Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 26, 2024
China is on course to potentially be the first nation to return Martian soil to Earth, in what is considered a significant scientific and engineering feat, according to a prominent space scientist. Wu Weiren, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a leading figure at the China National Space Administration, remarked this week in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, that China

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 26, 2024
NASA's Engineering and Safety Center has introduced a new approach, dubbed Trajectory Reverse Engineering (TRE), for transferring spacecraft trajectories between flight mechanics tools. This method is designed to be adaptable, making it suitable for use with any pair of tools despite differences in their dynamical and numerical models. Developed as part of the NESC study titled Flight Mech

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 26, 2024
NASA collaborates with commercial entities to ensure safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation of cargo and crew to and from the International Space Station. Serving as a hub for extensive microgravity research, the station has been operational for over two decades, facilitating a wide array of technology trials and scientific experiments across various disciplines. b>Human Transp

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 26, 2024
Every part of a launch vehicle, launch pad, and ground operation equipment is subjected to the high acoustic load generated during lift-off. Therefore, many extreme measures are taken to try to suppress this acoustic environment by damping with a water deluge system and diverting engine plumes away from the vehicle via flame trenches. Even single decibel reductions of the acoustic levels can tra

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 29, 2024
Navigating the great unknown of space requires innovative tools, like the Multi-Resolution Scanner (MRS), a novel 3D mapping technology developed under the auspices of the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory. This technology leverages NASA's robotic Astrobee system to generate high-resolution maps of remote environments, aiding not only space exploration but also terrestrial in

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 26, 2024
On April 24, automated guided vehicles moved the Ariane 6 central core, which includes the main and upper stages, at a speed of 3 km/h from the launcher assembly building to the launch pad 800 meters away. The central core's placement on the launch pad involved coordinated actions using two AGVs and a crane equipped with a lifting beam. This allowed for the upright positioning of the centr

The first images captured by the innovative mission were presented at the 7th workshop of the Einstein Probe consortium in Beijing. They illustrate the satellite’s full potential and show that its novel optics, which mimic a lobster’s eyes, are ready to monitor the X-ray sky. The space X-ray telescope zoomed in on a few well-known celestial objects to give us a hint of what the mission is capable of.

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 25, 2024
China's Shenzhou-18 mission, set for a six-month duration at the national space station, will include a series of in-orbit scientific tests and applications, alongside multiple spacewalks, as detailed by a senior China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) official during a recent press briefing. The Shenzhou XVIII spacecraft is poised for launch at 8:59 pm Thursday (Beijing Time) from the Jiuquan Sa

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2024
Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL), known for its high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) capabilities, has announced a partnership with O.N.E. Amazon aimed at environmental and investment sustainability through innovative conservation technologies. The collaboration, revealed on Earth Day, highlights the role of advanced geospatial sciences in environmental health

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Apr 22, 2024
A promising development in ecosystem monitoring has been achieved by Professor Jin Wu and his team at the University of Hong Kong's School of Biological Sciences. Their study, detailed in Remote Sensing of Environment, involves using the Sentinel-2 satellite to map plant functional traits through time-series satellite data. This method offers new insights into the functional diversity and health