Copernical Team
OSIRIS-REx mission plans for May asteroid departure
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Since its launch in September 2016, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has traveled billions of miles, mapped the surface of an asteroid in unprecedented detail, and made new scientific discoveries about near-Earth asteroids. Now, it's preparing to bring a piece of asteroid Bennu home.
On May 10, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft will say farewell to asteroid Bennu and begin its two-year journey back to Earth, where the dust and rocks collected during the Touch-And-Go maneuver in October will be studied by scientists, including OSIRIS-REx mission principal investigator and University of Arizona planetary scientist Dante Lauretta.
During its Oct. 20, 2020, sample collection event, the spacecraft collected a substantial amount of material from Bennu's surface, likely exceeding the mission's requirement of 2 ounces, or 60 grams.
EDRS: the space data highway
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The European Data Relay System, or EDRS, uses cutting-edge laser technology to greatly reduce the time it takes for information to be sent from low-Earth orbiting spacecraft – such as the Earth observing Sentinel satellites – to Earth.
The system makes Earth observation information available in almost real-time, which can help disaster management workers and the emergency services accelerate their responses to natural crises.
Known as the ‘space data highway’, it currently consists of an extensive network of European ground stations and control centres, and two sister satellites: EDRS-A and EDRS-C. Both are in geostationary orbit at an altitude
The naming of Tooley crater
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Satnav antenna built for ends of the Earth
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A new ESA-supported wide-bandwidth satnav antenna has been designed to receive both satellite and augmentation signals from anywhere in the sky, even down to just a couple of degrees above the horizon.
When galaxies collide
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It was previously thought that collisions between galaxies would necessarily add to the activity of the massive black holes at their centers. However, researchers have performed the most accurate simulations of a range of collision scenarios and have found that some collisions can reduce the activity of their central black holes. The reason is that certain head-on collisions may in fact clear th AI: ensuring that humans remain in the center
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Valuable support or job killer? Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to enhance efficiency of business processes, but also changes the environment of workers. Profitable use of AI technologies for digitization in the energy sector and ways for human beings to remain in the center are studied by the new MeKIDI project coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The project is aimed a Hot Fire met many objectives, test assessment underway
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For the Green Run hot fire test on Jan. 16, NASA set out to acquire test data to support 23 detailed verification objectives. To satisfy the objectives, hot fire test data is used in combination with analysis and testing that has already been completed. These detailed verification objectives are used to certify the design of the Space Launch System rocket's core stage.
The preliminary asse NASA Marshall, SpaceX team celebrates engines of success
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When the big ring of nine Merlin engines on the Falcon 9 rocket rumbled to life, propelling NASA's SpaceX Crew-1 spacecraft and its occupants to their historic rendezvous with the International Space Station, most spectators were watching for the customary bloom of smoke and fire.
NASA manager Steve Gaddis and his team were also listening, anticipating the musical sound of success. At 7:27 Axiom Space reveals historic first private crew to visit ISS
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Axiom Space on Tuesday announced its crew for humankind's first flight of a group of private individuals to a Low Earth Orbit destination - the first-ever entirely private mission proposed to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).
The proposed historic Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) will consist of: former NASA astronaut and Axiom vice president Michael Lopez-Alegria as commander; American Motiv Space Systems and JPL to develop robotic arm for extreme cold environments
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Motiv Space Systems, in partnership with JPL, has announced the development of COLDArm, the first-in-kind robotic arm that will be built to survive the extreme cold of the Moon's South Pole ushering in a new era of extended space exploration on the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
COLDArm (short for Cold Operable Lunar Deployable Arm) is a vital component of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (C 
