Copernical Team
Space Development Agency Approves L3Harris' Missile-Tracking Satellite Design
L3Harris Technologies has completed the final design review for the Space Development Agency's missile-tracking program. The company will continue with development and integration of four satellites for Tracking Layer Tranche 0 under a $193 million firm, fixed-price contract. L3Harris completed Critical Design Review in November, and the company will proceed through build, integration, tes
Exploring the heart of space weather with the Geospace Dynamics Constellation
The Geospace Dynamics Constellation mission - or GDC - is a team of satellites that will study Earth's upper atmosphere and provide the first direct global measurements of our planet's dynamic and complex interface with the space environment. This boundary between Earth's atmosphere and space is called the ionosphere-thermosphere (I-T) system. This mission will change our understanding of
Ben Griffin explains how Oneweb's LEO Constellation will change the IFC Market
Ahead of APEX/IFSA EXPO, APEX Media spoke with Oneweb's VP Mobility Ben Griffin to find out the latest about the company's plans to disrupt commercial aviation's in-flight connectivity market with its low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology. "We're very well funded, and that's not just random amounts of money coming from strange places," Griffin explained. "It's from companies creating
Total solar eclipse plunges Antarctica into darkness
A total solar eclipse plunged Antarctica from summer into darkness early Saturday in a rare astronomical spectacle witnessed by a handful of scientists and thrill-seekers—and countless penguins.
"The visibility was excellent," said Raul Cordero of the University of Santiago de Chile (USACH), who was on site to witness "totality" at 0746 GMT, with the "ring of fire" phase lasting just over 40 seconds.
Solar eclipses occur when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow on Earth. For the eclipse to be total, the Sun, Moon and Earth must be directly aligned.
Totality was visible only in Antarctica, experienced by a small number of scientists, experts and adventure tourists—who paid some $40,000 for the privilege.
Streamed live by NASA from the Union Glacier camp in Antarctica, the eclipse began at 0700 GMT as the Moon began to move in front of the Sun, coming to an end at 0806 GMT.
The Union Glacier camp is situated about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of the South Pole.
Antarctica experiences rare total solar eclipse
A rare total solar eclipse in Antarctica this weekend (Saturday 4 December) is giving researchers a unique opportunity to learn more about how solar eclipses affect space weather. The next total eclipse in Antarctica will not be until 2039.
The total eclipse, which happens when the sun and moon are in line with the Earth, will only be visible in Antarctica, sweeping across the Ronne ice shelf and Ellsworth land, with the rest of Antarctica in partial shadow. The maximum eclipse will be at 0733 GMT.
John Law, Antarctic Atmospheric Scientist at Rothera station says that "the team here are really excited about being able to witness the eclipse on Saturday morning. We will be setting our alarm clocks for the early hours, the maximum amount of Sun that will be hidden by the moon will be around 94% around 4am in the morning. During the summer, the sun never sets below the horizon so even at 4am we should see the effect of the eclipse.
Watch Galileo launch on night of 4-5 December
The launch of Europe’s latest Galileo satellites is now scheduled for the night of 4-5 December.
Lightweight space robot with precise control developed
Robots are already in space. From landers on the moon to rovers on Mars and more, robots are the perfect candidates for space exploration: they can bear extreme environments while consistently repeating the same tasks in exactly the same way without tiring. Like robots on Earth, they can accomplish both dangerous and mundane jobs, from space walks to polishing a spacecraft's surface. With space missions increasing in number and expanding in scientific scope, requiring more equipment, there's a need for a lightweight robotic arm that can manipulate in environments difficult for humans.
However, the control schemes that can move such arms on Earth, where the planes of operation are flat, do not translate to space, where the environment is unpredictable and changeable.
Studying our solar system's protective bubble
A multi-institutional team of astrophysicists headquartered at Boston University, led by BU astrophysicist Merav Opher, has made a breakthrough discovery in our understanding of the cosmic forces that shape the protective bubble surrounding our solar system—a bubble that shelters life on Earth and is known by space researchers as the heliosphere.
Astrophysicists believe the heliosphere protects the planets within our solar system from powerful radiation emanating from supernovas, the final explosions of dying stars throughout the universe.
An upcoming asteroid mission will be able to peer 100 meters under the surface
Engineers only get one shot at making a spacecraft work as intended—or at least they only get one shot in space. In the preparation leading up to that final, climactic moment, there are typically thousands of hours of tests run on numerous systems and subsystems. If all goes well, it bodes well for the mission's overall success, but if problems arise, it's much easier to address them on the ground than while a spacecraft is already orbiting. A new spacecraft model known as Juventas just completed a significant testing milestone, passing testing in a room known as an anechoic chamber.
That milestone is essential for Juventas, as its primary mission focuses on a low-frequency radar the craft will use to peer 100 meters beneath the surface of Dimorphos, the smaller partner in the Didymos binary asteroid system.
Image: Tiny crystal of power as basis for solar cell
This crystal of iron pyrite, just four hundredths of a millimeter in size, could function as the light absorbing layer of a tiny solar cell—potentially a promising future source of power on the moon.
Working with Estonia's Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), ESA has studied the production of sandpaper-like rolls of such microcrystals as the basis of monograin-layer solar cells.
"We're looking at these microcrystals in the context of future lunar settlement," explains ESA advanced manufacturing engineer Advenit Makaya. "Future moon bases will need to 'live off the land' in order to be sustainable, and the iron and sulfur needed to produce pyrite could be retrieved from the lunar surface."
Dr. Taavi Raadik from TalTech explains: "Our aim is to develop technology for pyrite microcrystal growth and to use them in a monograin layer solar cell, where each tiny crystal would work as an individual solar cell. The amount of power generated by one miniscule solar cell is small but in the normal-sized module there would be billions of them—and in principle there is no limitation in terms of their size and shape.