Keeping an eye on the fusion future
Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:04
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"That was your warmup. Now we're really in the thick of it." Daniel Korsun '20 is reflecting on his four years of undergraduate preparation and research at MIT as he enters "the thick" of graduate study at the Institute's Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC). The nuclear science and engineering student's "warmup" included enough fusion research on the SPARC tokamak to establish him as part of DARPA launches entrepreneurial initiative to bring 150 national security innovations to market
Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:04 Write a comment
Over the past two years, DARPA's Embedded Entrepreneurship Initiative (EEI) pilot program helped 30 pre-seed research teams raise over $100 million in U.S. investment, spin out a dozen new companies, establish numerous joint development agreements with corporate partners, and commission multiple manufacturing facilities.
Today, DARPA is launching an expansion of EEI with the goal of accele China launches new satellites to survey electromagnetic environment
Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:04 Write a comment
The third group of China's Yaogan 31 remote sensing satellites were sent into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China at 10:22 am (Beijing Time) Wednesday.
The satellites were carried by a Long March 4C rocket. It was the 361st flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series, the launch center said.
Having entered their planned orbits, the satellites SHiELD set to receive critical assembly
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The Air Force Research Laboratory Self-Protect High Energy Laser Demonstrator (SHiELD) Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) Program is scheduled to receive the first major assembly of its three main subsystems later this month, with the remaining two subsystems set to be delivered later this year.
The SHiELD program is developing a directed energy laser system that will reside in an air An aggressive market-driven model for US fusion power development
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Electricity generated by fusion power plants could play an important role in decarbonizing the U.S. energy sector by mid-century, says a new consensus study report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which also lays out for the first time a set of technical, economic, and regulatory standards and a timeline for a U.S. fusion pilot plant that would begin producing Hi, Robot: Japan's android pets ease virus isolation
Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:04 Write a comment
Nami Hamaura says she feels less lonely working from home thanks to her singing companion Charlie, one of a new generation of cute and clever Japanese robots whose sales are booming in the pandemic.
Smart home assistants such as Amazon's Alexa have found success worldwide, but tech firms in Japan are reporting huge demand for more humanlike alternatives, as people seek solace during coronavi Nicole Robinson named president of Ursa Space Systems
Thursday, 25 February 2021 14:00 Write a comment
SAN FRANCISCO – After 14 years at satellite communications fleet operator SES, Nicole Robinson is taking on a new role: president of Ursa Space Systems, a geospatial analytics firm based in Ithaca, New York.
Robinson was SES senior vice president of global government when she began talking in 2020 with Adam Maher, Ursa Space CEO and co-founder.
Artemis: How ever-changing U.S. space policy may push back the next moon landing
Thursday, 25 February 2021 13:48 Write a comment
Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the Taurus-Littrow valley on the moon in their lunar module Challenger on December 14 1972. Five days later, they splashed down safely in the Pacific, closing the Apollo 17 mission and becoming the last humans to visit the lunar surface or venture anywhere beyond low-Earth orbit.
Now the international Artemis program, lead by Nasa, is aiming to put humans back on the moon by 2024. But it is looking increasingly likely that this goal could be missed.
History shows just how vulnerable space programs, which require years of planning and development spanning several administrations, are. After Apollo 17, Nasa had plans for several further lunar Apollo missions, even including a possible flyby of Venus. But budget cuts in the early 1970s and a reprioritising of human spaceflight to focus on the Skylab project precluded any further lunar missions at that time.
It was not until July 20 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, that President George H.W.
What geologists see when they look at Perseverance's landing site
Thursday, 25 February 2021 13:10 Write a comment
Geologists love fieldwork. They love getting their specialized hammers and chisels into seams in the rock, exposing unweathered surfaces and teasing out the rock's secrets. Mars would be the ultimate field trip for many of them, but sadly, that's not possible.
Instead, we've sent the Perseverance rover on the field trip. But if a geologist were along for the ride, what would it look like to them?
Geologists tell us there's no substitute for fieldwork.
NASA and Roscosmos leaders speak as plans finalized for flying astronaut on upcoming Soyuz flight
Thursday, 25 February 2021 12:40 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — It is increasingly likely that a NASA astronaut will fly on a Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station in April as the agency finalizes an agreement with its Russian counterpart.
In a Feb.
Report: Space weapons are a fact of life, but there are many ways to counter them
Thursday, 25 February 2021 11:00 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Nations around the world — notably China and Russia — are building arsenals of weapons that can destroy or disrupt satellites in orbit. Not much can be done to slow that trend down, but these threats can be countered with technologies and tactics, says a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies released Feb.
Apply now to the ESA Teach with Space Online Conference
Thursday, 25 February 2021 09:10 Write a comment
Register now for ESA’s first-ever virtual teacher conference! Over the course of three days, from 6 to 8 July 2021, ESA Education will bring space into your classroom. Explore space by hearing from space experts; discover inspiring ways to use space as a context to teach STEM in your physical and virtual classrooms; experience demonstrations of our fun classroom activities; and enjoy social space-themed events and more!
Applications are open until 15 June 2021 on a first-come, first-served basis, so apply now!
Earth from Space: Vancouver
Thursday, 25 February 2021 09:00 Write a comment
The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Vancouver – the third largest city in Canada.
Virgin Galactic further delays SpaceShipTwo test flights
Thursday, 25 February 2021 00:18 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Virgin Galactic says it is delaying the next test flight of its SpaceShipTwo suborbital vehicle by more than two months to address technical issues, part of a revamped flight test program that will postpone flights of space tourists to 2022.
Orbex commissions 3D printer capable of producing 35+ rocket engines a year
Wednesday, 24 February 2021 21:11 Write a comment
VALETTA, Malta — On the heels of raising $24 million in December, Orbex announced Feb. 24 that it has commissioned AMCM to build a large-volume 3D printer for manufacturing its rocket engines.
The Scottish microlauncher startup is currently developing Prime, a two-stage launch vehicle powered by six first-stage and one second-stage biopropane engines.