Atomic Clock mission is testing a new navigation technology that could be used by both human and robotic explorers making their way around the Red Planet and other deep space destinations.

In less than a year of operations, the mission has passed its primary goal to become one of the most stable clocks to ever fly in space; it is now at least 10 times more stable than atomic clocks flown on GPS satellites. In order to keep testing the system, NASA has extended the mission through August 2021. The team will use the additional mission time to continue to improve the clock’s stability, with a goal of becoming 50 times more stable than GPS atomic clocks.

Observers said that the fully fledged system could put China in a competitive position against the world’s three other satellite navigation networks – the US-owned Global Positioning System (GPS), the European Union’s Galileo and Russia’s Glonass. It could also expand China’s international engagement and offer an alternative to other countries that had been reliant on US technology, they said.

Final satellite in the navigation network – China’s answer to the US-owned GPS – is sent into orbit on Tuesday after technical problems delayed it by a week.

Relativity Space, a growing startup that aims to almost entirely 3D-print rockets, on Wednesday announced it struck another major launch deal, as well as an agreement with the U.S. Air Force, to build a launchpad on the California coastline.

The Los Angeles-based rocket builder signed an agreement with satellite operator Iridium Communications, to launch up to six satellites as needed as early as 2023. Over the course of more than half a dozen launches with SpaceX, Iridium completed its second-generation satellite constellation in January 2019, with 66 operational satellites and 9 spares in orbit.

The Iridium deal means Relativity now has agreements to launch for five different companies, having previously announced contracts with Canadian satellite communications operator Telesat, California-based Momentus, Thai satellite broadband company mu Space and Seattle-based Spaceflight Inc. All the contracts have remarkably come before Relativity’s first launch, which is scheduled to happen before the end of 2021.

China launched the last satellite of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System on Tuesday, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation system. The mission, the 336th by the Long March rocket series, was a “complete success” http://xhne.ws/qCGPZ

– China launched the last BDS satellite on Tuesday, marking the completion of the deployment of its own global navigation system.

— The three GEO satellites, including the newly launched one, feature two distinctive creations of the BDS system — active positioning and short message communication.

Continue reading “Xinhua Headlines: China launches last BDS satellite to complete global navigation constellation” »

My hero my love.

The SpaceX CEO now has 500 satellites orbiting earth, and primed for internet broadband trials in the northern hemisphere this summer.

The weather forecast appears to be trending slightly toward favorable conditions for the Space Coast’s next launch from Kennedy Space Center.

If schedules hold, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will likely encounter 60% “go” conditions for its 5:22 p.m. Tuesday liftoff from pad 39A, the Space Force’s 45th Weather Squadron said Saturday. The 230-foot rocket will carry about 60 Starlink satellites for the company’s tenth internet constellation mission.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected Tuesday but should move mostly inland just before the launch time.