Vega's fuel-free CubeSats will use wings to keep in formation
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 15:00
Spain's trio of ANSER CubeSats, due to fly on Europe's next Vega launcher, will fly like a flock of birds in orbit—in more ways than one. Keeping in formation by following their leader, the three shoebox-sized satellite will image Iberian waters as if they are a single standard-sized mission. And they will unfurl wing-like flaps to maintain their relative positions, surfing on the scanty airflow at the top of Earth's atmosphere.
ANSER—Advanced Nanosatellite Systems for Earth-observation Research—is a cluster of three CubeSats which will work together in close vicinity as if they are a single satellite. Due to be launched on Europe's next Vega flight, VV23, the ANSER mission is being undertaken by INTA, the Spanish Institute of Aerospace Technology.
Santiago Rodriguez Bustabad, overseeing the mission, explains, "ANSER is also the Latin name for the wild goose, a good example of birds flying in formation, adopting a leader-follower protocol, which is what our mission is emulating."
These three-unit CubeSats will orbit around 500 km altitude, maintaining formation at an optimum 10 km apart from each other. But they do not have any onboard propulsion systems.
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Hera takes wing Hera solar wing deployed
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 12:01
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ESA’s Hera asteroid mission for planetary defence seen with one of its two solar wings added, during its continuing test campaign at the ESTEC Test Centre in the Nethelands.
The van-sized spacecraft, left, is powered by a pair of solar array wings, made up of three panels each, provided by Beyond Gravity in Switzerland.
One of these 5-m-long wings was added for Hera’s ‘cold deployment check’ – a manual unfolding process to confirm that the wing fits correctly. Because the solar wings have been designed to operate in weightlessness they were supported by a frame during this test
Three astronauts return to Earth after a year in space. NASA's Frank Rubio sets US space record
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 11:35
Ready for collection – lightsabres for Mars
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:54
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Ready for collection – lightsabres for Mars Vega's fuel-free CubeSats to keep formation with wings
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:28
Spain’s trio of ANSER CubeSats, due to fly on Europe’s next Vega launcher, will fly like a flock of birds in orbit – in more ways than one. Keeping in formation by following their leader, the three shoebox-sized satellite will image Iberian waters as if they are a single standard-sized mission. And they will unfurl wing-like flaps to maintain their relative positions, surfing on the scanty airflow at the top of Earth’s atmosphere.
The OSIRIS-REx sample canister lid is removed
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
NASA scientists found black dust and debris on the avionics deck of the OSIRIS-REx science canister when the initial lid was removed today. The canister from the OSIRIS-REx sample return capsule was delivered to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston on Sept. 25 after landing in the Utah desert on Sept. 24.
Johnson houses the world's largest collection of astromaterials, and curation exper JWST's first spectrum of a TRAPPIST-1 planet
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
In a solar system called TRAPPIST-1, 40 light years from the sun, seven Earth-sized planets revolve around a cold star. Astronomers obtained new data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on TRAPPIST-1 b, the planet in the TRAPPIST-1 solar system closest to its star. These new observations offer insights into how its star can affect observations of exoplanets in the habitable zone of cool s Possible hints of life found on distant planet - how excited should we be?
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
Data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has shown that an exoplanet around a star in the constellation Leo has some of the chemical markers that, on Earth, are associated with living organisms. But these are vague indications. So how likely is it that this exoplanet harbours alien life?
Exoplanets are worlds that orbit stars other than the Sun. The planet in question is named K2-18 Alien Machines in the Solar System: The Possibilities and Potential Origins
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
In 2018, the scientists Adam Frank and Gavin Schmidt proposed the Silurian hypothesis. It considered the potential of finding ancient evidence in Earth's geologic record that a non-human industrial civilization could exist on Earth millions of years ago. But could any outcomes of the technogenic activities of such a civilization survive until present day? Irina K. Romanovskaya, who is a graduate Study sheds new light on strange lava worlds
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
Lava worlds, massive exoplanets home to sparkling skies and roiling volcanic seas called magma oceans, are distinctly unlike the planets in our solar system.
To date, nearly 50% of all rocky exoplanets yet discovered have been found capable of maintaining magma on their surfaces, likely because these planets are so close to their host stars they orbit in fewer than 10 days. Being so close ISS National Lab and Privateer announce Data and Information Sharing Partnership
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
The International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory and Privateer Space, a leader in space decision intelligence and data infrastructure, announced a partnership to bring additional resources to the growing space economy. The announcement was made during a session at the annual ISS Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) focused on companies innovating within the space landscape. Heating and cooling space habitats isn't easy
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
China, India and the U.S. have all achieved landing on the Moon in the 2020s.
Once there, their eventual goal is to set up a base. But a successful base - along with the spacecraft that will carry people to it - must be habitable for humans. And a big part of creating a habitable base is making sure the heating and cooling systems work.
That's especially true because the ambient temp Chandra rewinds story of Great Eruption of the 1840s
Wednesday, 27 September 2023 10:11
A new movie made from over two decades of data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory shows a famous star system changing with time, as described in our latest press release. Eta Carinae contains two massive stars (one is about 90 times the mass of the Sun and the other is believed to be about 30 times the Sun's mass).
In the middle of the 19th century, skywatchers observed as Eta Carinae e