Ball Aerospace completes CDR for Roman Space Telescope instrument
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
Ball Aerospace, partnered with NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, successfully completed the critical design review of the Wide Field Instrument (WFI), which will be the primary science instrument on NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, formerly known as the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST).
"Now that we have passed this critical milestone, we will continue to work hand-in Explaining Parker Solar Probe's magnetic puzzle
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
When NASA's Parker Solar Probe sent back the first observations from its voyage to the Sun, scientists found signs of a wild ocean of currents and waves quite unlike the near-Earth space much closer to our planet. This ocean was spiked with what became known as switchbacks: rapid flips in the Sun's magnetic field that reversed direction like a zig-zagging mountain road.
Scientists think pi A better way to measure acceleration
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
You're going at the speed limit down a two-lane road when a car barrels out of a driveway on your right. You slam on the brakes, and within a fraction of a second of the impact an airbag inflates, saving you from serious injury or even death.
The airbag deploys thanks to an accelerometer - a sensor that detects sudden changes in velocity. Accelerometers keep rockets and airplanes on the Exotrail signs license with Thales Alenia Space for ExoOPS
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
Exotrail signed a license contract with Thales Alenia Space for ExoOPS, its simulation and operation software dedicated to space mobility.
Thales Alenia Space, Joint Venture between Thales (67%) and Leonardo (33%), becomes a customer of ExoOPS - Mission Design. Thales Alenia Space and Exotrail signed the contract in January. ExoOPS - Mission Design is Exotrail's simulation and mission desi Developing Virtual Partners to Assist Military Personnel
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
Increasing worker knowledge, productivity, and efficiency has been a seemingly never ending quest for the military as well as commercial companies. Today, military personnel are expected to perform a growing number of complex tasks while interacting with increasingly sophisticated machines and platforms.
Artificial intelligence (AI) enabled assistants have the potential to aid users as the NASA, Blue Origin Partner to bring lunar gravity conditions closer to Earth
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
At one-sixth that of Earth, the unique gravity of the lunar surface is one of the many variable conditions that technologies bound for the Moon will need to perform well in. NASA will soon have more options for testing those innovations in lunar gravity thanks to a collaboration with Blue Origin to bring new testing capabilities to the company's New Shepard reusable suborbital rocket system. The Robot will see you now
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
In the era of social distancing, using robots for some health care interactions is a promising way to reduce in-person contact between health care workers and sick patients. However, a key question that needs to be answered is how patients will react to a robot entering the exam room.
Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital recently set out to answer that question. In a study China advances space cooperation in 2020: blue book
Wednesday, 10 March 2021 06:47
China actively promoted international space cooperation in 2020, offering satellite exports and launches, cooperative research and application services to the world, according to a recent report on China's aerospace industry.
By the end of last year, 51 Chinese rockets had launched 59 foreign commercial satellites into space, said the 2020 Blue Book of China Aerospace Science and Technolog MEV-2 servicer closing in on Intelsat-10-02 docking attempt
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 22:11
TAMPA, Fla. — Northrop Grumman’s MEV-2 satellite servicer is performing close proximity operations with Intelsat’s in-orbit 10-02 spacecraft ahead of a docking attempt, SpaceNews has learned.
Both spacecraft remain healthy after being in close quarters to calibrate and test systems before MEV-2 backed off, according to a Northrop Grumman official.
Northrop’s MEV-2 servicer closing in on Intelsat-10-02 docking attempt
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 22:11TAMPA, Fla. — Northrop Grumman’s MEV-2 satellite servicer is performing close proximity operations with Intelsat’s in-orbit 10-02 spacecraft ahead of a docking attempt, SpaceNews has learned.
Both spacecraft remain healthy after being in close quarters to calibrate and test systems before MEV-2 backed off, according to a Northrop Grumman official.
In first, scientists trace fastest solar particles to their roots on the Sun
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 21:07
Zipping through space at close to the speed of light, Solar Energetic Particles, or SEPs, are one of the main challenges for the future of human spaceflight.
Startup using Soviet-era technology to build satellite servicing vehicle
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 17:49
WASHINGTON — A Ukrainian startup is building an in-orbit servicing vehicle using space docking technology developed decades ago by the former Soviet Union.
The startup, named Kurs Orbital, was co-founded by the former head of Ukraine’s space agency Volodymyr Usov.
Space sustainability and debris physics: The role of reentries
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 17:46
What goes up, nearly always comes back down. When it comes to the objects we send to space, atmospheric reentries are actually a fundamental tool in minimizing the creation of space debris and ensuring a sustainable future in space.
Objects in low-Earth orbit, affected by the 'drag' forces caused by Earth's atmosphere, gradually lower in altitude and then make a rapid and firey descent towards Earth.
Small objects disintegrate as they reenter due to the immense friction and heat created, but parts of larger bodies can reach the ground so should be controlled to land over uninhabited regions.
Join Stijn Lemmens and Jorge del Rio Vera to find out more about why this matters in the joint ESA-UN podcast that narrates this infographic.
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Ideas for future NASA missions searching for extraterrestrial civilizations
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 17:38
A researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is the lead author of a study with proposals for 'technosignatures'—evidence for the use of technology or industrial activity in other parts of the Universe—for future NASA missions. The article, published in the specialized journal Acta Astronautica, contains the initial conclusions of a meeting of experts in the search for intelligent extraterrestrial life, sponsored by the space agency to gather advice about this topic.
In the article, several ideas are presented to search for technosignatures that would indicate the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations, from the most humdrum, such as the presence of industrial pollution in the atmosphere or large swarms of satellites, to hypothetical gigantic space engineering work, such as heat shields to fend off climate change, or Dyson spheres for optimum use of the light from the local star.
How scientists found rare fireball meteorite pieces on a driveway—and what they can teach us
Tuesday, 09 March 2021 14:10
As people in the UK were settling down to watch the late evening news on February 28, a fresh news story, quite literally, appeared in the night sky. A large and very bright fireball was seen over southern England and northern France at 21:54 GMT. It was recorded by many doorbell webcams, so it was a very well-observed fireball. More importantly, it was also captured by the automated cameras of the UK Meteor Observation Network and similar networks.
Working with colleagues in France and Australia, the meteor-watchers worked out the fireball's trajectory and determined where the meteorite pieces could be located, just north of Cheltenham in the UK. Based on their calculations, Ashley King, a specialist in meteorites at the Natural History Museum in London, made an appeal on local TV and radio stations for information about any unusual black rocks seen to have fallen from the sky.