Keeping track of spacecraft as Earth’s water alters its spin
Sunday, 21 March 2021 16:00
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- Mass is constantly being redistributed around our planet, as Earth’s atmosphere, oceans and other bodies of water on and under the surface melt, shift and stir.
- This mass redistribution alters Earth’s centre of gravity, which in turn speeds up and slows down the planet's spin – and so the length of the day – as well as changing the orientation of its 'spin axis'.
- These changes to Earth’s spin and orientation occur over relatively short timescales of days and weeks, and threaten communication between ground stations and missions in orbit and across the Solar System.
- ESA is working
Tunisia engineers reach for stars with satellite launch
Sunday, 21 March 2021 15:34 Write a comment
Tunisia celebrated the launch Monday of its first domestically made satellite, hoping it would inspire young engineers to reach for the stars at home rather than join those emigrating overseas.
Challenge-1, built by a team from telecommunications giant TelNet, blasted off along with 37 other satellites aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Monday.
That made Tunisia the sixth African country to manufacture its own satellite and see it reach space.
"It's a source of pride to have taken part in this project," said Khalil Chiha, 27, who trained at Tunisia's National Engineering School in the central city of Sfax.
"Working in the aeronautical or aerospace sector is a dream."
Tunisia had been struck by an economic crisis and skyrocketing unemployment even before the coronavirus pandemic, and recent months have seen growing anti-government protests.
Russia puts 38 foreign satellites into orbit
Sunday, 21 March 2021 15:27 Write a comment
Russia on Monday put 38 foreign satellites into orbit after a succesful launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan following delays due to technical issues.
Video published by the Russian space agency Roscosmos showed its Soyuz rocket launching against grey and cloudy skies at 0607 GMT.
"The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Fregat upper stage and 38 spacecraft from 18 countries took off from the Baikonur cosmodrome," Roscosmos said on its Twitter account.
Later Monday, Roscosmos said in a statement that the rocket had successfully placed into orbit the 38 satellites from more than a dozen countries, including South Korea, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Italy and Brazil.
Among them was the Challenge-1, the first satellite made completely in Tunisia, which was created by the Telnet telecommunications group.
The launch was twice postponed from Saturday after a surge in voltage was detected.
A little love from the Air Force can put a space business on the map
Sunday, 21 March 2021 13:37 Write a comment
The Pentagon’s renewed focus on space and the standup of the U.S. Space Force are boosting demand for technologies being developed by commercial companies. The Air Force technology accelerator known as AFWERX is responding by creating new opportunities for space entrepreneurs.
Eutelsat orders replacement GEO satellite Eutelsat 36D from Airbus
Sunday, 21 March 2021 13:12 Write a comment
TAMPA, Fla. — Eutelsat Communications has ordered a GEO satellite called Eutelsat 36D from Airbus for a launch in 2024.
Eutelsat 36D will replace Eutelsat 36B, which is expected to reach the end of its life in 2026 at the 36° East orbital position, where it covers Africa, Russia and Europe.
Airbus nets first commercial GEO order of 2021 with Eutelsat replacement satellite
Sunday, 21 March 2021 13:12 Write a comment
This story was updated March 22 with comments from Eutelsat and Airbus.
TAMPA, Fla. — Eutelsat Communications has ordered a geostationary (GEO) satellite called Eutelsat 36D from Airbus for a launch in 2024.
Soyuz launch marks first full-commercial mission of Russia’s GK Launch Services
Sunday, 21 March 2021 12:56 Write a comment
Pixxel raises seed round for hyperspectral satellites
Sunday, 21 March 2021 11:36 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — An Indian startup raised $7.3 million to allow the company to continue work on a constellation of hyperspectral imaging satellites, the first step in its much bigger ambitions.
Pixxel announced the seed round March 17 with funding provided by Omnivore VC and Techstars, among other investors.
Mars water loss shaped by seasons and storms
Sunday, 21 March 2021 10:00 Write a comment
Mars has lost most of its once plentiful water, with small amounts remaining in the planet’s atmosphere. ESA’s Mars Express now reveals more about where this water has gone, showing that its escape to space is accelerated by dust storms and the planet’s proximity to the Sun, and suggesting that some water may have retreated underground.
Where did Mars’ water go?
Sunday, 21 March 2021 10:00 Write a comment
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Where did Mars’ water go? How ESA helps South Africa share water fairly
Sunday, 21 March 2021 09:00 Write a comment
Clustered at the edge of the Crocodile River in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa, stand thousands of farms and small holdings growing fresh fruit and sugar cane. Water to irrigate the crops is taken from the river, but this slows its flow rate and leaves less for those downstream.
No threat to Earth as huge asteroid zooms past
Sunday, 21 March 2021 08:47 Write a comment
The largest asteroid to pass by Earth this year has made its closest approach, posing no threat of a cataclysmic collision but giving astronomers a rare chance to study a rock formed during the beginning of our solar system.
The asteroid was two million kilometres (1.25 million miles) away at its nearest, according to NASA—more than five times the distance between the Earth and the Moon but still close enough to be classified as a "potentially hazardous asteroid".
NASA tracks and catalogues such objects that could potentially slam into Earth and unleash enormous destruction, like the massive asteroid hit that wiped out 75 percent of life on the planet 66 million years ago.
Asteroid 2001 FO32, discovered 20 years ago, was too far to be that dangerous even as it reached its nearest point to Earth at around 1400 GMT Sunday, according to the Paris Observatory.
How ESA technology contributes to worldwide water security
Sunday, 21 March 2021 07:44 Write a comment
Whilst demand for fresh water is increasing, water sources are becoming depleted and polluted. With the Global Water Partnership believing that sustainable development will not be achieved without a water secure world, can we look to space to solve our water security problems on Earth?
Mars findings cataloged in Navajo language
Sunday, 21 March 2021 07:40 Write a comment
Native people have had ties to land in North America since time immemorial, and now that connection is expanding to the cosmos.
The Perseverance rover has been on Mars for a month, collecting data and making discoveries with each passing day.
A number of the findings, through a collaboration with NASA, have been catalogued in Diné Bizaad, the Navajo language.
The Perseverance team started with a list of 50 words and will expand the list as needed. According to a tweet from the rover itself, some terms have already been used, such as tsé łichíí (red rock), yéigo (diligence) and séítah (amongst the sand).
Before landing in the Jezero Crater on Máaz, Navajo for Mars, the Perseverance team divided the crater into a grid of "quadrangles" that were 1 square mile (2.6 square kilometers) in size and named the "quads" after national parks on Earth with similar geology.
The rover touched down in an area named after Arizona's Canyon de Chelly National Monument, which is in the Navajo Nation.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, along with Vice President Myron Lizer and other advisers, came up with words from things they saw at the landing site, Indian Country Today reported.
Boston company plans satellites for global weather radar
Sunday, 21 March 2021 01:56 Write a comment
A Boston weather services company, ClimaCell, plans to launch dozens of miniaturized weather satellites to provide more accurate predictions in remote areas.
The company, which already sells weather data services to such firms as Uber and Delta, won't say how many satellites it plans. ClimaCell claims to have new technology that will allow relatively inexpensive construction of the spac