Euclid's first images: the dazzling edge of darkness - mission milestone - cosmology

See NASA's Artemis I Orion spacecraft, Moon and Earth in same shot during close approach

What you will see in this video is mostly the European Service Module to your left;the small,blue marbled Earth in the center;and the large,grey Moon on the right.At the end of the video,you will see an amazing shot of the small Earth disappearing beind the big Moon.

Artemis 1 Live! 24/7 Cam

Artemis 1 Live! 24/7 Cam

Contracts Awarded for NASA Gateway Project

US,Canadian,Japanese and European firms are to design and build major elements of NASA's Gateway project,including advanced robotics,habitations,telecommunications and refueling modules and elements.NASA will thus be enabled to lead a global coalition to the Moon and beyond,contributing to the creation of a dynamic and sustainable exploration architecture.The small space station is to be engineered for a 15-year minimum lifespan.Gateway will also be capable of autonomous operations,since it will not be continuously occupied.* NASA's international partners on the project include the European Space Agency (ESA);Canadian Space Agency (CSA);and Japanese Space Agency (JAXA).ESA will contribute habitation and refueling modules,as well as enhanced telecommunications.The ESA prime contractor for the systems is Thales Alenia Space,a joint venture by aerospace and defence firms Thales and Leonardo.The ESA International Habitation Module,I-HAB, will enhance Gateway capabilities for scientific research,life support systems and crew living quarters,enabling longer dueration crewed missions;while the European System Providing Refueling,Infrastructure and Telecommunications (ESPRIT) consists of a refueling module with observation windows,plus high rate telecommunications for the Habitation and Logisitics Outpost (HALO).ESA contractors are currently completing design work,and construction of both systems is slated to begin in late 2021.The I-HAB,to be launched in 2026, will feature improved micrometeoroid and radiation protection for the Gateway crews,in light of the harsh environment of deep space.The refueling element is planned to launch in 2027.* International astronauts will fly to the Gateway aboard the Orion spacecraft as part of integrated crews of US and partner astronauts.* NASA has contracted the launch of the HALO Power and Propulsion element,the initial portion of the Gateway,as early as May 2024 on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.* CSA is contributing the Canadarm 3,to be built by MDA,and is an advanced external robotic arm for Gateway.Under the Gateway Treaty,Canadian astronauts are to fly on the first crewed mission aboard the Orion spacecraft,Artemis 2,which will send humans deeper into space than ever before,and on an a separate flight to the Gateway.For its part,ESA expects to send a European astronaut to the lunar surface on a later Artemis mission.* JAXA will contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.* Northrop Grumman (NOC),MDA Ltd (XTSE:MDA),Thales SA (XPAR:HO),Leonardo SpA (XMIL:LDO).

Spaceflight Milestone Unfolds as Europe Delivers ESA Orion Service Module

A major milestone in NASA's Orion Program is unfolding as of this writing.The ESA Orion Service Module,designed to provide power,propulsion and life support systems to the Orion crew module,has taken off aboard a hulking Antonov AN 25 aircraft on a transatlantic flight from Bremen,Germany to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida.The 5 November 2018 takeoff was marked by a ceremony on 2 November in Bremen participated in by NASA Astronaut Randy Bresnik,a veteran of the International Space Station.NASA will hold a reception event on 16 November.*
The ESM will undergo final testing and integration with other Orion components,including the new Space Launch System rocket,at NASA facilities in Florida and Ohio.This is to prepare for the uncrewed deep space test flight called Exploration Mission-1,similar to the unmanned test flight the Saturn V rocket made during the Apollo Program.EM-1 is being managed for a launch date of December 2019;yet reviewing possible manufacturing and production schedule risks,such as some hurricane damage that was sustained,June 2020 is currently posted by NASA as the fallback date for the mission.
EM-1 will test the complex navigation procedures and critical systems for sending astronauts farther from Earth than ever before,to a high lunar orbit and eventually Mars,beginning with EM-2 in 2023.On these distant missions,NASA's Deep Space Network will be used for crew communications for the first time.*
Corporate participants in the ESA Orion Service Module project include Airbus Space and Defence;Thales Alenia Space,a subsidiary of Italy's Leonardo S.p.A.;and Orion Program lead contractor Lockheed Martin.*
Airbus Space and Defence (Euronext:EAD);Leonardo S.p.A. (OTCMKTS:FINMF);Lockheed Martin (LMT)

Boeing and International Partner Win Air Force Contract

Boeing and its Italian partner Leonardo have been awarded a US Air Force contract potentially worth 2.38 billion dollars for up to 84 Leonardo MH-139 helicopters.Leonardo will manufacture the choppers at its AgustaWestland plant in Philadelphia,while Beoing will missionise the aircraft to meet the Air Force's special needs.The choppers will be used by Air Force Security Forces to protect the nation's land-based ICBM deterrent.They will also be used for training and VIP transport.*
The MH-139s,which are the military version of the commercial AW-139,will replace the venerable UH-1N Huey,which entered service in 1970.The companies will get 367 million dollars for the first four helicopters.Then the Air Force will decide whether to proceed with further production.*
Leonardo,formerly known as Finnmecanica,is based in Rome and is exclusively an aerospace and defence firm with numerous subsidiaries,such as AgustaWestland and Thales Alenia Space.*
The Boeing Company (BA),Leonardo S.p.A. (Italy:Milan LDO)

Impressive Cygnus Launch Reassures Orbital ATK and NASA

More than a year since the failed launch attempt of its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft,Orbital ATK and NASA could relax yesterday with the flawless ULA Atlas V launch of an enlarged version of Cygnus,which unfurled its new solar panels and was pointed in the right direction to reach the ISS 250 miles above Earth.On 28 October 2014,the Antares rocket had exploded in a spectacular fireball,incinerating the company's spacecraft and the NASA cargo it was to carry to the ISS.Since then,Orbital has ascertained that it was probably the Antares' AJ-26 refurbished Russian engine that was responsible for the explosion in the form of a faulty turbopump;it is working to select and test a replacement for the AJ-26,while at the same time moving to United Launch Alliance,a Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture,for the rockets it needs to meet its eight-mission NASA contract obligations.Yesterday's successful Atlas V launch of the Cygnus SS Deke Slayton II,named for the NASA Mercury program astronaut and director of flight operations who died in 1993,was its fourth ISS resupply mission,the midpoint of the contract.It also marked the return of ISS resupply launches to US soil and Orbital's first launch at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,Florida.Besides launching from Cape Canaveral,Orbital is now utilising Kennedy Space Center's spacecraft processing facilities and services for the ISS missions.
Cygnus,which contains the Thales Alenia Space Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM),is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Wednesday,when US astronauts Scott Kelly,currently on a one-year mission with Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko,and Kjell Lindgren grab the spacecraft with the Canadarm2 robotic arm and attach it to the earth-facing ISS Unity Module.It will be docked for two months while the astronauts unload the Cygnus of such cargo as the SAFER jetpack,which is a self-contained maneouvering unit mainly for emergency use during spacewalks,as well as such items as science experiments,gases for breathing and a microsatellite launcher with the first ever microsatellite.*
Orbital ATK is a leading aerospace and defence technologies company with over 12,000 employees in 20 US states and several international locations.Its products range from small caliber ammunition all the way up to commercial aerostructures,commercial and government satellites,rockets,missile propulsion systems and advanced space systems for human exploration.*
Orbital ATK Inc (OA),Lockheed Martin (LMT),Boeing (BA)