Other News Virgin Orbit is delaying a LauncherOne launch that was scheduled for this weekend by several days. The company announced Thursday that the mission, which had been scheduled for Sunday, is now set for launch Wednesday, Jan. 13 between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Eastern. That date was not among the list of backup windows published in a Coast Guard notice to mariners last week about the planned launch. Virgin Orbit didn't disclose the reason for the delay other than it was "wrapping up final tasks, coordinating with our customers, and preparing for our Launch Readiness Review on Friday morning." [Twitter @Virgin_Orbit] NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a new agreement Thursday regarding cooperation in scientific research. The memorandum of understanding reaffirms what the agencies call their "longstanding partnership" on space and Earth science research. That work has previously included activities from Antarctica to the International Space Station, as well as cooperation in science education. [NASA] China's Chang'e-4 mission has started a new lunar day. The lander and Yutu-2 rover woke up Thursday for their 26th lunar day on the surface, with Yutu-2 moving towards a region of impact craters with high reflectivity. Chang'e-4 landed on the far side of the moon two years ago. [Xinhua] The founder of SpaceX has eclipsed the founder of Blue Origin as the world's wealthiest person. Elon Musk's net worth passed $185 billion Thursday, moving him head of Jeff Bezos, worth $184 billion thanks to his stake in Amazon. Musk's wealth is driven by the soaring stock price of Tesla, which has increased dramatically over the last year. Musk started 2020 with a net worth of "just" $27 billion. Musk, informed of his title as the world's richest person, tweeted, "How strange." [CNBC] |
0 comments:
Post a Comment