Challenges | Campaigns | Solicitations
NASA seeks innovative approaches for excavating icy regolith and delivering water in extreme lunar conditions to enable human presence on the Moon. $5,000,000 in prizes. Closes June 18, 2021. [Forward]
The competition offers creators around the world a chance to share films inspired by and using NASA imagery. $26,000 in total prizes. The close date is July 14, 2021. [Forward]
Image Credit: SpaceX illustration
XPRIZE Carbon Removal is aimed at tackling climate change and advancing space exploration. Teams will create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans. [Forward]
Vespera is a smart and fully automated combination telescope and camera. Observe the night sky, capture celestial photos, and learn about the Cosmos all in one place. [Forward]
Analyze images taken by the Context Camera orbiting the south polar region of Mars. The locations you identify will be used as targets for higher resolution observations. [Forward]
Join thousands of volunteers to help identify and classify samples of variable stars using SuperWASP, the world's most successful ground-based survey for transiting exoplanets. [Forward]
Join thousands of volunteers and search for Planet 9 and new brown dwarfs in the backyard of the solar system using data from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission. [Forward]
Help the Hobby-Eberly Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) measure how fast the universe was expanding at different times in history to reveal the role of dark energy at different epochs. [Forward]
Write or draw your vision of why you think Earth needs Space on a postcard and have it launched into space and back on a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. [Forward]
Events
May 8th is the virtual 2021 Planet "Walk". It consists of both a daytime and an evening portion, hosted on Zoom. Register for free to receive the Zoom connection information. [Forward]
Explore the landscapes and rocks of Mars with planetary geologist Dr Matt Balme. Joining instructions will be sent closer to the date. Tickets are £3.83 - £11.37 plus fees. [Forward]
This virtual conference examines the many innovations required for a sustainable human presence on Mars and how these technologies will benefit Earth. Tickets are $33.46 - $102.42 plus fees. [Forward]
ISDC 2021 will highlight the public and private efforts to push the boundaries of space exploration. Virtual event to take place from June 24-27, 2021. [Forward]
// FYI
Space Ecosystem | Startups | Deals
Entrepreneur Max Polyakov has acquired South African small satellite specialist Dragonfly Aerospace, particularly for their expertise in creating imaging constellations. It’s an important step toward his vertically integrated space ecosystem. [Forward]
The UAE is pushing for rapid expansion in the space exploration business to diversify its economy. The 2022 launch will be ispace's first mission of this kind. [Forward]
Space Exploration | Development
SpaceX won a $2.9 billion contract from NASA to develop, test, and fly two missions to the lunar surface. NASA’s bold bet on Starship may change spaceflight forever. [Forward]
The thin atmosphere on Mars presented a huge challenge. Creating a rotor-powered craft (Ingenuity) that can actually use the atmosphere to produce lift is a major achievement. [Forward]
China is launching the first and most crucial module (Tianhe-1) of its new multi-module space station design. To complete the station by China’s 2022 goal, 11 more flights are required. [Forward]
Image Credit: HI-SEAS
Lava tubes on Mars are crucial targets for research into astrobiology, and tubes on the moon may serve as shelters for human settlements. Analog astronauts are training for future exploration. [Forward]
Recent papers contend that theories about Warp Drive are not pure science fiction, but potentially impossible hurdles remain, such as requiring an as yet non-existent type of energy. [Forward]
Astronomy | Astrophysics | Cosmology
The team at the Event Horizon Telescope has released an updated version of the first-ever image of a supermassive black hole, this time revealing how it looks in polarized light. [Forward]