South Africa joins China’s moon base project
Thursday, 07 September 2023 17:48
An artificial star for testing the optical performance of startrackers
Thursday, 07 September 2023 16:40
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Like mariners of old, spacecraft steer by the stars—using combinations of telescopes, cameras and computers called startrackers to recognize stellar constellations to calculate their own position in space.
The test bench seen here generates an artificial star-like light source to test the optical performance of startrackers.
Part of the Guidance and Navigation Control (GNC) Attitude and Orbit Control (AOCS), and Pointing Laboratory, based at ESA's ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands, this test bench combines a two-axis precise rotating table with a single star simulator—simulating the light coming from infinity from a star of a given brightness and color.
Produced in house by the lab team, the purpose of this facility is to characterize or calibrate a startracker in terms of distortion, chromatic aberration and other optical variables.
The GNC, AOCS and Pointing Lab works on manner of technologies related to a spacecraft's ability to derive its orientation and location in space. It is one of a suite of ESA technical labs addressing all aspects of spaceflight.
Provided by European Space Agency
Thumbs up for training
Thursday, 07 September 2023 15:32 Write a comment
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ESA project astronaut Sławosz Uznański from Poland inside the Columbus mockup at EAC. Relativity Space expands presence at NASA’s Stennis Space Center
Thursday, 07 September 2023 14:56
Integrated resilient missile warning, tracking and defense
Thursday, 07 September 2023 14:48
International Space Station tests show that a surface treatment can help prevent formation of biofilms in space
Thursday, 07 September 2023 12:55 Write a comment
After exposure in space aboard the International Space Station, a new kind of surface treatment significantly reduced the growth of biofilms, scientists report. Biofilms are mats of microbial or fungal growth that can clog hoses or filters in water processing systems, or potentially cause illness in people.
Redwire demonstrates bioprinting human tissue in space
Thursday, 07 September 2023 10:30
Japan launches telescope and moon lander following weather delays
Thursday, 07 September 2023 09:57 Write a comment
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency successfully launched a rocket Wednesday, with a high-powered X-ray telescope and moon lander on board, after the launch was scrubbed late last month due to high winds.
The H-2A rocket lifted off on time, at 7:42 p.m. EST, or 8:42 a.m. local time, from the Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, and deployed the space telescope on schedule.
"We ha Japan launches 'Moon Sniper' mission
Thursday, 07 September 2023 09:57 Write a comment
Japan's "Moon Sniper" mission blasted off Thursday as the country's space programme looks to bounce back from a string of recent mishaps, weeks after India's historic lunar triumph.
Only the United States, Russia, China and as of last month India have successfully landed a probe on the Moon, with two failed Japanese missions - one public and one private.
Watched by 35,000 people online, SpaceX awaits FAA approval for Starship launch
Thursday, 07 September 2023 09:57 Write a comment
Elon Musk said Tuesday that SpaceX is ready to launch a second test flight of its Starship and awaits Federal Aviation Administration approval nearly five months after the first test in Texas exploded over the Gulf of Mexico.
The updated Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, was rolled out to the launching pad where it will wait for FAA approval before setting a new date for li Terran Orbital announces plan to speed up satellite production
Thursday, 07 September 2023 09:30
Sławosz Uznański from Poland to train as a project astronaut at the European Astronaut Centre
Thursday, 07 September 2023 07:51 Write a comment
As of 1 September 2023, Sławosz Uznański joined ESA as a project astronaut anticipating flying on a future space mission.
Across the Northern Hemisphere, now's the time to catch a new comet before it vanishes for 400 years
Thursday, 07 September 2023 07:11 Write a comment
A newly discovered comet is swinging through our cosmic neighborhood for the first time in more than 400 years.
Japan launches rocket carrying lunar lander and X-ray telescope to explore origins of universe
Thursday, 07 September 2023 06:56 Write a comment
Japan launched a rocket Thursday carrying an X-ray telescope that will explore the origins of the universe as well as a small lunar lander.
The launch of the HII-A rocket from Tanegashima Space Center in southwestern Japan was shown on live video by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, known as JAXA.
"We have a liftoff," the narrator at JAXA said as the rocket flew up in a burst of smoke then flew over the Pacific.
Thirteen minutes after the launch, the rocket put into orbit around Earth a satellite called the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission, or XRISM, which will measure the speed and makeup of what lies between galaxies.
Artificial star
Thursday, 07 September 2023 06:56 Write a comment
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Artificial star