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Scientists have only measured the masses of white dwarfs within binary star systems. With help from the joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Hubble Space Telescope, a team of researchers directly measured the mass of an isolated white dwarf outside of a binary star system. Found to be approximately 56% of the Sun’s mass, the team’s results agree with previous white dwarf mass predictions.
Commercial Archives
SpaceX has launched the Inmarsat I-6 F2 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit atop a Falcon 9. The vehicle lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This launch marked 2023’s 24th orbital launch and SpaceX’s 12th of the year — an average launch cadence of 4.1 days per launch.
News – Spaceflight101
Russia's Rockot booster set to blast off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 17:57 UTC with the Sentinel-3B multi-function satellite. The launch is scheduled to take place at the end of the day on Wednesday. Read more here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/satellite-news/article-278860/Russia-launches-satellite-booster- Sentinel-3B.html#storylink=cpy.
ISS Updates – Spaceflight101 – International Space Station
A veteran NASA spacewalker and an EVA rookie from Japan ended their week with nearly six hours of work outside the International Space Station. The restoration of the Station’s Mobile Servicing System started last year and continued in January to provide Canadarm2 with a new pair of grappling hands.
Featured – Spaceflight101
A SpaceX Falcon 9 took to the skies over Florida’s Cape Canaveral Monday afternoon. It was lifting a flight-proven Dragon spacecraft into orbit for a critical delivery of science gear, supplies and maintenance hardware. It was the first of at least six cargo ships inbound to the U.S. Segment of ISS this year.
The Amazon Kuiper NGSO constellation application is approved by the FCC – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-18 00:00
Kuiper Systems LLC (Kuiper) has applied for modification of its license for a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation. This action will allow Kuiper to start deployment of its constellation in order to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to customers around the world.
The Maritime Executive Magazine: SpaceX Suspends Plan For Rig-Based Offshore Launch Platforms – SatNews
Original Publication Date: 2023-02-18 00:00
SpaceX has suspended their plans to convert two offshore drill rigs into floating launch pads for the firm’s Starship rocket system. “SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell told media at a press conference that the two rigs were “not the right platform” for conducting space launch operations at sea.”
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Set to Begin Third Year at Jezero Crater
Perseverance has collected 15 rock cores, two regolith samples and one atmospheric sample. The rover's left front wheel has performed 9,423 revolutions as of Feb. 14. Numbers play a big role in the life of a Mars rover mission, not just because the team includes an impressive quantity of scientists.
NASA’s Planetary Radar Captures Detailed View of Oblong Asteroid
2011 AG5 flew past Earth at a distance of about 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) Scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California closely tracked the object. The asteroid is about 1,600 feet (500 meters) long and about 500 feet (150 meters) wide.
NASA’s Webb Reveals Intricate Networks of Gas, Dust in Nearby Galaxies
Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope are getting their first look at star formation, gas, and dust in nearby galaxies with unprecedented resolution at infrared wavelengths. The data has enabled an initial collection of 21 research papers which provide new insight into how some of the smallest-scale processes in our universe impact the evolution of the largest objects in our cosmos.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Shows Off Collection of Mars Samples
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover provided a panorama of its recently completed sample depot. The panorama, stitched together from 368 images that were sent to Earth, captures more than a month of careful placement and mapping of 10 titanium tubes. The depot represents a backup collection of samples that could be recovered in the future.
NASA’s NuSTAR Telescope Reveals Hidden Light Shows on the Sun
High-energy X-rays are emitted by the hottest material in the Sun’s atmosphere. They were observed by NASA’s Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) NuSTAR’s relatively small field of view means it can’t see the entire Sun from its position in Earth orbit, so the observatory’s view of the Sun is actually a mosaic of 25 images.
NASA’s Curiosity Finds Surprise Clues to Mars’ Watery Past
Gediz Vallis is one of the youngest features on Mount Sharp. Wind carved the valley, but a channel running through it that starts higher up on Mount Sharp is thought to have been eroded by a small river. Scientists suspect wet landslides also occurred here, sending car-size boulders and debris to the bottom.
Webb Detects Extremely Small Main Belt Asteroid
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected an asteroid in the main belt of the solar system. The object is 100-200 meters in size, occupies a very low-inclination orbit, and was located in the inner main-belt region at the time of the Webb observations. Future dedicated Webb observations will allow astronomers to study asteroids smaller than 1 kilometers in size.