GeekWire Space & Science Weekly

This Week's Top Space & Science Stories

Space Adventures looks for a customer to do a spacewalk after Russia gives its OK

Russian space officials say they've reached a deal to fly two customers to the International Space Station in 2023, and that one customer could do a spacewalk.

Allen Institute will host $40.5M brain research center to map the effects of Alzheimer’s disease

A $40.5 million collaborative research center in Seattle aims to create high-resolution maps of brains ravaged by Alzheimer's disease.

Pandemic projections suggest requiring masks could save 33,000 lives in U.S.

A new projection for the course of the coronavirus outbreak suggests that 33,000 lives could be saved in the U.S. between now and October if masks are required.

Tethers Unlimited delivers software-defined radios to Millennium Space for satellite constellation

Tethers Unlimited says it has delivered 15 software-defined radios in support of a satellite constellation mission being developed by Millennium Space Systems

Relativity makes deals with Vandenberg AFB and Iridium for California launches

Relativity Space, a startup that was born in Seattle but grew up in Los Angeles, says it has signed an agreement to develop launch facilities at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, and a contract with Iridium to launch satellites from those facilities.

Black hole or neutron star? Gravitational waves bring a cosmic conundrum to light

Black hole or neutron star? Telltale ripples in the fabric of spacetime reveal the existence of a cosmic object that scientists can't definitively classify.

NASA lays out a plan to qualify suborbital spacecraft for its astronauts and scientists

NASA says it'll formulate a plan to assess the safety of suborbital spacecraft so that astronauts and other space agency personnel can be cleared for takeoff.

HyperSciences pushes ahead to next stage of blaster technology (and fundraising)

After using crowdfunding to raise $9 million for its hypersonic blaster technology, HyperSciences plans to bring in millions more the old-fashioned way.

LeoStella confirms delivery of BlackSky’s Earth observation satellites for SpaceX launch

Tukwila, Wash.-based LeoStella cast a spotlight on the delivery of its first two built-from-scratch satellites for the BlackSky Earth-watching constellation.

Institute halts COVID-19 clinical trial for hydroxychloroquine due to low enrollment

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has shut down a clinical trial to see if a combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin can prevent hospitalization and death due to COVID-19.

XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling offers $5M to boost innovations in job training

XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling will offer $5 million in prizes for innovations that could revolutionize job training for under-resourced communities.

Virgin Galactic and NASA make a deal on services for private orbital astronauts

Virgin Galactic says it has signed an agreement with NASA to develop a new readiness program for private astronauts heading to the International Space Station.

Boeing shifts its team leaders for space station and Starliner space programs

Boeing is realigning its top managers for the space station program — and for the program that's working to send Starliner capsules there and back.

NASA gets set to put astronauts on Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic suborbital flights

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine signaled today that astronauts would soon be cleared to take suborbital spaceflights aboard commercial rocket ships.