Dealing with space debris
Friday, 27 October 2023 16:13
As yet another space rocket is launched and more technology is placed into orbit, the problem of space junk grows and grows, not to mention the pollution from all the fuel burned en route.
A review in the International Journal of Student Project Reporting has looked at possible solutions to the problem of the abundance of space junk. Jennifer Stein, David Castillo, Elise Bedell, Erriana Thomas, and Nicolas Valiente of the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, U.S., have looked at whether there are cost-effective, environmentally benign, and efficient methods that might be used to minimize the harm from debris in space, which can damage other craft in orbit, potentially harm astronauts, and represent a risk when it falls to earth.
Space junk can be defined as non-functional man-made objects that remain in near-Earth orbit. There is growing concern regarding such debris as there is no way to track it all, especially debris less than 10 millimeters or so in width nor to allow for potential hazards to spacecraft and satellites. Anything larger can be monitored and tracked with telescopes or radar.
NASA tech breathes life into potentially game-changing antenna design
Friday, 27 October 2023 16:07
Some 30 years ago, a young engineer named Christopher Walker was home in the evening making chocolate pudding when he got what turned out to be a very serendipitous call from his mother.
Taking the call, he shut off the stove and stretched plastic wrap over the pot to keep the pudding fresh. By the time he returned, the cooling air in the pot had drawn the wrap into a concave shape, and in that warped plastic, he saw something—the magnified reflection of an overhead lightbulb—that gave him an idea that could revolutionize space-based sensing and communications.
That idea became the Large Balloon Reflector (LBR), an inflatable device that creates wide collection apertures that weigh a fraction of today's deployable antennas.
Asteroids in the solar system could contain undiscovered, superheavy elements
Friday, 27 October 2023 15:19
For centuries, the quest for new elements was a driving force in many scientific disciplines. Understanding an atom's structure and the development of nuclear science allowed scientists to accomplish the old goal of alchemists—turning one element into another.
Over the past few decades, scientists in the United States, Germany and Russia have figured out how to use special tools to combine two atomic nuclei and create new, superheavy elements.
These heavy elements usually aren't stable. Heavier elements have more protons, or positively charged particles in the nucleus; some that scientists have created have up to 118. With that many protons, the electromagnetic repulsive forces between protons in the atomic nuclei overwhelm the attractive nuclear force that keeps the nucleus together.
Scientists have predicted for a long time that elements with around 164 protons could have a relatively long half-life, or even be stable.
Russian space boss warns ISS equipment beyond warranty
Friday, 27 October 2023 14:26
Moscow's Roscosmos space chief warned Friday that most Russian equipment on the International Space Station (ISS) was beyond its warranty, weeks after the station's Russian segment sprang another coolant leak.
The leak, Russia's third in less than a year, raised new questions about the reliability of the country's space program, even as officials said crew members were not in danger.
"The International Space Station is approaching the finish line of its existence," Roscosmos boss Yuri Borisov said on state television.
"We extended the operation of the Russian segment by government decision until 2028, but, unfortunately, it has already exceeded all permissible periods of existence," he said.
"Eighty percent of the Russian equipment is beyond the warranty period," he warned.
Moscow's once pioneering space program has faced multiple setbacks since the collapse of the USSR, including the loss of two Mars missions and its first lunar probe in almost 50 years this August.
In the same interview, Borisov said there were "serious conclusions" to draw from the recent Luna-25 crash.
"Luna-25 was 16 years in the making," he said.
Ground stations as-a-service struggle to gain foothold in military market
Friday, 27 October 2023 13:30
Media Invitation: Euclid mission to release first full-colour images of the cosmos on 7 November
Friday, 27 October 2023 13:00
ESA’s Director of Science Carole Mundell and leading scientists from across Europe will gather at ESA’s Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt, Germany, to discuss with Media the first, razor-sharp astronomical images of the Euclid mission, looking for mysterious, dark matter and energy.
Week in images: 23-27 October 2023
Friday, 27 October 2023 12:00
Week in images: 23-27 October 2023
Discover our week through the lens
Watch live: ESA’s Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:45
ESA’s first-ever Earth Observation Commercialisation Forum will take place next week at ESA Headquarters in Paris from 30 to 31 October 2023. The event will see investors, institutions, entrepreneurs and companies of any size from the Earth observation sector coming together to discuss the commercial potential and challenges of Earth observation. Follow our live steaming on ESA WebTV Two.
Shenzhou 17 docks with Tiangong Space Station
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
The Shenzhou XVII mission, carrying a trio of Chinese astronauts, successfully completed its docking procedure with the Tiangong space station late Thursday night. This rendezvous comes after a six-and-a-half-hour orbital journey initiated earlier in the day. The spacecraft connected with the front port of the Tianhe core module, the primary segment of the Tiangong station.
Upon completion Putin says first segment of ISS replacement to orbit by 2027
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the first segment of the new space station that Moscow plans to construct to replace the ISS should be in orbit by 2027, despite recent setbacks.
Russia previously announced its intention to withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS), where its cosmonauts are permanently stationed and the country plays a key role.
The creation Lockheed Martin contracts Terran Orbital for 36 satellite buses for SDA T2 constellation
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
Lockheed Martin has partnered with Terran Orbital Corporation to construct 36 satellite buses for the Space Development Agency's (SDA) Tranche 2 Transport Layer (T2TL) Beta constellation. This decision comes as part of a broader initiative to bolster the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture's (PWSA) functionalities, including improved technology, payload configurations, and system integrat MDA Selects Spacex to launch Chorus Constellation
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
MDA Ltd. (TSX: MDA) has announced at its Earth Insight customer conference that it has selected SpaceX to be the launch service provider for CHORUS, MDA's next generation Earth observation constellation. CHORUS is targeted to launch on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in the Q4 2025 launch window from Florida.
A collaborative multi-sensor constellation, CHORUS will bring together diverse and uniqu CADRE rover getting prepped for testing
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
An engineer prepares a small rover - part of NASA's CADRE (Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration) technology demonstration that's headed to the Moon - for testing in a thermal vacuum chamber at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in October 2023.
Slated to arrive at the Moon in spring 2024 as part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) Bright flash leads astronomers to a heavy-metal factory 900 million light years away
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
An extraordinary burst of high-energy light in the sky has pointed astronomers to a pair of metal-forging neutron stars 900 million light years from Earth.
In a study appearing in Nature, an international team of astronomers, including scientists at MIT, reports the detection of an extremely bright gamma-ray burst (GRB), which is the most powerful type of explosion known in the universe. T Massive space explosion observed creating elements needed for life
Friday, 27 October 2023 10:13
Scientists have observed the creation of rare chemical elements in the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen - casting new light on how heavy elements are made. Researchers examined the exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst GRB 230307A, which was caused by a neutron star merger. The explosion was observed using an array of ground and space-based telescopes, including NASA's James Webb Space