Cincinnati OH (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
What do you call a broken satellite? Today, it's a multimillion-dollar piece of dangerous space junk. But a new collision-avoidance system developed by students at the University of Cincinnati is getting engineers closer to developing robots that can fix broken satellites or spacecraft in orbit. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral students Daegyun Choi and Anirudh Chhabr

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
Northrop Grumman recently signed agreements to license three technologies from NASA related to satellite servicing. Two of the technologies were developed by NASA for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission. OSAM-1 is a first-of-its-kind mission that will grapple a US government-owned satellite, Landsat 7, to refuel it and to demonstrate the capability to pot

Washington DC (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
There are 6,500 satellites in orbit, but only about half of them are functional. Once a satellite breaks down or runs out of fuel, it is essentially useless. Repairs, maintenance and upgrades are nearly impossible in orbit. It's launch once, use once. But as satellites have become more robust, their operators often find that fleets outlast their projected lifespans and need new technology,

Tsukuba, Japan (SPX) Jan 13, 2022
The shape of a cell affects its physical and chemical properties. Different cell types have developed different shapes to enable effective functioning. But what shape were the very first cells, as life began to evolve? Primitive cells are thought to have been spherical, but experimental evidence supporting this belief remains elusive. Now, however, researchers from the University of Tsukub

New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Jan 14, 2022
Addressing one of the most profoundly unanswered questions in biology, a Rutgers-led team has discovered the structures of proteins that may be responsible for the origins of life in the primordial soup of ancient Earth. The researchers explored how primitive life may have originated on our planet from simple, non-living materials. They asked what properties define life as we know it and c

Almaty, Kazakhstan (Sputnik) Jan 19, 2022
Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has fired his special envoy to the Russia-leased Baikonur space port, his press office said on Monday. "A decree of the head of state has relieved Serik Zhusipovich Suleimenov of his duties as the Kazakhstani president's special representative at Baikonur complex," the presidency said. Serik Suleimenov was appointed envoy to Baikonur in th

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 19, 2022
We continue to document rocks similar to what we saw at "The Prow," a dark appearing rock outcrop with amazing sedimentary structures and details. To do this, we need to get as close as possible to an outcrop surface but that has called for some short multi-plan drives, as we manoeuvre to a new feature called "Panari" (a length of roughly 20 metres away from The Prow). In our last plan, we

Baton Rouge LA (SPX) Jan 13, 2022
New research from LSU and the University of Florida suggests that more shark attacks occur during fuller phases of the moon. While the exact cause remains unclear, the researchers found that more shark attacks than average occur during periods of higher lunar illumination and fewer attacks than average occur during periods of lower illumination. Many different types of animals show behaviors tha

Long Beach CA (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. has announced the launch window for its first Electron mission in 2022, a dedicated mission for BlackSky (NYSE: BKSY) through global launch services provider Spaceflight Inc. Electron is scheduled to launch the "Without Mission A Beat" mission from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand during a launch window that opens February 4, 2022 UTC. The "Without Mission A

Orlando FL (UPI) Jan 19, 2022
SpaceX successfully launched 49 Starlink satellites from Florida on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of Starlinks launched to over 2,000. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center just after 9 p.m. after it was originally scheduled for 7:04 p.m. EST but was delayed within 15 minutes of the original launch time. Only 1,741 of the broadband Internet c