China prepares to launch rocket carrying space station supplies
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:50
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China is preparing to launch a rocket carrying supplies for its new space station just days after landing a rover on Mars, as it hustles ahead with its extraterrestrial ambitions.
Beijing has pumped billions into its space programme in a bid to make up ground on pioneers Russia and the United States, with ambitious projects in Earth orbit and the landing of uncrewed craft on the Moon and Mars.
But it was heavily reprimanded by the United States and many experts for a potentially dangerous breach of space etiquette for letting a massive rocket segment free-fall to Earth earlier this month after launching the core module of China's space station.
In the upcoming mission, the Tianzhou-2 cargo craft will blast off on a 14-tonne Long March 7 rocket, and is expected to carry essentials such as food and space suits to the core module.
A solution to space junk: Satellites made of mushrooms?
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:48 Write a comment
According to the latest numbers from the ESA's Space Debris Office (SDO), there are roughly 6,900 artificial satellites in orbit. The situation is going to become exponentially crowded in the coming years, thanks to the many telecommunications, internet, and small satellites that are expected to be launched. This creates all kinds of worries for collision risks and space debris, not to mention environmental concerns.
For this reason, engineers, designers, and satellite manufacturers are looking for ways to redesign their satellites. Enter Max Justice, a cybersecurity expert, former Marine, and "Cyber Farmer" who spent many years working in the space industry. Currently, he is working towards a new type of satellite that is made out of mycelium fibers. This tough, heat-resistant, and environmentally friendly material could trigger a revolution in the booming satellite industry.
As it stands, one of the biggest concerns with satellites is the risk of collision they pose once they become defunct. Until such time that their orbit decays and they burn up in the atmosphere, satellites are likely to collide with each other and produce small pieces of space debris.
Russia to sell Soyuz space module
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 12:38 Write a comment
Russia has put up for sale one of its space modules, which in 2018 returned a Russian and two Americans from the International Space Station (ISS).
"Descent module No. 738 of the Soyuz MS-08 mission is available on the Glavcosmos web portal for purchase," read a statement issued late Tuesday by Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of Russia's Roscosmos space agency.
"This lander can become an excellent exhibition showpiece for any public or private exhibition dedicated to aerospace," the statement added.
Glavcosmos spokesman Yevgeny Kolomiyev told AFP that the price of the descent module was not being publically disclosed because it was a "trade secret" and that prospective buyers would need to submit requests through the agency's website.
The Soyuz MS-08 spacecraft in March 2018 sent cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev and NASA astronauts Andrew Feustel and Richard Arnold to the ISS.
In October the same year, its decent module, which is up for grabs, returned Artemyev, Faustale and Arnold to Earth landing in Kazakhstan.
Glavcosmos director Dmitry Loskutov told the RIA Novosti news agency he did not rule out in the future selling "other shuttles, once their mission is completed".
ESA to unveil its plans for lunar satellites
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 11:05 Write a comment
ESA is backing a bold proposal to create a commercially viable constellation of satellites around the Moon.
Benchmark and Starfish Space Team to Enable Precision On-Orbit Services
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
The future of the space economy relies heavily on servicing infrastructure and vehicles that can make precision maneuvers to successfully approach, inspect and dock with spacecraft in need of refueling, maintenance and a wide range of on-orbit services.
Starfish Space, a satellite servicing company, and Benchmark Space Systems, a leading provider of in-space mobility systems and services, Satellite navigation, positioning services valued at Y400 BN
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
By the end of 2020, the overall value of satellite-enabled navigation and positioning services in China was 403.3 billion yuan ($62.8 billion), with a 16.9-percent increase year-on-year, according to a white paper published on Tuesday in Beijing.
The 2021 White Paper on the Development of China's Satellite Navigation and Positioning Industries, compiled by the Global Navigation Satellite S An incubator for the information society
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
Our world is extremely networked. This is apparent both in our day-to-day lives as individuals and in the world of work. Everyone from manufacturers to service providers, goods transporters and application developers have customers and providers that are connected by an invisible digital link.
"Fibre optics and mobile communications alone will not be enough throughout Germany to connect ev Space station core module in orbit to prep for next stage of construction
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
The recently-launched core module of China's Tiangong space station has moved to a rendezvous orbit to prepare for the planned docking with the Tianzhou 2 cargo spaceship that will soon be lifted, the China Manned Space Agency said.
The agency said in a brief statement on Tuesday the currently unmanned core module, named Tianhe, or Harmony of Heavens, has carried out a series of tests to v NASA eyes moon's dark side for astronomy, new telescopes
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
NASA scientists, as well as astronomers around the world, plan to install lunar observatories in the next few years to peer into the universe's ancient past - just after the Big Bang.
Science equipment headed to the moon already includes a spectrometer built for launch in early 2022, known as ROLSES, which will study how sunlight charges the slight lunar atmosphere.
The acronym includes t NASA AI could speed up fault diagnosis process in spacecraft
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
New artificial intelligence technology could speed up physical fault diagnosis in spacecraft and spaceflight systems, improving mission efficiency by reducing down-time.
Research in Artificial Intelligence for Spacecraft Resilience (RAISR) is software developed by Pathways intern Evana Gizzi, who works at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. With RAISR, artificial int Euroconsult opens Australian office to help grow local space industry
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
Euroconsult is opening a representative office in Australia to serve local and international clients in the fast growing Australian space sector, further expanding its global market reach. As part of recent work carried out on the Australian space market, including an assessment for Austrade on the development of potential Australian launch capabilities, Euroconsult had the opportunity to witnes China's core space station module Tianhe completes in-orbit tests
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
China's core space station module Tianhe has recently completed its platform function tests and entered the orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Tuesday.
The core module, which was sent into orbit on April 29, has recently completed platform function tests for rendezvous and docking, astronaut stay and the m LHAASO discovers a dozen PeVatrons and photons exceeding 1 PeV and launches ultra-high-energy gamma
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
China's Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) - one of the country's key national science and technology infrastructure facilities - has found a dozen ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic accelerators within the Milky Way. It has also detected photons with energies exceeding 1 peta-electron-volt (quadrillion electron-volts or PeV), including one at 1.4 PeV. The latter is the highest ener Stunning simulation of stars being born is most realistic ever
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
A team including Northwestern University astrophysicists has developed the most realistic, highest-resolution 3D simulation of star formation to date. The result is a visually stunning, mathematically-driven marvel that allows viewers to float around a colorful gas cloud in 3D space while watching twinkling stars emerge.
Called STARFORGE (Star Formation in Gaseous Environments), the comput Up-Close View of NASA's X-59 Engine Inlet
Wednesday, 19 May 2021 08:45 Write a comment
NASA's X-59 requires the use of creative and strategic supersonic technologies to control and soften the jarring sound that hits the ground as the aircraft flies faster than the speed of sound above. One of these creative technologies is the placement of the X-59 engine inlet.
This visual is a closeup looking downstream inside of the X-59's engine inlet where, later in the assembly process