Jaw-dropping Wondrous Spectacular Telescope – TechCrunch

HelloWe are glad to be back. Max Q. InThis issue:

• TheFirst images from James Webb Space TelescopeThese are our best sellers
• Lunar OutpostEyes on moon markets
• NewsABL Space Systems, SkyroraYou can find out more

ByThe way…we’re right around the corner from TC Sessions: Robotics, a full-day digital gathering of some of the world’s leading founders, technologists, engineers, researchers and investors in robotics and AI! RegisterFind out more at this link. 

Okay, let’s get to the good stuff.

James Webb Space TelescopeJWST is one of the most thrilling astronomical missions in recent years. WithScientists at JWST are attempting to discover more about the universe from star formation to black hole formation to exoplanets.

ThisNASA released the five first images of the optical instrument last week. Not disappoint. TheFirst image revealed by President Joe Biden, is a magnificent photo of cluster SMACS 0723. As NASA Administrator Bill NelsonIt’s that simple. “If you held a grain of sand on the tip of your finger at arm’s length, that is the part of the universe that you’re seeing, just one little speck of the universe.”

CheckCheck out this story to see what the other four images reveal about the universe, and how deep we dive into it. Devin ColdeweyHow a spacecraft from a million miles away can send back dozens of gigabytes worth of data Earth.

I met up with Lunar OutpostCEO Justin CyrusA few months after closing a $12 million seed round for the company, it was led by Explorer 1 FundParticipation is possible from Promus Ventures, Space Capital, Type 1 Ventures Cathexis Ventures.

Lunar OutpostIt is developing rovers for space and terrestrial applications and has several space missions scheduled for 2023. ForThe first mission. Lunar OutpostWill send a 10-kilogram rover called the Mobile Autonomous Prospecting Platform (MAPP), to the moon’s south pole on a mission in partnership with Nokia Intuitive MachinesIn the early 2023. TheCompany also sends a rover for exploration of the mysterious Reiner GammaIn partnership with NASA, a feature on the Moon was also developed in a fully-funded mission. Intuitive Machines. To top it off, it’s part of a team that includes Northrop Grumman, Michelin, AVL Intuitive Machines that’s bidding on a contract to build a crewed lunar terrain vehicle for NASA.

“We saw our competitors starting to try to catch up and we felt like this funding can not only be utilized to further differentiate ourselves, and dig a little bit of a moat, if you will, but also accelerate our commercialization timeline for cislunar space,” Cyrus said.

Image Credits: Lunar Outpost (opens in a new window)

MoreNews from TC and Beyond

• ABL Space Systems conducted a successful static-fire testThe RS1 rocket was launched from Kodiak, Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport ComplexCEO Harry O’Hanley said.
• BlackSky was awarded $4.4 millionThe U.S. Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) for machine learning tech integral to IARPA’s Space-based Machine Automated Recognition Technique Program.
• Dawn Aerospace Awarded €1.4 million ($1.4 million)The following are the European Commission to further develop its hydrazine-replacement propulsion technology.
• The European Space Agency’s VegaC rocket made a successful flight on its first flight. French GuianaWith the launch by ArianespacePrime contractor designed the vehicle Avio. Arianespace said it’s targeting four launches per year.
• ESA It has officially terminatedIts cooperation with Russia’s RoscosmosThe ExoMars rover mission.
• Rocket Factory Augsburg The company fired it Helix engine for 74 seconds, bringing the engine’s long-duration hot-fire campaign to an end. NextUp is the integrated system testing the company said.
• Rocket Lab The first of two missions was launched for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office. It’s aiming to launch the second mission just 10 days later, the fastest launch cadence for the company so far.
• Roscosmos The head of the company was terminated Dmitry RogozinOn the same day as the RussianSpace agency and NASA saidThey would swap astronaut seats for missions to the International Space Station.
• Skyrora has opened a 55,000-square-foot rocket engine factory in Scotland, which will power the company’s inaugural launch vehicle, Skyrora XL.
• SpaceX Over two tons of cargo was shipped to the International Space StationThis includes a variety of scientific experiments, as well as a NASA instrument that will measure and cycle dust, which is an important variable for modeling future climate scenarios, and ecological phenomena such snowmelt, and algae blooms.
• SpaceX’s Super HeavyThe engine spin-start test that ended in a fiery explosion was interrupted by booster.
• Space Capital released its quarterly reportOn space sector investing, we found that $6.1 billion more was invested in 92 companies during the second quarter. TheVC firm saidIt did not believe the industry was at “existential risk” despite dire macro economic conditions.
• Virgin GalacticIt is opening a new manufacturing facilityIn ArizonaIt claims that it will be able to produce six spaceships annually.

ImageWeek in Review

Image Credits:NASA, ESA and CSA. STScI

Come on…how could I Not Choose the JWST deep-field landscape?! AsAn aside: Check out this cool storyStarting at Mary Beth Griggs on why it looks like there’s so much lens flare in this image (spoiler: it’s not lens flare).

Bonus JWST-related links:

This cool toolStarting at John ChristensenThis compares images taken by JW with those taken by the noble Hubble Space Telescope. ItIt is amazing how advanced the new optical instrument is.

A RedditUser made a videoShowing exactly where the “Cosmic Cliffs”You can find them anywhere in the universe. It’s jaw-dropping.

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