Week in images: 08-12 July 2024
Friday, 12 July 2024 12:10Week in images: 08-12 July 2024
Discover our week through the lens
China’s Long March 6A rocket appears to have an orbital debris problem
Friday, 12 July 2024 10:47Earth from Space: Hainan Strait
Friday, 12 July 2024 07:00Real-life 'stillsuit': Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water
Friday, 12 July 2024 03:10Astronauts on spacewalks famously have to relieve themselves inside their spacesuits. Not only is this uncomfortable for the wearer and unhygienic, it is also wasteful, as—unlike wastewater on board the International Space Station (ISS)—the water in urine from spacewalks is not recycled.
A solution for these challenges would be full-body 'stillsuits' like those in the blockbuster Dune franchise, which absorbed and purified water lost through sweating and urination, and recycled it into drinkable water. Now, this sci-fi is about to become reality, with a prototype novel urine collection and filtration system for spacesuits.
The design, by researchers from Cornell University, is published in Frontiers in Space Technology.
"The design includes a vacuum-based external catheter leading to a combined forward-reverse osmosis unit, providing a continuous supply of potable water with multiple safety mechanisms to ensure astronaut well-being," said Sofia Etlin, a research staff member at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, and the study's first author.
Lunar spacecraft receive dozens of collision warnings
Thursday, 11 July 2024 20:58Microsoft leads $40 million funding for Starlink networking startup
Thursday, 11 July 2024 19:57General Atomics to build second Space Force weather satellite
Thursday, 11 July 2024 19:53Dawn Aerospace gets approvals for supersonic rocketplane tests
Thursday, 11 July 2024 19:44Spire Global Secures CA 1.41 Million Canadian Government Contract for Ship Tracking
Thursday, 11 July 2024 17:34Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR), a leader in space-based data, analytics, and space services, has been awarded a CA $1.41 million contract by the Government of Canada (GoC) to provide global automatic identification system (AIS) ship tracking data. The one-year agreement includes options for two additional years, potentially increasing the total value to nearly CA $4.23 million. "We are pr
Fleet Space's ExoSphere Advances Barrick Gold's Copper Exploration at Reko Diq
Thursday, 11 July 2024 17:34Fleet Space Technologies, a leading Australian space exploration company, has announced the deployment of its comprehensive mineral exploration solution, ExoSphere, to support Barrick Gold's copper exploration efforts at the Reko Diq project in Pakistan. Utilizing advanced space technology, AI, and 3D multiphysics, ExoSphere is creating detailed 3D subsurface maps of groundwater systems and copp
GOES-U Satellite Achieves Geostationary Orbit and Becomes GOES-19
Thursday, 11 July 2024 17:34On July 7, 2024, NOAA's GOES-U completed its final engine burn, successfully entering geostationary orbit 22,236 miles above the Earth's equator. Following this achievement, the satellite has been renamed GOES-19. GOES satellites are initially designated with a letter before launch, which is then changed to a number once they reach geostationary orbit. GOES-U was launched on June 25, 2024,
Satellites Assist Relief Operations After Dike Breach in Central China
Thursday, 11 July 2024 17:34China has deployed several remote sensing satellites to support rescue and relief efforts after a dike breach on Friday at Dongting Lake in central Hunan Province. The China Centre For Resources Satellite Data and Application (CRESDA) reported that Gaofen-3 02, Gaofen-3 03, Gaofen-1, and Gaofen-4 satellites are providing real-time monitoring of the affected areas. CRESDA confirmed th