ESA’s Navigation Directorate – already the design architect of the Galileo satellite navigation system, Europe’s largest satellite constellation – is reaching out to European industry as it plans the development and in-orbit validation of future ‘positioning, navigation and timing’ (PNT) missions into novel orbits.

In a complex role-played version of a mission to the Moon, controllers at ESOC combined with a team of geological scientists and ESA astronaut Thomas Reiter to oversee a rover’s collection of rock samples. Acting as if he were in lunar orbit, the astronaut was in fact based in a hotel room in Catania, Sicily, with the rover 23 km away and 2 600 m uphill on the volcanic flanks of Mount Etna. As Thomas commanded the rover to pick up rocks his hand experienced just what the robot’s gripper felt – an added dimension in remote

Manchester UK (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
The Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) collaboration has announced the discovery of three new exotic particles. Exotic particles, such as these, had only been theorised but not observed until recently. These exotic particles are built out of quarks. "Like proton or neutrons, the particles that make up the nucleus of the atom, these new particles are made up of quarks", explained Chris Par

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 01, 2022
A 15-year study led by the Carnegie Institution for Science details the origins and diversity of every known mineral on Earth, a landmark body of work that will help reconstruct the history of life on Earth, guide the search for new minerals and ore deposits, predict possible characteristics of future life, and aid the search for habitable planets and extraterrestrial life. In twin papers

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
Even before the summer's hottest, driest weather has arrived, wildfires have taken a heavy toll in some parts of the U.S. This spring, in collaboration with fire response teams, NASA researchers tested their prototype tools to help make the demanding job of wildland firefighters safer. One element of the solution developed by NASA's Scalable Traffic Management for Emergency Response Operat

Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
It may seem like technology advances year after year, as if by magic. But behind every incremental improvement and breakthrough revolution is a team of scientists and engineers hard at work. UC Santa Barbara Professor Ben Mazin is developing precision optical sensors for telescopes and observatories. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, he and his team improved the spectra reso

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 5, 2021
The CAPSTONE orbiter left the low Earth orbit on its way to the moon, NASA said in a statement. The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment is attached to Rocket Lab's Photon upper stage, which maneuvered CAPSTONE into position for its journey to the moon. The Photon engine gradually increased its orbit over six days to 810,000 miles

Harwell UK (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
SatixFy Communications Ltd has announced its critical role in enabling the first ever demonstration of a high-speed, low-latency link with a LEO satellite constellation incorporating 5G. SatixFy has partnered with OneWeb under the ESA Sunrise Partnership Project, with support from the UK Space Agency, to develop a compact electronically steered multi-beam array suitable for mobility servic

Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
Sidus Space, Inc. (NASDAQ:SIDU), a Space-as-a-Service company focused on mission critical hardware manufacturing; multi-disciplinary engineering services; satellite design, production, launch planning, mission operations; and in-orbit support is proud to announce that Dhruva Space's Satellite Orbital Deployer successfully achieved space-qualification on June 30. Dhruva Space's Satellite Or

Lemont IL (SPX) Jul 06, 2022
Surveying the cosmos from its isolated position in Antarctica, a collaborative project aims to reveal insights about the universe's beginnings. In summer at the South Pole, which lasts from November through February, the average temperature is a biting minus 18 degrees F. The sun does not set during this time, making sleep a challenge. The environment is harsh and dry. And the Internet connecti