Blastoff! Rocket Lab launches NASA Starling satellites, booster parachutes down

NASA's Starling mission tests a new technology,CubeSat swarms.It consists of four CubeSats and evaluates their navigational ability and possibilities for atmospheric research.In this test,the swarm,using Distributed Spacecraft Autonomy,takes ionospheric density measurements from Low Earth Orbit with its dual band GPS receivers.The ionosphere is a layer of the atmosphere that grows or shrinks based on solar activity and contains both solar and cosmic radiation. Rocket Lab USA Inc (RKLB)

Astrophysics:ICON Mission Rescheduled

NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission has been rescheduled for launch on 9 October 2019.It will be air-launched on a Northrop-Grumman Pegasus XL rocket from the L-1011 Stargazer aircraft taking off at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.*
The launch will have a 90-minute window beginning at 9:25 pm Eastern.It will occur off the coast of Daytona at altitude 39,000 feet, heading 105 degrees, NASA said.*
The ionosphere is the layer of the atmosphere where Earth and space weather meet.ICON will help determine the physical processes at play in this frontier of space and help find ways to mitigate the negative effects, such as disruption of radio communications and satellites and threats to astronaut health, the agency explained.*
Northrop-Grumman (NOC)