Black holes are messy eaters
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
New observations down to light-year scale of the gas flows around a supermassive black hole have successfully detected dense gas inflows and shown that only a small portion (about 3 percent) of the gas flowing towards the black hole is eaten by the black hole. The remainder is ejected and recycled back into the host galaxy.
Not all of the matter which falls towards a black hole is absorbed Scholars Probe Lunar Mysteries: Solar Wind Interaction Explored
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
In a recent comprehensive review published in Space: Science and Technology, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beihang University have synthesized the current understanding and prevailing mysteries surrounding the interaction between the solar wind and the Moon's surface.
The Moon, our nearest celestial neighbor, presents a unique environment for study, lacking a signifi Three-Body Tethered Satellite System Deploys Successfully in Simulations
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
In a groundbreaking study conducted by Zhongjie Meng and his team at Northwestern Polytechnical University, a new deployment strategy for tethered satellite systems (TSS) has been developed, addressing the complexity of operating a three-body chain in space. The detailed research has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Space: Science and Technology.
The research focuses on a tomogr Science in Space: Robotic Helpers
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
Crew time is a valuable resource on the International Space Station and its value only increases for future space missions. One way to make the most of crew time is using robotic technology either to assist crew members with various tasks and or to completely automate others.
A current investigation on the space station, JEM Internal Ball Camera 2, is part of ongoing efforts to develop thi ESA hones 3D Printed electromagnetic coils for spaceflight
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
The European Space Agency (ESA) has once again pushed the envelope of technological innovation by 3D printing electromagnetic coils in pure copper, a leap forward in the design of versatile tools essential for a myriad of space missions. This breakthrough comes as a result of one of the over 2,000 research contracts completed under ESA's General Support Technology Programme (GSTP), an initiative Researchers find gravitational lensing has significant effect on cosmic birefringence
Friday, 03 November 2023 02:53
Future missions will be able to find signatures of violating the parity-symmetry in the cosmic microwave background polarization more accurately after a pair of researchers has managed to take into account the gravitational lensing effect, reports a new study in Physical Review D, selected as an Editors' Suggestion.
How far does the universe extend? When and how did the universe begin? Cos SpaceRake wins $1.8 million in SDA funding for optical communications terminals
Thursday, 02 November 2023 23:15
Virgin Galactic carries researchers on fifth commercial suborbital flight
Thursday, 02 November 2023 22:27
Space Force takes over missile-warning ground stations previously run by the Army
Thursday, 02 November 2023 21:47
Viasat cutting global workforce by 10% after Inmarsat acquisition
Thursday, 02 November 2023 20:57
Scientists describe deployment of three-body chain-type tethered satellites in low-eccentricity orbits
Thursday, 02 November 2023 19:46
Recently, the tethered satellite system (TSS) has been used in Earth observations, space interferometry and other space missions, due to its potential merits. The tethered TSAR (tomographic synthetic aperture radar) system is a group of tethered SAR satellites that can be rapidly deployed and provide a stable baseline for 3-dimensional topographic mapping and moving target detection.
Successful deployment is critical for TSAR tethered systems.
Several control methods, including length, length rate, tension, and thrust-aided control, have been proposed over the years. Among them, adjusting tension is a viable yet challenging approach due to the tether's strong nonlinearity and underactuated traits.
Current tether deployment schemes focus on two-body TSS, with little emphasis on multi-TSSs. In a research article recently published in Space: Science & Technology, a research team led by Zhongjie Meng from Northwestern Polytechnical University has developed a new deployment strategy for a 3-body chain-type tethered satellite system in a low-eccentric elliptical orbit.
Image: High-power thruster qualification testing for Gateway
Thursday, 02 November 2023 18:29
The blue hue of the Advanced Electric Propulsion System (AEPS) is seen inside a vacuum chamber at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland during recent thruster qualification testing. This 12-kilowatt Hall thruster is the most powerful electric propulsion thruster in production, and it will be critical to future science and exploration missions at the moon and beyond.
The blue plume is a steady stream of ionized xenon gas ejected to produce low, highly efficient thrust. These electric propulsion systems accelerate spacecraft to extremely high speeds over time using only a fraction of the fuel chemical propulsion systems require, making electric propulsion an excellent choice for deep-space exploration and science missions.
Three AEPS thrusters will be mounted on the Power and Propulsion Element, a foundational component of Gateway. The small lunar space station is critical to the agency's Artemis missions that will help prepare for human missions to Mars. The Power and Propulsion Element will provide Gateway with power, high-rate communications, and allow it to maintain its unique orbit around the moon.
The AEPS thruster recently returned to NASA Glenn to continue qualification testing to certify the thrusters for flight.
Norway inaugurates satellite launch site
Thursday, 02 November 2023 16:55
Norway on Thursday joined the race to launch satellites from the European continent by inaugurating a new spaceport on the island of Andoya, north of the Arctic Circle.
Isar Aerospace said the "Andoya Spaceport" was to "become the first operational orbital spaceport in continental Europe to finalize the construction of the launch site."
It was inaugurated at a ceremony attended by Norway's Crown Prince Haakon nine months after the inauguration of the Esrange spaceport in neighboring Sweden.
As tensions have grown with Russia, depriving Europe of access to its cosmodromes and launchpads, the site seeks to help European countries strengthen their own capacity for putting small and medium-sized satellites into orbit.
The launch base, which eventually will have several launch pads, was built by Norwegian public company Andoya Space, on a site which until now has only been used for firing suborbital scientific experiment rockets.
Spectrum, a two-stage craft capable of carrying up to one metric ton and developed by the German start-up Isar Aerospace, is scheduled to be the first rocket to be launched from island which is located near the idyllic Lofoten archipelago.
Watch the Space Summit live
Thursday, 02 November 2023 16:24
At the Space Summit on 6 November 2023, Ministers of ESA’s Member States will raise Europe’s ambition to drive forward space for a green future, take decisive steps in exploration, and ensure Europe’s access to space, while preparing a paradigm shift towards a more competitive next generation of launchers.
