New lidar technique could help robotic vehicles land safely on Mars
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 16:33
In a new study, scientists demonstrate a new lidar technique that could help robotic vehicles avoid hazards when landing during future missions to Mars or the moon. The method uses flash lidar to record full 3D images with a single laser pulse, which prevents the motion blur that is present with traditional lidar approaches.
Farzin Amzajerdian from NASA Langley Research Center will present the new findings at the Optica Laser Congress, 11–15 December 2022. The presentation, titled "Development of a 3D Flash Lidar for Terrain Sensing and Safe Landing on Planetary Bodies," will be presented on-site and online in a hybrid format.
"Lidar technology plays a critical role in future missions to the moon, Mars, and other solar system bodies since they require precision safe landing at specific locations where valuable resources may be found or may lead to important scientific discoveries," said principal investigator, Farzin Amzajerdian, Ph.D.
A streamlined design
Flash lidar is useful for several purposes throughout the process of landing robotic vehicles. As a vehicle descends to a surface, flash lidar can be used to generate 3D terrain maps from an altitude of several kilometers to reduce position error.
MTG-I1 never to be seen again
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 14:17
As preparations to launch Europe’s first Meteosat Third Generation Imager satellite continue, the team at Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, has bid farewell to their precious satellite as it was sealed from view within the Ariane 5 rocket’s fairing. This all-new weather satellite is set to take to the skies on 13 December.
Op-ed | Running the Space Playbook in Chile
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 13:44
Chile holds half or more of the world’s astronomy infrastructure, but the nation's future in space is not just relegated to looking up.
The post Op-ed | Running the Space Playbook in Chile appeared first on SpaceNews.
Launches secured for five Sentinel satellites
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 12:47
A contract signed today between ESA and Arianespace has ensured rides into orbit for five Copernicus Sentinels: Sentinel-1D, Sentinel-2C, Sentinel-3C, and the Copernicus Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide-A and -B satellites. All the satellites will be launched on Vega-C rockets from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana and are scheduled to take place between 2024 and 2026.
TriSept and SpiderOak unveil strategic partnership
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 12:00
TriSept, a launch integration and mission management specialist, announced a strategic partnership Dec. 7 with cybersecurity firm SpiderOak to offer an “end-to-end security system” for satellites and ground systems.
The post TriSept and SpiderOak unveil strategic partnership appeared first on SpaceNews.
NASA confirms NEO Surveyor for 2028 launch
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:52
NASA has approved for development a space telescope to search for near Earth objects as some members of Congress lobby the agency to move up the mission.
The post NASA confirms NEO Surveyor for 2028 launch appeared first on SpaceNews.
Britain set to launch its first space mission
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
A tentative date has been set for Britain's first space launch.
A launch window for Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne is scheduled to open Dec. 14, NASA's spaceflight editor Chris Bergin tweeted Tuesday.
Virgin Orbit's LauncherOne system has been used on five prior occasions but those missions departed from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
The upcoming LauncherOne mis Momentus to Fly JINJUSat-1 for CONTEC
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
Momentus Inc. (NASDAQ: MNTS) has signed a contract with CONTEC Co. of the Republic of Korea to provide space transportation services for the JINJUSat-1 CubeSat.
JINJUSat-1 is spearheaded by three entities: Jinju City, Korea Testing Laboratory, and Gyeongsang National University. The satellite is targeted to launch aboard the SpaceX Transporter-9 mission no earlier than October 2023. Once i Rocket Lab introduces dedicated national security subsidiary
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has created a U.S.-based wholly owned subsidiary to serve the defense and intelligence community. Rocket Lab National Security LLC (RLNS) will deliver reliable launch services and space systems capabilities to the U.S. government and its allies.
Since the Company's first launch of the Electron rocket in 2017, Rocket Lab has conducted multiple successful Elon Musk's SpaceX unveils Starshield satellite services for U.S. military
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
SpaceX is rolling out a new business called Starshield to support U.S. military applications, building upon the company's existing satellite system.
The latest Elon Musk endeavor expands on Starlink Internet satellite technology for national security uses, to include secure communications and space surveillance payloads, for its largest customer, the Pentagon.
"While Starlink is Chinese scientists complete rice, Arabidopsis life-cycle experiments in space
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
Chinese scientists have completed the life-cycle growth experiments of rice and Arabidopsis in the Chinese space station and successfully obtained their seeds, said the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Monday.
With the safe landing of the Shenzhou-14 spaceship's return capsule at the Dongfeng landing site Sunday night, the seeds of rice and Arabidopsis, which have undergone a 120-day l Mars megatsunami may have been caused by Chicxulub-like asteroid impact
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
A Martian megatsunami may have been caused by an asteroid collision similar to the Chicxulub impact - which contributed to the mass extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs on Earth 66 million years ago - in a shallow ocean region, according to a study published in Scientific Reports.
Previous research has proposed that an asteroid or comet impact within an ocean in the Martian northern lowla Measuring times in billionths of a billionth of a second
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
How fast do electrons inside a molecule move? Well, it is so fast that it takes them just few attoseconds (1 as = 10-18 s or one billionth of billionth of a second) to jump from one atom to another. Blink and you missed it - millions of billions of times. So measuring such ultrafast processes is a daunting task.
Scientists at the Australian Attosecond Science Facility and the Centre for Qu Webb telescope promises new age of the stars
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
The James Webb Space Telescope lit up 2022 with dazzling images of the early universe after the Big Bang, heralding a new era of astronomy and untold revelations about the cosmos in years to come.
The most powerful observatory sent into space succeeds the Hubble telescope, which is still operating, and began transmitting its first cosmic images in July.
"It essentially behaves better th NASA Researcher's AI 'Eye' could help robotic data-gathering
Wednesday, 07 December 2022 11:49
When it comes to making real-time decisions about unfamiliar data - say, choosing a path to hike up a mountain you've never scaled before - existing artificial intelligence and machine learning tech doesn't come close to measuring up to human skill. That's why NASA scientist John Moisan is developing an AI "eye."
Moisan, an oceanographer at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility near Chincoteague,