AFRL extends capability for testing solid rocket motors with new equipment
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51The Air Force Research Laboratory's Rocket Propulsion Division has a new capability, a Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar system, also known as a Kolsky bar, that measures stress at high strain rates and helps analyze material behavior under severe conditions. "This system will give AFRL a new and unprecedented capability to test and gather data from any solid propellant we can manufacture," sai
Mars mission to pause for about 50 days
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51China's Tianwen 1 Mars mission will be inactivated for about 50 days from mid-September due to an expected disruption of its communications with Earth caused by solar electromagnetic radiation, the mission's chief designer said. During the period, which will end in early November, the Zhurong rover and the mission's orbiter will suspend their working mode, Zhang Rongqiao of the China Natio
World's first space junk cleaner satellite successfully picks up orbital debris
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51According to the Union of Concerned Scientists' database, there are more than 3,300 functioning satellites in orbit and thousands of pieces of junk that can be traced, including discarded boosters, derelict satellites, and pieces that have fallen off of vessels. In a major development that may ease concerns that dead satellites are being left to litter space, Japan's private firm Astroscal
Galaxies pump out contaminated exhausts
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51A team of astronomers led by Alex Cameron and Deanne Fisher from the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D) used a new imaging system on at the WM Keck Observatory in Hawaii to confirm that what flows into a galaxy is a lot cleaner than what flows out. "Enormous clouds of gas are pulled into galaxies and used in the process of making stars," said co-le
Space exploration priority of nation's sci-tech agenda
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51President emphasizes cooperation on making bigger contributions to well-being of mankind China is working on several huge space programs that aim to push forward the frontiers of its science, technology, engineering and exploration. Once these programs are completed, the nation will have a massive space station, an unmanned outpost and more robots on the moon, and it is attempting to
In a first, scientists capture a 'quantum tug' between neighboring water molecules
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51Water is the most abundant yet least understood liquid in nature. It exhibits many strange behaviors that scientists still struggle to explain. While most liquids get denser as they get colder, water is most dense at 39 degrees Fahrenheit, just above its freezing point. This is why ice floats to the top of a drinking glass and lakes freeze from the surface down, allowing marine life to survive c
Netherlands completes deal to buy PAC-3 missile defense units
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51US and Dutch officials recently formalized an agreement for the Netherlands to purchase Lockheed Martin's PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) interceptors and related support equipment. With the signing, the Netherlands becomes the 12th customer of PAC-3 MSE and advances its missile defense technology from the PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) the country acquired in 2004. "We're h
Russia confident in arms industry despite 'hostile' US sanctions
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51Russia said Tuesday it was confident for the future of its arms industry even though the country faces what a senior official described as "unfair competition" and sanctions from the United States. Moscow in recent years has worked to expand military partnerships abroad, a trend that has spurred criticism and concerns from Western capitals. "We are doing everything we can to maintain our
Air Force selects Ohio base for new Cyber Warfare Wing
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 07:51The U.S. Air Force has selected the 179th Airlift Wing base in Mansfield, Ohio, as the location for the Air National Guard's first Cyber Warfare Wing. Col. Todd Thomas, 179th Airlift Wing commander, said in a press release Thursday it would be a difficult transition, but a change that he strongly believes the airmen can make. "Since becoming the wing commander, I have always told
Doctoral student recruiting volunteers in effort to quadruple number of known active asteroids
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 06:18The study of active asteroids is a relatively new field of solar system science, focusing on objects that have asteroid-like orbits but look more like comets, with visual characteristics such as tails.
Because finding an active asteroid is such a rare event, fewer than 30 of these solar system bodies have been found since 1949, so there is still much for scientists to learn about them. Roughly only one out of 10,000 asteroids are classified as active asteroids, so an enormous number of observations will be needed over the span of many years to yield a larger sample for study.
Through funding from a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award in 2018, doctoral student Colin Orion Chandler in Northern Arizona University's Department of Astronomy and Planetary Science just launched an ambitious new project, Active Asteroids, which is designed to engage volunteers in the search for more of these enigmatic objects.
ExoTerra to provide Blackjack satellite thrusters
Tuesday, 31 August 2021 02:19Blue Canyon Technologies selected ExoTerra Resources to provide electric propulsion for the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency’s Blackjack Phase 2 and Phase 3 satellites.
Lamborn and Crow propose establishment of Space Force National Guard
Monday, 30 August 2021 22:26Reps. Doug Lamborn (R) and Jason Crow (D), both from Colorado, announced Aug. 30 they are introducing legislation to establish a Space National Guard as a reserve component of the U.S.
Space Development Agency to acquire 144 satellites from multiple vendors
Monday, 30 August 2021 20:14The Defense Department’s space agency on Aug. 30 released a request for proposals from satellite manufacturers that would compete for contracts to build as many as 144 satellites.
HASC chairman wants updated DoD plan for ‘tactically responsive space launch’
Monday, 30 August 2021 18:31Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) in his version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 directs the Defense Department to submit a plan for how it will use commercial launch vehicles for so-called tactically responsive missions.