September 24, 2023

Samples From Asteroid Bennu Land on Earth After Fiery Descent (Source: CBS)
A small saucer-shape capsule carrying a half-pound of rocks and dust collected from an asteroid called Bennu — leftovers from the formation of the solar system 4.5 billion years ago — slammed into Earth's atmosphere at a blistering 27,650 mph on Sunday. The OSIRIS-REx mission ended with the capsule's landing at an Army test range in Utah.

Recovery crews recovered the capsule and inspected for any signs of a breach that could cause contamination of the pristine samples inside. It will now be shipped to the Johnson Space Center in Houston where NASA has set up a high-tech sample analysis laboratory. (9/24)

SpaceX Launches 51st 2023 Mission From Florida Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX's second launch of the week capped off Saturday night by sending another batch of the company's Starlink internet satellites to orbit from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Falcon 9 soared away from Launch Complex 40, arcing along Florida's southeast coast. The first stage booster, flying for a record-tying 17th time, targeted a drone ship landing near the Bahamas. (9/24)

Canada's Participation in the World's Largest Radio Telescope Means New Opportunities in Research and Innovation (Source: The Conversation)
Canada is about to become a member of the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) — the world’s next giant radio telescope. This is a win for all Canadians, not just astronomers. The Canadian Astronomical Society makes recommendations on telescope participation through a decade long range plan in which the professional astronomy community considers its priorities. Full participation in the SKA was the highest priority among large projects of the most recent plan that covers 2020 to 2030. (9/21)

Eris and Makemake Might Be Hiding Unexpected Oceans of Liquid Water (Source: New Scientist)
Icy rocks in the outer solar system might have unexpected subsurface oceans. Eris and Makemake are both dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt – the ring of frozen objects that encircles our solar system beyond Neptune’s orbit – and new observations from the James Webb Space Telescope hint that these small worlds could have unexpected activity beneath their surfaces. (9/21)

Aerospace Corp. Restructures (Source: Breaking Defense)
Federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) The Aerospace Corp. “will be making significant changes to its organizational structure,” as of Oct. 1, combining “the Space Systems Group and its Defense Systems Group to create a unified organization." Under the reorganization, Lara Schmidt will take over  as vice president of Defense Architectures and Integration, leading Aerospace’s work “on space warfighting, future space architectures, operations and integration,” according to the announcement.

Todd Nygren will head up the new Defense Space Acquisition organization, and Randy Kendall will lead the Launch, Missiles and Mobility mission support to DoD, as well as supporting the Missile Defense Agency. Jamie Morin will lead the Defense Strategic Space unit, and continue as executive director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy. (9/21)

China Phone Maker Unveils Satellite Phone (Source: Fierce Wireless)
A few weeks ago, when Huawei unveiled its new Mate 60 Pro smartphone, the telecom industry was surprised to learn that Huawei may have developed its own 5G chip even though it doesn’t have access to some important Western chip-making technologies. But also surprising was the fact that the Mate 60 Pro can make and receive satellite calls. (9/22)