Build your own #WebbAtHome
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 12:00
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Looking for a space-themed creative project to do at home AND be in for a chance to win some ESA goodies? You’re in the right place!
James Webb Space Telescope launch kit
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 12:00 Write a comment
Download this launch kit to learn more about the international James Webb Space Telescope and the science goals of the mission.
JAXA using water bottle technology for sample-return missions from the ISS
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 11:30 Write a comment
The International Space Station (ISS) is not only the largest and most sophisticated orbiting research facility ever built, it is arguably the most important research facility we have. With its cutting-edge facilities and microgravity environment, the ISS is able to conduct lucrative experiments that are leading to advances in astrobiology, astronomy, medicine, biology, space weather and meteorology, and materials science.
Unfortunately, the cost of transporting experiments to and from the ISS is rather expensive and something only a handful of space agencies are currently able to do. To address this, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Tiger Corporation partnered in 2018 to create a new type of container that would cut the cost of returning samples to Earth. With the success of their initial design, JAXA and Tiger are looking to create a reusable version that will allow for regular sample returns from the ISS.
ASKAP takes a first glimpse at the galactic plane
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 11:23 Write a comment
With the findings detailed in two Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society papers, a group of astronomers, led by the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) and Macquarie University, reported the first radio observations toward the galactic plane using the Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP), developed and managed by CSIRO—Australia's national science agency. The region mapped by the researchers includes the entire area of the Stellar Continuum Originating from Radio Physics In Ourgalaxy (SCORPIO) survey, one of the exploration projects of the Evolutionary Map of the Universe (EMU) program, which will use the new ASKAP telescope to make a census of radio sources of the whole southern hemisphere.
As part of the preliminary activities for the EMU project, radio astronomers pointed the ASKAP's antennas in the direction of the Scorpion's tail. At the time observations were carried out, the interferometer wasn't yet fully deployed (15 of the 36 antennas were then operational), and these were used to image an area of about 40 square degrees. The so-called SCORPIO field was included among the first scientific targets of ASKAP, thanks to preliminary work conducted by the Italian team using the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA).
Image: Jupiter antenna that came in from the cold
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 10:30 Write a comment
An instrument destined for Jupiter orbit is checked after completing eight days of cryogenic radio-frequency testing at ESA's ESTEC technical center in the Netherlands.
The Sub-millimeter Wave Instrument of ESA's Juice mission will survey the churning atmosphere of Jupiter and the scanty atmospheres of its Galilean moons.
Testing took place in ESA's custom-built Low-temperature Near-field Terahertz chamber , or Lorentz.
The first chamber of its kind, the 2.8-m diameter Lorentz chamber can perform high-frequency radio-frequency testing in realistic space conditions, combining space-quality vacuum with ultra-low temperatures.
"The successful test of the flight hardware inside Lorentz, follows an intensive commissioning phase." says ESA antenna engineer Paul Moseley. "This demonstration opens up a wide range of testing possibilities for missions to come."
Meanwhile the flight model of the SWI instrument's parent Juice spacecraft has itself reached the ESTEC Test Center, in preparation for a month long thermal vacuum test campaign.
Explore further
Dunes trapped in a crater on Mars form this interesting pattern
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 10:25 Write a comment
Symmetry in nature is pleasing to look at, and even more so when that symmetry is novel. There's plenty of it to see on Earth, as biological processes have a penchant for patterns. But finding it off-world is trickier, and sometimes more striking. Which is why a picture from HiRISE of some Martian dunes is so spectacular.
The picture was actually taken back in 2010, inside of a crater in Noachis Terra, in the red planet's southern hemisphere, around 38 degrees by -42.5 degrees in latitude / longitude. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE was about 252 km above the planet's surface when it snapped the image, which covers an area of about 25 square kilometers.
Even with that relatively large size, the image still resolves objects that are less than a meter in size. But the most striking feature of the pictures is the similarity between the dunes, which are actually the thin dark lines.
New Zealand signs Artemis Accords
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 10:12 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The New Zealand government announced May 31 that it had signed the U.S.-led Artemis Accords governing best practices for space exploration activities, showing a particular interest in the document’s stance on space resources.
ESA investigates cultured meat as novel space food
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 09:55 Write a comment
ESA is seeking proposals to investigate the application of cellular agriculture as a novel technique to produce food, in particular cultured meat, during future long-term space missions.
New Zealand latest nation to sign space agreement with NASA
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The Incredible Adventures of the Hera mission – Presenting Hera
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:53 Write a comment
Meet Hera, our very own asteroid detective. Together with two briefcase-sized Cubesats – Milani the rock decoder and Juventas the radar visionary – Hera is off on an adventure to explore Didymos and Dimorphos, an asteroid pair typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to planet Earth.
A passion for hypersonics propels success at AFRL Lab
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:27 Write a comment
An AFRL researcher grew up with two parents who worked as pharmacists, so he was initially interested in medicine as a young student. Once he reached high school, though, his passion for mathematics blossomed, thanks to one of his high school teachers. This teacher showed him that math has real-world applications and he was excited to learn more.
1st Lt. Jonathan "Luke" Hill turned his ent Commercial UAV Expo Americas 2021
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:27 Write a comment
Commercial UAV Expo Americas is North America's leading trade show and conference focusing on the integration and operation of commercial UAS. Industries covered include Construction; Drone Delivery; Energy and Utilities; Forestry and Agriculture; Infrastructure and Transportation; Mining and Aggregates; Public Safety and Emergency Services; Security; and Surveying and Mapping. NASA stacks elements for upper portion of Artemis II Core Stage
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:27 Write a comment
NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) team fully stacked three hardware elements together May 24 to form the top of the rocket's core stage for the Artemis II mission. NASA and core stage prime contractor Boeing connected the forward skirt with the liquid oxygen tank and intertank flight hardware inside an assembly area at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.
Teams had previously st Quark-gluon plasma flows like water, according to new study
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:27 Write a comment
What does quark-gluon plasma - the hot soup of elementary particles formed a few microseconds after the Big Bang - have in common with tap water? Scientists say it's the way it flows.
A new study, published in the journal SciPost Physics, has highlighted the surprising similarities between quark-gluon plasma, the first matter thought to have filled the early Universe, and water that comes China's Beidou-related industry estimated to top 1t yuan by 2025
Tuesday, 01 June 2021 06:27 Write a comment
The value of industries related to China's homegrown BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is estimated to exceed 1 trillion yuan (about $156.4 billion) by 2025, said an official with the country's satellite navigation administration.
The figure was revealed by Yang Jun, deputy director of China's Satellite Navigation System Management Office, at the three-day 12th China Satellite Navigation