ESA launches AI project to monitor organic cotton supplies
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 19:43
The European Space Agency has launched a demonstration project to show how artificial intelligence could use satellite data to help certify organic cotton farms in India to prevent fraud.
Airbus develops a system to extract oxygen and metal from lunar regolith
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 19:26
New technologies using material found in space are constantly popping up, sometimes from smaller companies and sometimes from larger ones. Back in 2020, one of the largest companies of them all announced a technology that could have significant implications for the future lunar exploration missions planned over the next ten years. The European aerospace giant Airbus developed the Regolith to OXYgen and Metals Conversion (ROXY) system.
ROXY creates not only oxygen, a resource vital for humans to breathe and also for rocket fuel, but also makes metals that can be used to manufacture tools, equipment, and even structures on the Moon. And it does it simply from the regolith that is present everywhere on the lunar surface.
Space colonies: How artificial photosynthesis may be key to sustained life beyond Earth
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 16:41
Life on Earth owes its existence to photosynthesis—a process which is 2.3 billion years old. This immensely fascinating (and still not fully understood) reaction enables plants and other organisms to harvest sunlight, water and carbon dioxide while converting them into oxygen and energy in the form of sugar.
Photosynthesis is such an integral part of Earth's functioning that we pretty much take it for granted. But as we look beyond our own planet for places to explore and settle on, it is obvious how rare and valuable the process is.
As my colleagues and I have investigated in a new paper, published in Nature Communications, recent advances in making artificial photosynthesis may well be key to surviving and thriving away from Earth.
The human need for oxygen makes space travel tricky. Fuel constraints limit the amount of oxygen we can carry with us, particularly if we want to do long-haul journeys to the moon and Mars. A one-way trip to Mars usually takes on the order of two years, meaning we can't easily send supplies of resources from Earth.
Parker Solar Probe flies into the fast solar wind and finds its source
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 14:00
NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP) has flown close enough to the sun to detect the fine structure of the solar wind close to where it is generated at the sun's surface, revealing details that are lost as the wind exits the corona as a uniform blast of charged particles.
It's like seeing jets of water emanating from a showerhead through the blast of water hitting you in the face.
In a paper to be published in the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by Stuart D.
Chinese commercial rocket firm launches 26 satellites, sets national record
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 13:49
A Chinese commercial launch firm conducted its second orbital mission Wednesday, sending a reported record 26 satellites into orbit.
Nicolas Bobrinsky on space safety | ESA Masterclass
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 13:00
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00:13:21
Satellites in orbit underpin our modern lives. They are used in many areas and disciplines, including space science, Earth observation, meteorology, climate research, telecommunication, navigation and human space exploration. However, as space activities have increased, a new and unexpected hazard has started to emerge: space debris.
If space debris – uncontrolled human-made objects such as spent upper stages of rockets and pieces of satellites – hits a satellite, it could cause serious damage, which can even end a mission (as has happened in the past). If debris crashes on Earth’s surface, it could potentially hit populated areas.
In this second video, Nicolas looks back on the first key
25 times Copernicus made the headlines
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 12:55
Twenty-five years ago, Copernicus set out to transform the way we see our planet. Now, well established as the largest environmental monitoring programme in the world, it returns a whopping 16 terabytes of high-quality data every single day. To mark a quarter-century of European success in space, we look back at a selection of 25 Copernicus highlights.
York Space Systems acquires Emergent Space Technologies
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 12:28
Satellite manufacturer York Space Systems announced June 7 it has acquired Emergent Space Technologies, a small business that develops flight software and engineering tools for space missions.
First Mars livestream: the movie
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 11:50
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First Mars livestream: the movie Design proposal could double space solar cell efficiency
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
When it comes to supplying energy for space exploration and settlements, commonly available solar cells made of silicon or gallium arsenide are still too heavy to be feasibly transported by rocket. To address this challenge, a wide variety of lightweight alternatives are being explored, including solar cells made of a thin layer of molybdenum selenide, which fall into the broader category of 2D Frying Food in Space: A New Frontier in Astronaut Culinary Experience
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
The dietary regimen of astronauts is a crucial aspect of space missions that impacts overall health and morale. The European Space Agency (ESA) has been funding research on cooking techniques in microgravity conditions, with a recent focus on frying food, a worldwide culinary method with intricate physics and chemistry at play. In a breakthrough for future lunar and Martian missions, the research has suggested that a beloved comfort food, fries, may be feasible to prepare even in outer space. Life in a hologram
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
The MIT physicist is searching for answers to one of the biggest questions in modern physics: How can our universe abide by two incompatible rulebooks? The first - the Standard Model of Physics - is the quantum mechanical theory of particles, fields, and forces, and the ways in which they interact to build the universe we live in. The second - Einstein's theory of general relativity - describes US, not China, keen on moon race
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
By Yang Yuguang | China Daily Global | Updated: 2023-06-06 00:00
The moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. It is also the nearest celestial body to our planet, and selenology, or the study of the moon, is very important for scientists, as it can give them insights into other celestial bodies and advance planetary science. If we want to know the history of Earth, together with the history SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrives at International Space Station
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
The SpaceX Dragon cargo spaceship successfully docked with the International Space Station early Tuesday morning after taking off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida the day before.
While the spacecraft's departure from Earth was rocky - being postponed twice over the weekend before its launch on Monday - the automated docking went off without a problem at 5:54 a.m. EDT.
T MDA and Thoth team up for greater space domain awareness above Canada
Wednesday, 07 June 2023 10:33
In a new development aimed at boosting Canada's space domain awareness (SDA) capability, MDA Ltd., a global leader in space industry technology and services, has announced its partnership with Thoth Technology Inc. T
he collaboration will bring together MDA's commercial data services and Thoth's unique ground-based radar technology to enable deep space radar surveillance over Canada, enhan