Copernical Team
Australia advances hypersonic flight testing with Southern Launch and Hypersonix collaboration
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South Australia is set to enhance its position as a global aerospace hub following a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Southern Launch, a prominent spaceport provider, and Hypersonix Launch Systems, a Queensland-based developer of hypersonic vehicles and scramjet technology. The MoU outlines a collaboration to develop a hypersonic test bed service that will utilize Southern Launch's spac Iran says new research satellite launched into orbit
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Iran on Saturday blasted a new research satellite into orbit, state media said, in the latest such development for an aerospace programme that has long faced Western criticism.
"The Chamran-1 research satellite was successfully launched and put into orbit by the Ghaem-100 carrier," state television said.
The satellite, which weighs around 60 kilograms (132 pounds), is designed to test h Historic private astronaut mission prepares for splashdown
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The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first ever spacewalk by non-government astronauts, is returning to Earth on Sunday.
Splashdown is scheduled to take place at approximately 3:36 am Eastern Time (0736 GMT) off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida.
A live webcast will be carried by SpaceX starting around an hour beforehand.
The four-member Stuck-in-space astronauts reflect on being left behind and adjusting to life in orbit
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Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday it was hard to watch their Boeing capsule return to Earth without them.
It was their first public comments since last week's return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in.
"That's how it goes in this business," said Williams, adding that "you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.
Boeing 'ran out of time' on Starliner: astronaut stuck on ISS
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A US astronaut stuck on the International Space Station said Friday he believed Boeing's Starliner could have carried him home, if more time had been available to work through the beleaguered spacecraft's issues.
Last week, Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams watched the Boeing Starliner they rode to the ISS three months prior head back to Earth without them.
"We could have gotten to the point, I believe, where we could have returned on Starliner, but we just simply ran out of time," Wilmore said Friday in a video press conference.
On June 5, Wilmore and Williams took off aboard the Starliner as part of the vessel's first crewed mission, in what was originally meant to be eight days in orbit.
Printed engines propel the next industrial revolution
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In the fall of 2023, NASA hot fire tested an aluminum 3D printed rocket engine nozzle. Aluminum is not typically used for 3D printing because the process causes it to crack, and its low melting point makes it a challenging material for rocket engines. Yet the test was a success.
Printing aluminum engine parts could save significant time, money, and weight for future spacecraft. Elementum 3D Inc., a partner on the project, is now making those benefits available to the commercial space industry and beyond.
Artemis missions could put the most powerful imaging telescope on the moon
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Ground-based interferometry on Earth has proven to be a successful method for conducting science by combining light from several telescopes into acting like a single large telescope. But how can an ultraviolet (UV)/optical interferometer telescope on the moon deliver enhanced science, and can the Artemis missions help make this a reality?
This is what a recently submitted study to the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024 conference hopes to address as a team of researchers propose the Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) that, as its name implies, could potentially be delivered to the lunar surface via NASA's upcoming Artemis missions. The study is published on the arXiv preprint server.
This proposal was recently accepted as a Phase 1 study through NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program and holds the potential to develop revolutionary extremely high-angular resolution way of conducting science on other planetary bodies while contributing to other missions, as well.
NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 to conduct space station research
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NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are headed to the International Space Station for the agency's SpaceX Crew-9 mission in September. Once on station, these crew members will support scientific investigations that include studies of blood clotting, effects of moisture on plants grown in space, and vision changes in astronauts.
Here are details on some of the work scheduled during the Crew-9 expedition:
Blood cell development in space
Megakaryocytes Orbiting in Outer Space and Near Earth (MeF1) investigates how environmental conditions affect the development and function of megakaryocytes and platelets. Megakaryocytes, large cells found in bone marrow, and platelets, pieces of these cells, play important roles in blood clotting and immune response.
"Understanding the development and function of megakaryocytes and platelets during long-duration spaceflight is crucial to safeguarding the health of astronauts," said Hansjorg Schwertz, principal investigator, at the University of Utah.
Stuck-in-space astronauts make first public comments since Boeing capsule left without them
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Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday it was hard to watch their Boeing capsule return to Earth without them.
It was their first public comments since last week's return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in.
"That's how it goes in this business," said Williams, adding that "you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.
Want to walk in space? It might cost you more than money
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A tech billionaire has become the first layperson to perform a space walk. Hundreds of miles above Earth, Jared Isaacman took part in an intricate performance of science and engineering that often comes with some serious health risks, even for professional astronauts.
Elon Musk's SpaceX partnered with Isaacman to bring the Polaris Dawn mission to life, which featured a five-day flight to 460 miles above the planet. From bulges in the hatch seal to an unresponsive button for accessing the ship, there were a few glitches during the trek. But the "risky venture," as SpaceX's vice president of build and flight reliability Bill Gerstenmaier put it, could have gone significantly worse.
"You have to embrace the suck," European Space Agency astronaut Luca Parmitano told NPR.
"At one point during the spacewalk, you're going to be hot, you're going to be cold, your hands are going to hurt," he continued.
During a space walk in 2013, Parmitano's cooling system suffered a major malfunction—his helmet was filling with water, creeping up his skin and over his head because of the capillary pressure at zero G.