Five ways artificial intelligence can help space exploration
Monday, 25 January 2021 14:09
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Artificial intelligence has been making waves in recent years, enabling us to solve problems faster than traditional computing could ever allow. Recently, for example, Google's artificial intelligence subsidiary DeepMind developed AlphaFold2, a program which solved the protein-folding problem. This is a problem which has had baffled scientists for 50 years.
Advances in AI have allowed us to make progress in all kinds of disciplines—and these are not limited to applications on this planet. From designing missions to clearing Earth's orbit of junk, here are a few ways artificial intelligence can help us venture further in space.
Astronaut assistants
Do you remember Tars and Case, the assistant robots from the film Interstellar? While these robots don't exist yet for real space missions, researchers are working towards something similar, creating intelligent assistants to help astronauts. These AI-based assistants, even though they may not look as fancy as those in the movies, could be incredibly useful to space exploration.
Solar Orbiter snaps Venus, Earth and Mars
Monday, 25 January 2021 14:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:00:04
This recording was made on 18 November 2020 by the Heliospheric Imager (SoloHI) camera on board the ESA/NASA Solar Orbiter spacecraft.
Three Solar System planets are visible in the foreground: Venus (left), Earth (middle), and Mars (right). Stars are visible in the background, appearing to move in Solar Orbiter’s recording while the spacecraft travels around the Sun. The planets are also moving slightly in the SoloHI field-of-view, but their apparent motions are different because of their individual orbital motions around the Sun.
Venus is the brightest object in the video, roughly 48 million kilometres away from Solar Orbiter.
JAXA ships new H3 rocket to Tanegashima Space Center for testing
Monday, 25 January 2021 13:41 Write a comment
HELSINKI — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is moving ahead with testing of its new H3 rocket as it seeks to replace its aging flagship H-IIA launch vehicle.
Op-ed | How to convince China and Russia to join a space traffic management program for peace and prosperity
Monday, 25 January 2021 13:00 Write a comment
The omnibus spending bill the U.S. Congress enacted in December will provide $10 million in 2021 for the Commerce Department’s Office of Space Commerce to conduct a space traffic management (STM) “pilot program” with other agencies and industries.
SpaceX adds laser crosslinks to polar Starlink satellites
Monday, 25 January 2021 12:08 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The first Starlink satellites launched to polar orbit are equipped with laser crosslinks, a technology the company plans to add to other satellites next year.
SpaceX included 10 Starlink satellites on its Transporter-1 dedicated rideshare launch Jan.
Showtime for ColKa
Monday, 25 January 2021 11:28 Write a comment
Image:
Lights, camera, action for NASA astronauts Michael Hopkins and Victor Glover. The duo will install European payloads outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on 27 January, guided by the know-how of their colleagues.
ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen is seen in this image installing the Columbus Ka-band or ColKa terminal that will enable faster communication with Europe during a ‘dress rehearsal’ in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas in 2018.
Andrea will serve as ground IV, directing Mike and Victor through the installation of the small fridge-sized device by radio from NASA’s mission
Momentus CEO resigns amid U.S. government concerns
Monday, 25 January 2021 11:11 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The founding chief executive of in-space transportation company Momentus is resigning in an effort to overcome U.S. government concerns about foreign control of the company.
Momentus announced Jan. 25 that Mikhail Kokorich was resigning as chief executive and a member of the company’s board, effective immediately.
How space-enabled 5G connectivity powers city life
Monday, 25 January 2021 09:12 Write a comment
Discover how next-generation connectivity is using space to improve urban living at an online seminar to be held on Wednesday 27 January.
Kepler Communications announces successful launch of 8 new GEN1 satellites
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
Kepler Communications welcomed eight new satellites into their constellation today, further expanding the active constellation to 13 satellites in total. These eight satellites, KEPLER-8 through KEPLER-15, were successfully launched via SpaceX's first dedicated SmallSat Rideshare Program mission at approximately 10:00 AM EDT this morning. Once fully operational within the constellation these wil Spaceflight Inc. deploys 16 payloads on SpaceX Transporter-1 Mission
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider, successfully launched and deployed 16 payloads, including 15 from its next-generation orbital transfer vehicle (OTV), Sherpa-FX1, aboard the SpaceX Transporter-1 mission. Dubbed SXRS-3 by Spaceflight, the mission launched January 24 from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. It delivered Spaceflight's Sherpa-FX1 to S Exolaunch delivers 30 small sats on SpaceX's first dedicated rideshare launch
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
Exolaunch, the leading rideshare launch and deployment services provider for the NewSpace industry, announced a successful launch of 30 commercial, space agency, and university satellites for its customers from Europe and the U.S. on the first dedicated rideshare mission of SpaceX's SmallSat Rideshare Program. The mission, named "Zeitgeist," lifted off on January 24 at 15:00 UTC on Falcon 9 "Tra D-Orbit's ION satellite carrier rides SpaceX's Falcon 9 to orbit
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
On January 24th, 2021, at 4:00 pm CET, D-Orbit, the first space logistics company on the market, launched another ION Satellite Carrier atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS), Florida. On the same day, 1 hour 16 minutes and 28 seconds the vehicle was successfully deployed into a polar orbit.
The spacecraft, name ABB sensor onboard SpaceX rocket to detect greenhouse gas emissions
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
An optical sensor manufactured by ABB was deployed last night with the successful launch of satellite Hugo from GHGSat, the emerging leader in greenhouse gas sensing services in space.
The ABB supplied optical sensor can map methane emissions from space at a resolution that is 100 times higher than any other sensors. Whilst previously only larger regions could be surveyed, for the first ti Nanoracks completes first SpaceX Rideshare Mission
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
Nanoracks is pleased to share the successful completion of the Company's first mission on a SpaceX rideshare launch. Nanoracks brokered the launch and deployment of eight Spire LEMUR-2 CubeSats and of an emissions monitoring microsatellite, GHGSAT-C2 ("Hugo").
Nanoracks' first rideshare mission, dubbed "Eyries-1," marks the Company's entrance into the rideshare brokering market and the bro Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor Phase IIb Awards
Monday, 25 January 2021 04:25 Write a comment
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is pleased to announce award of Other Transaction Agreements (OTA) with L3Harris Technologies, Inc and Northrop Grumman Systems Cooporation for the Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) program's Phase IIb On-orbit Prototype Demonstration. Phase IIb will continue developing the capability to support Warfighter fire-control quality data requiremen