NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission is scheduled to launch tomorrow, September 28, from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. SpaceX's Crew Dragon Freedom spacecraft will lift off atop a Falcon 9 rocket and is expected to dock to the International Space Station (ISS) the following day. Crew Dragon Freedom will bring NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov to the ISS for an approximate five-month science mission. The crewed vessel will also deliver sample collection kits for Canadian study Vascular Aging.
Following a Canadian Space Agency (CSA) announcement of opportunity, Reaction Dynamics (Saint-Jean-sur Richelieu, Quebec) was recently awarded a contribution of $776,000 to support the on-orbit demonstration of its monopropellant propulsion unit, commonly referred to as a microthruster. This funding builds on Reaction Dynamics' previous work with the CSA in the development of hybrid rocket technology, which directly contributed to this in-space propulsion advancement. The demonstration will evaluate key performance parameters for space operations such as orbit maintenance, altitude adjustments, inclination changes, collision avoidance and controlled atmospheric re-entry. The ability to execute these manoeuvres with greater precision and agility will refine mission profiles and contribute to space sustainability, particularly by enabling more efficient deorbiting processes.
revealing a surprising discovery: glimmering sulfur crystals. Something never seen before on the red planet! These crystals are pure, elemental sulfur, which is unexpected on Mars. The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), Canada's contribution to Curiosity, played an important role in this discovery. Mounted on Curiosity's robotic arm, the Canadian instrument bombarded the sulfur with X-rays and alpha particles, revealing their true elemental nature.
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