Challenges | Campaigns | Solicitations
This challenge invites new ideas and participants in supporting development of instruments and technologies with the potential to advance NASA’s science mission goals. First white paper due August 6, 2021. [Forward]
Compete in a challenge that will provide payload development funding and access to suborbital flight testing for innovative space technologies. $2,000,000 in total prizes. Closes August 11, 2021. [Forward]
This challenge seeks improvements to materials, manufacturing techniques, processes, or improvements to components or systems involved in CFM. $10,000 prize. Registration closes August 16. [Forward]
Experience weightlessness, see Earth from space, and join Sir Richard Branson for a personal VIP tour of Spaceport America. No payment is necessary. Closes September 1, winner announced September 29. [Forward]
You can own a full-scale model of the Apollo 11, 12, 13, 14 Command Module Control Panel (CMCP) as designed by Academy Award-winning artist Mark Lasoff. Ends September 21, 2021. [Forward]
The tenth annual event is the world's largest hackathon. Participants use NASA’s free and open data over a 48-hour period to solve challenges submitted by NASA personnel. October 2-3, 2021.
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NASA is inviting students across the US to design an experiment to test on a suborbital rocket or high-altitude balloon. $1500 awarded to each winning school. Contest opens August 18. [Forward]
University rocketry teams: want to launch rockets and compete regionally against other university teams and potentially join next year's Spaceport America Cup? Registration closes March 31, 2022. [Forward]
Book your six-hour voyage on Spaceship Neptune now for 2025 and see Earth from space! Book an individual seat or a full 8 person capsule. $125,000 per space explorer. [Forward]
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]
NASA wants to understand how the Freelancer community can potentially help in the future to evaluate solutions provided for NASA engineering challenges. They encourage everyone to register, regardless of experience. [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]
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
The 35th Annual Small Satellite Conference (August 7-12) explores what’s possible in new space mission operations and autonomy enablers that will drive the speed of information exchange. Admission is $195. [Forward]
August 23-26, 2021. This is a hybrid in-person and virtual program that will expand and diversify access, engagement, and understanding of the global space community. In-person: $2,690. Virtual: $750. [Forward]
Learn about STEM career and internship opportunities with NASA. Free on Facebook. August 24, 2021, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM EDT. [Forward]
Virtual sessions will be held from September 7 - October 19, 2021. The sessions include The Maturing of the Small Satellite Market, Access to Space, and more. [Forward]
Join experts from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center for an inside look at the scientific legacy of Hubble and the future possibilities of the James Webb telescope. Free, virtual event. [Forward]
This free, virtual event will include expert discussions with top leaders in aerospace, government, STEM education, entertainment, and more from around the world about the future of Mars exploration. [Forward]
This workshop brings together experts to discuss questions critical to understanding the scope of a potential interstellar probe mission. Takes place September 27-October 1, 2021. Registration opens in August. [Forward]
This free, virtual event (October 14-17) offers an opportunity for those interested in Mars to discuss the science, technology, social implications, and a multitude of other aspects of Mars exploration. [Forward]
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Space Ecosystem | Startups | Deals
Varda Space Industries wants to build the first space factory and industrial park on orbit. The company has brought in $53 million since its founding eight months ago. [Forward]
Germany’s Isar Aerospace Technologies is focused on building orbital launch vehicles designed to carry up to 1,000 kilograms to low-Earth orbit. Their first test flight is planned for 2022. [Forward]
Image Credit: iRocket
iRocket now has access to testing facilities and engineering support, chiefly at the NASA center in Huntsville, Alabama—where iRocket hopes to conduct its first rocket engine test in September 2021. [Forward]
This was the largest quarter on record for space infrastructure investment. 2021 is on pace to beat the previous annual record of $9.1 billion raised in 2020. [Forward]
Space Exploration | Development
The GAO denied that NASA improperly evaluated the two companies’ proposals. The decision should free NASA to proceed on its lunar lander contract with SpaceX. [Forward]
In an open letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Bezos said Blue Origin will also fund its own pathfinder mission to low-Earth orbit in exchange for a fixed-priced contract. [Forward]
NASA has been interested in nuclear propulsion for space exploration for decades. Space Force says nuclear propulsion may have significant advantages in terms of efficiency compared to standard chemical rockets. [Forward]
Image Credit: Youssef Ghali
Venus is a spacecraft killer. Because of its hellish conditions, NASA JPL engineers are designing a new type of rover that might finally be able to explore the Venusian surface. [Forward]
Orbital modeling done by an amateur space enthusiast using NASA's General Mission Analysis Tool (GMAT) indicates the lunar module never hit the moon and may still be in orbit. [Forward]
Astronomy | Astrophysics | Cosmology
While not definitive proof that life exists on Enceladus, researchers think that Enceladus' hydrothermal vents could be habitable to Earth-like microorganisms. [Forward]
Fulfilling a prediction of Einstein’s theory of general relativity, researchers report the first-ever recordings of X-ray emissions from the far side of a black hole. [Forward]
Image Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/JHU
Clays called smectites are present all over Mars. Researchers discovered that frozen smectite samples nearly perfectly matched the MARSIS radar observations that were originally thought to be water. [Forward]
Harvard theoretical astrophysicist Avi Loeb announced the Galileo Project, which aims to develop an artificial-intelligence-powered network of telescopes that can search for evidence of technological alien civilizations. [Forward]
An exploration of how future humans might attempt to terraform Venus, which has 81% of the mass, 95% of the radius, and 90% of the gravity of our own planet. [Forward]