Decoding the impact flash created by high-velocity impacts
Thursday, 13 July 2023 13:46
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In an experimental study published in PNAS Nexus, researchers explore the visible impact flash that is created by high-velocity impacts.
Impacts by debris and meteoroids pose a significant threat to satellites, space probes, and hypersonic craft. Such high-velocity impacts create a brief, intense burst of light, known as an impact flash, which contains information about both the target and the impactor.
Gary Simpson, K.T. Ramesh, and colleagues explored the impact flash by shooting stainless steel spheres into an aluminum alloy plate, at a speed of three kilometers per second—about 6,700 miles per hour, or more than nine times the speed of sound.
The resulting impact flashes were photographed using ultra-high-speed cameras and high-speed spectroscopy, which measures the color and brightness of the light. Immediately after impact, a luminous disk is seen expanding around the impacting sphere. Only a few millionths of a second later, the disk takes on an almost floral shape, as fragments ejected from the impact crater form an ejecta cone, with petal-like projections at the outer edge.
Saltzman urges allies to ‘collectively train like we fight’
Thursday, 13 July 2023 13:34 Write a comment
“Certainly the situation in Ukraine has demonstrated the critical importance of timely coordination among partners,” Gen.
Orbital Composites wins $1.7 million Space Force contract
Thursday, 13 July 2023 13:00 Write a comment
The Small Business Innovation Research contract, awarded through the SpaceWERX Orbital Prime program, gives an important boost to the startup’s plans for in-space servicing, assembly and manufacturing.
Euclid’s large halo around indefinitely small point
Thursday, 13 July 2023 12:30
Hanwha registers as South Korean satellite communications provider
Thursday, 13 July 2023 12:26 Write a comment
South Korea’s Hanwha Systems, the OneWeb investor with plans for its own low Earth orbit (LEO) broadband constellation, has secured regulatory permission to operate as a satellite communications provider in the country.
Plasma spectrometer delivered for moon mission
Thursday, 13 July 2023 12:10 Write a comment
Southwest Research Institute has delivered a plasma spectrometer for integration into a lunar lander as part of NASA's Lunar Vertex investigation, scheduled to commence next year.
ESA ground stations support Chandrayaan-3 Moon mission
Thursday, 13 July 2023 12:00
ViaSat-3 Americas’ antenna problem impacts rollout
Thursday, 13 July 2023 11:55 Write a comment
The problem with ViaSat-3 Americas' main antenna does not affect current services provided by Viasat but does impact plans for new broadband services in North America that the spacecraft would have offered.
HawkEye 360 announces $58 million funding round
Thursday, 13 July 2023 11:17 Write a comment
HawkEye 360, a commercial operator of remote-sensing satellites, announced July 13 it has raised $58 million in new funding.
The post HawkEye 360 announces $58 million funding round appeared first on SpaceNews.
Plato’s structural test campaign
Thursday, 13 July 2023 11:00 Write a comment
From May to August 2023 a structural model of ESA’s next exoplanet mission, Plato, is undergoing a test campaign at ESA’s ESTEC Test Centre, at Noordwijk in the Netherlands. Plato is planned to launch on an Ariane 6 in 2026. During lift-off Plato will have to withstand intense vibrations and immense blasts of noise. To make sure the satellite can survive the start of its journey to space, engineers test its structural integrity beforehand.
Muon Space awarded additional funding from AFLMC and DIU to collect space weather data
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42 Write a comment
Muon Space has been awarded an option to their contract with Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLMC)'s Weather Systems Branch and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to collect ionospheric data on their MuSat-2 satellite mission.
The performance period for this contract is two years extending through September 2024. This is an optional expansion in scope to the original contract award China begins construction of ultra-low orbit satellite constellation
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42 Write a comment
The China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC) has announced the official start to the construction of an ultra-low orbit satellite constellation.
The CASIC made the announcement at the opening of the 9th China (International) Commercial Aerospace Forum, which kicked off on Wednesday in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.
The CASIC said the first satellite of China unveils preliminary plan on manned lunar landing
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42 Write a comment
China plans to land its taikonauts on the moon before 2030 to carry out scientific exploration, according to a preliminary plan released by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday.
The plan is to launch two carrier rockets to send a lunar lander and a manned spacecraft to a lunar orbit, respectively. The craft and lunar lander will rendezvous and dock with each other, and then ta New radar technique lets scientists probe invisible ice sheet region on Earth and icy worlds
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42 Write a comment
Scientists at the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) have developed a radar technique that lets them image hidden features within the upper few feet of ice sheets. The researchers behind the technique said that it can be used to investigate melting glaciers on Earth as well as detect potentially habitable environments on Jupiter's moon Europa.
The near-surface layers of ic Robot team on lunar exploration tour
Thursday, 13 July 2023 10:42 Write a comment
On the Moon, there are raw materials that humanity could one day mine and use. Various space agencies, such as the European Space Agency (ESA), are already planning missions to better explore Earth's satellite and find minerals. This calls for appropriate exploration vehicles. Swiss researchers led by ETH Zurich are now pursuing the idea of sending not just one solitary rover on an exploration t