An astronaut's guide to out-of-Earth manufacturing
Monday, 08 March 2021 12:45
Write a comment
mprovising new stuff from the stuff you have is part of an astronaut's job description—think Apollo 13's crew refitting CO2 filters to save their own lives, or stranded Mark Watney in The Martian, feeding himself on the Red Planet. Now plans are underway to manufacture items in orbit, and ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst argues this could make a big difference to living and working in space.
Alexander—who has spent just under a year in orbit, becoming the second European to command the International Space Station (ISS) – spoke at ESA's Workshop on Advanced Manufacturing, which included a special session on out-of-Earth manufacturing.
While plastic-producing 3D printers have already reached space, the virtual event heard how ESA will fly the first metal 3D printer in 2022, and researchers are also planning large-scale manufacturing such as spacecraft printing their own antennas or solar arrays after launch.
Momentus founders to divest shares after Defense Department concerns
Monday, 08 March 2021 12:23 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Russian founders of in-space transportation company Momentus have placed their shares into a voting trust and will sell them in the next three years as the company attempts to address U.S.
Research contributes to understanding of hypersonic flow
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
Using data collected in a NASA Langley Mach 6 wind tunnel, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign replicated the hypersonic flow conditions of a compression ramp flow by means of Direct Numerical Simulation. The simulation yielded an abundance of additional data, which can be used to better understand the phenomena that occur surrounding vehicles traveling at hypersonic speed Moving into Cislunar Space
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
The space community is moving beyond Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and expanding more activities toward the Moon and in cislunar space, i. e., lying between the earth and the moon or the moon's orbit. Thus, as in LEO, space is getting more congested with crowding and pollution problems. As countries expand commercial and military cislunar operations we can expect to face the challenges of managing space China's Chang'e 4 lander and rover resume work for 28th lunar day
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
The lander and rover of China's Chang'e 4 probe have begun their 28th lunar day of work on the far side of the moon.
Landing on the moon on Jan. 3, 2019, the Chang'e 4 probe has survived 795 Earth days on the moon, the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration said Monday.
A lunar day is equal to about 14 days on Earth, and a lunar night is exactEarth to provide Advanced AIS services for MDA's Dark Vessel Detection Program
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
exactEarth Ltd. has signed an agreement with MDA to provide advanced Satellite-AIS data services as part of MDA's recently announced Dark Vessel Detection ("DVD") program for the Government of Canada. The DVD program is intended to detect and identify vessels that have switched off their AIS transponders and are engaged in illegal, unreported and unregulated ("IUU") fishing.
IUU fishing is Smart Dragon 3 getting ready for 2022 launch
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the nation's leading space contractor, plans to carry out the maiden flight of its Smart Dragon 3 carrier rocket next year, a company executive said.
Li Hong, deputy general manager at the State-owned conglomerate, said on Sunday that research and development of the new rocket began at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology in December. Space Force integration critical to CJADC2 success
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa hosted a joint, multi-national Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control demonstration in February.
The USAFE-AFAFRICA-led demonstration, which took place in the Baltic Sea region, incorporated the assistance of the 16th Space Control Squadron located at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo.
The collaboration confirmed the ess NASA's ICESat-2 satellite reveals shape, depth of Antarctic ice shelf fractures
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
When a block of ice the size of Houston, Texas, broke off from East Antarctica's Amery Ice Shelf in 2019, scientists had anticipated the calving event, but not exactly where it would happen. Now, satellite data can help scientists measure the depth and shape of ice shelf fractures to better predict when and where calving events will occur, according to researchers.
Ice shelves make up near Nuclear fusion: building a star on Earth is hard, which is why we need better materials
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:54 Write a comment
Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the Sun and all other stars. During fusion, the nuclei of two atoms are brought close enough together that they fuse together, releasing huge amounts of energy.
Replicating this process on Earth has the potential to deliver almost limitless electricity with virtually zero carbon emissions and greater safety, and without the same level of nuclear wa China rolls out out new Long March 7A for second launch attempt
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:14 Write a comment
HELSINKI — China has quietly rolled a new-generation Long March 7A rocket at Wenchang ahead of a launch in the coming days.
Mars Express unlocks the secrets of curious cloud
Monday, 08 March 2021 09:00 Write a comment
When spring arrives in southern Mars, a cloud of water ice emerges near the 20-kilometre-tall Arsia Mons volcano, rapidly stretching out for many hundreds of kilometres before fading away in mere hours. A detailed long-term study now reveals the secrets of this elongated cloud, using exciting new observations from the ‘Mars Webcam’ on ESA’s Mars Express.
Contract signed to build Arctic weather satellite
Monday, 08 March 2021 08:35 Write a comment
With the need for satellite data to be received more frequently for faster weather forecasting updates in the Arctic, ESA has signed a contract with OHB Sweden to a build prototype satellite for the Arctic Weather Satellite mission.
Webb mission page card link
Monday, 08 March 2021 07:56 Write a comment
Webb: seeing farther
Webb: seeing farther
Georgia spaceport proponents upbeat despite latest delay
Monday, 08 March 2021 00:08 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Proponents of a proposed Georgia launch site remain optimistic they will win approval from the Federal Aviation Administration despite another delay in the environmental review process.
The FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation informed stakeholders in the ongoing assessment of Spaceport Camden in Camden County, Georgia, March 5 that a final version of an environmental impact statement (EIS) will not be completed this month as previously planned.