Gaia might even be able to detect the gravitational wave background of the universe
Friday, 14 May 2021 11:17
The Gaia spacecraft is an impressive feat of engineering. Its primary mission is to map the position and motion of more than a billion stars in our galaxy, creating the most comprehensive map of the Milky Way thus far. Gaia collects such a large amount of precision data that it can make discoveries well beyond its main mission. For example, by looking at the spectra of stars, astronomers can measure the mass of individual stars to within 25% accuracy. From the motion of stars, astronomers can measure the distribution of dark matter in the Milky Way. Gaia can also discover exoplanets when they pass in front of a star. But one of the more surprising uses is that Gaia could help us detect cosmic gravitational waves.
A new study shows how this can be done. The work is based on an earlier study done using very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), whereby radio telescopes measure the position and apparent motion of quasars. Quasars are bright radio sources billions of light-years away. Because quasars are so far away, they act like fixed points in the sky.
Extrasolar Object Interceptor could chase down interstellar objects, return samples
Friday, 14 May 2021 11:17
What if we had the ability to chase down interstellar objects passing through our solar system, like 'Oumuamua or Comet Borisov? Such a spacecraft would need to be ready to go at a moment's notice, with the capacity to increase speed and change direction quickly.
That's the idea behind a new mission concept called the Extrasolar Object Interceptor and Sample Return spacecraft. It has received exploratory funding from NASA through its Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
"Bringing back samples from these objects could fundamentally change our view of the universe and our place in it," says Christopher Morrison, an engineer from the Ultra Safe Nuclear Corporation-Tech (USNC-Tech) who submitted the proposal to NIAC.
The concept Morrison and his team propose is a radioisotope-electric-propulsion spacecraft that relies on Chargeable Atomic Battery (CAB) technology, a power system that USNC has been developing for commercial use. The batteries are compact and possess one million times the energy density of state-of-the-art chemical batteries—as well as fossil fuels.
Supercomputer simulations unlock an old space weather puzzle
Friday, 14 May 2021 11:15
Scientists have long questioned why the bursts of hot gas from the sun do not cool down as fast as expected, and have now used a supercomputer to find out.
The team will compare the simulations with 'real' data from the Solar Orbiter mission, with the hope that it will confirm their predictions and provide a conclusive answer.
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles continuously shot out from the sun into the solar system. These ejections greatly impact the conditions of our solar system and constantly hit the Earth.
Impacts on Earth
If the solar wind is particularly strong, it can cause problems to:
- satellites
- astronauts in space
- mobile phones
- transport
- electricity networks
To successfully forecast and prepare for such space weather events, a team of scientists is trying to solve the mysteries that space weather holds. This includes how the solar wind is heated and accelerated.
The team, with funding from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and led by UCL, ran and analyzed simulations of the solar wind on a powerful supercomputer.
Rocket Lab to make second booster recovery attempt
Friday, 14 May 2021 10:04
WASHINGTON — The next launch of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket will be the second mission where the company attempts to recover the vehicle’s first stage as part of its efforts to reuse the booster.
An Electron rocket is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6 a.m.
Getting ready to rocket
Friday, 14 May 2021 09:11
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The pieces are stacking up for the launch of Artemis 1 mission around the Moon and back. The massive Space Launch Systems (SLS) rocket that will launch the first crewless test flight of the Orion spacecraft, powered by the European Service Module, is being integrated at the Vehicle Assemble Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.
Visible in this image are the twin solid fuel rocket boosters, now fully stacked atop the mobile launcher. The boosters will be mated with the rocket’s 65 m tall core stage that recently barged in to Florida aboard the Pegasus
Earth from Space: Qeshm Island
Friday, 14 May 2021 07:00
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Qeshm Island – the largest island in Iran.
Axelspace raises $24 million in Series C round
Thursday, 13 May 2021 22:00
SAN FRANCISCO – Axelspace, the Japanese firm planning to offer daily global optical imagery, raised 2.58 billion Japanese yen ($23.8 million) in a Series C investment round announced May 14 in Tokyo, May 13 in the United States.
Japanese billionaire, Russian actress to fly to ISS
Thursday, 13 May 2021 21:11
WASHINGTON — A Japanese billionaire best known for buying a SpaceX Starship flight around the moon will go to space first on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station, two months after a Russian actress and director visit the station.
Yusaku Maezawa: Japan's billionaire spaceman with a taste for art
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who will travel to the International Space Station as a tourist in December aboard a Russian spacecraft, is a former wannabe rock star worth $1.9 billion with a penchant for pricey modern art as well as space travel.
The 45-year-old tycoon, founder of Japan's largest online fashion mall, is the country's 30th richest person, according to business magazine Forbes. SpaceX signs deal with Google Cloud for satellite broadband
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Elon Musk's SpaceX announced Thursday that Google would team up with its Starlink satellite internet service to deliver cloud computing services to business customers.
Under the partnership, SpaceX will place its Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, which can help the service support businesses requiring cloud-based applications.
Starlink is in the process of la Russia to send film crew, Japanese billionaire to space
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Russia said Thursday it would send an actress and a director into space to make the first feature film in the cosmos and also deliver an eccentric Japanese billionaire to the International Space Station.
Moscow is seeking to boost its embattled space programme, which has stagnated since the collapse of the Soviet Union and been overtaken by US tech billionaire Elon Musk's company SpaceX. 3D printed RL10C-X engine demonstrates full mission capability during altitude hot fire test series
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed a successful RL10C-X altitude hot fire test series that put the next generation engine through the rigors of a typical spaceflight mission. Using a test chamber that simulates the vacuum of outer space, the RL10C-X, which produces roughly 24,000 pounds of thrust, was tested in a flight-like configuration to demonstrate the engine's capability to complete a t Japanese billionaire Maezawa to travel to ISS in December
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Japanese billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano will be the next tourists to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia's space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.
Maezawa and Hirano will travel aboard a Russian "Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft that is scheduled for launch on December 8, 2021 from the Baikonur cosmodrome" in Kazakhstan, the agency said in a sta First Ariane 6 fairing at Europe's Spaceport
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
Europe's Spaceport in French Guiana is carrying out combined tests to prepare for the arrival of Ariane 6, Europe's next generation heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The first Ariane 6 fairing has already arrived at the Spaceport from Europe. It is 20 m high and 5.4 m in diameter and is being integrated with a mockup payload to test equipment and procedures inside the assembly building.
Rua Seeing NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Fly in 3D
Thursday, 13 May 2021 20:45
When NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took to the Martian skies on its third flight on April 25, the agency's Perseverance rover was there to capture the historic moment. Now NASA engineers have rendered the flight in 3D, lending dramatic depth to the flight as the helicopter ascends, hovers, then zooms laterally off-screen before returning for a pinpoint landing. Seeing the sequence is a bit li