Copernical Team
DARPA selects teams to capture potable water from air
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DARPA recently awarded five contracts and selected one Government partner to develop technology to capture potable water from the air in quantities sufficient to meet critical DoD needs, even in extremely dry climates. GE Research, Physical Sciences Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory were ch Lockheed Martin set to takeover Aerojet Rocketdyne
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Lockheed Martin has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AJRD) for $56 per share in cash, which is expected to be reduced to $51 per share after the payment of a pre-closing special dividend.
This represents a post-dividend equity value of $4.6 billion and a total transaction value of $4.4 billion including the assumption of net cash. Arianespace will orbit CSO-2 satellite for CNES and DGA on behalf of the French Ministry of Defense
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For its 10th and final launch of the year - and the fifth in 2020 with the Soyuz medium launcher - Arianespace will send the CSO-2 Earth observation satellite, intended for defense and security applications, into Sun-synchronous orbit.
CSO-2 will be launched for the French CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) space agency and the DGA (Direction generale de l'armement) defense procurem NTU Singapore scientists invent glue activated by magnetic field
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Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), have developed a new way to cure adhesives using a magnetic field.
Conventional adhesives like epoxy which are used to bond plastic, ceramics and wood are typically designed to cure using moisture, heat or light. They often require specific curing temperatures, ranging from room temperature up to 80 degrees Celsiu GomSpace signs a three-party cooperation contract to develop science and technology activities with the Colombian Air force and CODALTEC
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GomSpace has signed the second FACSAT-2 contract to support advanced science and technology activities to enhance the satellite capabilities of the Colombian Airforce. The contract and collaboration consist of a three-party agreement between CODALTEC / Colombian Air Force ("FAC") and GomSpace to continue the FACSAT-2 satellite mission and associated intensive virtual technology transfer program. Long March 8 rocket makes maiden flight
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Five days after China concluded its historic 23-day Chang'e 5 lunar mission, Chinese space engineers made a new achievement with the debut flight of the country's newest carrier rocket.
The Long March 8, the latest in China's Long March launch vehicle fleet, lifted off at 12:37 pm on Tuesday from a coastal launchpad at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in southern China's Hainan province. Voyager Space Holdings to buy all of Nanoracks
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Voyager Space Holdings has announced its intent to acquire a majority stake in XO Markets and its largest subsidiary Nanoracks. Nanoracks is the world's leading provider of commercial space services, offering low-cost, high-quality solutions to the most pressing needs for satellite deployment and basic and educational research in more than 30 nations worldwide.
As part of the transaction, Firefly Aerospace's debut Alpha launch set to demonstrate Space Electric Thruster System
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Space Electric Thruster System (SETS), a Noosphere Ventures aerospace company, will undergo field testing in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) as part of the debut launch of the Firefly Aerospace Alpha rocket, which is scheduled for the beginning of 2021 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, U.S.A.
"The goal of the first SETS mission is to demonstrate and confirm the space worthiness and perfo Using AI to count and map craters on the moon
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A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in China, one from Italy and one from Iceland has used a machine-learning artificial intelligence application to count and note the location of over 100,000 craters on the moon. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes programming their system to recognize craters by training it with data collected by Chinese lunar orbiters.
Prior work identifying and mapping craters on the moon has tended to be a slow process—it has generally been done by hand, with researchers studying photographs and transferring those observations to maps or moon globes. In this new effort, the researchers have found a way to dramatically speed up the process by teaching a computer to identify craters and then to count them.
Teaching a computer to recognize craters on the moon has been a difficult process due to the many forms craters can take. Not all are round, and they are of different ages, which means defining characteristics have eroded over long periods of time.
Earthlings and astronauts chat away, via ham radio
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The International Space Station cost more than $100 billion. A ham radio set can be had for a few hundred bucks.
Perhaps that explains, in part, the appeal of having one of humankind's greatest scientific inventions communicate with Earth via technology that's more than 100 years old. But perhaps there's a simpler explanation for why astronauts and ham radio operators have been talking, and talking, for years.
NASA astronaut Doug Wheelock was just a few weeks into his six-month mission at the space station when feelings of isolation began to set in.
Wheelock would be separated from loved ones, save for communication via an internet phone, email or social media. At times, the stress and tension of serving as the station's commander could be intense.
One night, as he looked out a window at the Earth below, he remembered the space station's ham radio. He figured he'd turn it on—see if anyone was listening.
"Any station, any station, this is the International Space Station," Wheelock said.
A flood of voices jumbled out of the airwaves.
Astronauts aboard the space station often speak to students via ham radio, which can also be used in emergencies, but those are scheduled appearances.
