Meringue-like material could make aircraft as quiet as a hairdryer
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:33An incredibly light new material that can reduce aircraft engine noise and improve passenger comfort has been developed at the University of Bath. The graphene oxide-polyvinyl alcohol aerogel weighs just 2.1kg per cubic metre, making it the lightest sound insulation ever manufactured. It could be used as insulation within aircraft engines to reduce noise by up to 16 decibels - reducing the
Juice in Large Space Simulator
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 06:30Watch live: Signature of the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement
Tuesday, 22 June 2021 05:34Watch live: Signature of the Financial Framework Partnership Agreement
Follow the online event marking the FFPA signature between ESA and the EU. Starts at 09:30 CEST.
Space Force, DoD agencies planning multi-orbit sensor network to track hypersonic missiles
Monday, 21 June 2021 23:08WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force last month selected Millennium Space Systems and Raytheon to design sensors that can track hypersonic missiles from medium Earth orbit.
If successful, sensors in medium orbits could become a new addition to the United States’ layered missile defense system that currently includes ground, sea-based and space sensors.
Yahsat joins public market listing rush
Monday, 21 June 2021 13:46TAMPA, Fla. — Emirati fleet operator Yahsat plans to list at least 30% of its shares on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange in the third quarter of this year.
Mubadala, the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned investment company, will remain the satellite operator’s majority shareholder after it goes public.
New sea-level monitoring satellite goes live
Monday, 21 June 2021 13:30Following liftoff last November and more than six months spent carefully calibrating the most advanced mission dedicated to measuring sea-level rise, Copernicus Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is now operational – meaning that its data are available to climate researchers, ocean-weather forecasts and other data users.
Stark reality of Californian drought from space
Monday, 21 June 2021 07:30Take part in ESA’s Space App Camp
Monday, 21 June 2021 06:20ESA is inviting up to 25 committed mobile app developers and specialists in artificial and machine learning related to observing Earth from space to join this year’s Space App Camp, which will be a virtual event over eight weeks, from 20 July to 20 September.
Take 2: Spacewalking astronauts install new solar panel
Sunday, 20 June 2021 19:26Spacewalking astronauts equipped the International Space Station with the first in a series of powerful new solar panels Sunday, overcoming suit problems and other obstacles with muscle and persistence.
It took two spacewalks for French astronaut Thomas Pesquet and NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough to install and unfurl the panel to its full 63 feet (19 meters) in length.
The solar wing unrolled like a red carpet once the final set of bolts was released, relying solely on pent-up energy. The slow but steady extension took 10 minutes, with station cameras providing live TV views.
"It is beautiful," Pesquet called out.
"Well done, both of you," Mission Control replied once the operation was complete.
Mars smallsat mission gets second chance with Rocket Lab
Sunday, 20 June 2021 14:11WASHINGTON — A NASA-funded smallsat mission to Mars that lost its ride last year may get new life through a partnership with Rocket Lab.
Rocket Lab announced June 15 it won a contract from the Space Sciences Laboratory (SSL) of the University of California Berkeley to begin design work on a new version of the Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (EscaPADE) mission to Mars.
Novel chirped pulses defy 'conventional wisdom'
Sunday, 20 June 2021 01:59The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics was shared by researchers who pioneered a technique to create ultrashort, yet extremely high-energy laser pulses at the University of Rochester. Now researchers at the University's Institute of Optics have produced those same high-powered pulses - known as chirped pulses - in a way that works even with relatively low-quality, inexpensive equipment. The new w
Lockheed Martin-Built Next Generation GPS III Satellite Propels Itself to Orbit
Sunday, 20 June 2021 01:59The fifth Global Positioning System III (GPS III) satellite designed and built by Lockheed Martin is now headed to its orbit 12,550 miles above earth. This marks another step in supporting the U.S. Space Force's GPS satellite constellation modernization efforts. Launched earlier this week, GPS III Space Vehicle 05 (GPS III SV05) is the latest next-generation GPS III satellite, a warfightin
Orbital Sidekick announces upcoming launch of its most powerful satellite: Aurora
Sunday, 20 June 2021 01:59Orbital Sidekick (OSK) announced the upcoming launch of its newest and most powerful hyperspectral imaging satellite: "Aurora." Aurora leverages OSK's previous experience collecting and analyzing hyperspectral data to provide action-oriented insights on the world around us, with a core focus on sustainability. The Aurora satellite will serve OSK's customers in the energy, mining, and defen
Computer problem takes Hubble offline
Saturday, 19 June 2021 13:05WASHINGTON — Spacecraft controllers are continuing to work on a faulty computer memory system on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope that has stopped telescope operations for nearly a week.
A payload computer on Hubble stopped working June 13, the agency said in a June 16 statement.
Turkey invites Russia to take part in construction of country's spaceport
Saturday, 19 June 2021 09:26Earlier this year, media reported that Ankara was planning to build a spaceport in Somalia as part of a $1 billion investment in the nation's nascent space programme. Turkish authorities did not confirm this information, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan did announce in February that Turkey would make a hard landing on the Moon by the year 2023. Russia is invited to participate in the dev