Science News Roundup: Astra Space to supply engines for Maxar satellites; NASA looks to launch Artemis lunar test flight again on Nov. 14 and more

Astra declined to say how many satellites were involved in the agreement. NASA looks to launch Artemis lunar test flight again on Nov. 14 NASA has targeted Nov. 14 for a third attempt to launch its big, next-generation rocketship, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday, after weeks of technical setbacks and foul weather delayed the uncrewed inaugural Artemis mission to the moon.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 13-10-2022 10:35 IST | Created: 13-10-2022 10:29 IST
Science News Roundup: Astra Space to supply engines for Maxar satellites; NASA looks to launch Artemis lunar test flight again on Nov. 14 and more
Representative image Image Credit: Twitter (@NASA)

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Astra Space to supply engines for Maxar satellites

Rocket builder Astra Space Inc signed an agreement with Maxar to supply electric propulsion engines for the Earth observation firm’s future low-earth orbiting satellites, Astra announced on Tuesday. The value of the agreement was not disclosed. Astra declined to say how many satellites were involved in the agreement.

NASA looks to launch Artemis lunar test flight again on Nov. 14

NASA has targeted Nov. 14 for a third attempt to launch its big, next-generation rocketship, the U.S. space agency said on Wednesday, after weeks of technical setbacks and foul weather delayed the uncrewed inaugural Artemis mission to the moon. Plans call for rolling the 32-story-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its Orion capsule back out to Launch Pad 39B at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, as early as Friday, Nov. 4 to renew final flight preparations.

On New Zealand farm, scientists reduce cow burps to save the world

More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed Kowbucha, a punnily named probiotic that studies show reduces burps -- or methane emissions. The Kowbucha powder is blended into a milk-like drink fed to the calves at the Massey University farm in Palmerston North.

Arizona cryonics facility preserves bodies to revive later

Time and death are "on pause" for some people in Scottsdale, Arizona. Inside tanks filled with liquid nitrogen are the bodies and heads of 199 humans who opted to be cryopreserved in hopes of being revived in the future when science has advanced beyond what it is capable of today. Many of the "patients," as Alcor Life Extension Foundation calls them, were terminally ill with cancer, ALS or other diseases with no present-day cure.

Asteroid's path altered in NASA's first test of the planetary defense system

The spacecraft NASA deliberately crashed into an asteroid last month succeeded in nudging the rocky moonlet from its natural path into a faster orbit, marking the first time humanity has altered the motion of a celestial body, the U.S. space agency announced on Tuesday. The $330 million proof-of-concept mission, which was seven years in development, also represented the world's first test of a planetary defense system designed to prevent a potential doomsday meteorite collision with Earth.

SpaceX to take entrepreneur Dennis Tito on Starship around the moon

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX said on Wednesday that the world's first space tourist Dennis Tito and his wife Akiko have signed up to fly around the moon on the space exploration firm's Starship rocket. Engineer turned financial analyst Tito, 82, was the first private individual to pay for a trip to space on Russia's Soyuz TM-32 mission in 2001, when he spent nearly eight days aboard the International Space Station.

'Although not alive, I can still create art,' robot Ai-Da tells UK lawmakers

A "robot artist" called Ai-Da told British lawmakers on Tuesday that although it was an artificial creation, it was still capable of producing art, as it spoke at a parliamentary inquiry into how new technologies will affect the creative industries. Described as "the world's first ultra-realistic AI humanoid robot artist", it appeared in one of parliament's ornate wood-paneled rooms, wearing a short black-haired wig and denim dungarees.

Japan's Epsilon rocket failed after launch - Kyodo

The Japanese space agency's Epsilon rocket failed after it was launched on Wednesday, Kyodo News and other domestic media reported. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) sent a destruction order signal to the rocket after detecting trouble, Kyodo said. Public broadcaster NHK said the signal was sent after JAXA determined that rocket was not able to fly safely.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Give Feedback