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Copernical Team

ESA - It’s a wrap
Credit: ESA-SJM Photography

Multi-layer insulation (MLI) is the reason that satellites often look as though they've been covered in shiny Christmas wrapping.

Satellite surfaces are sheathed in MLI made up of layers of very thin, metal-coated plastic film, along with low-conducting 'spacer' material such as silk, nylon or glass-fiber netting.

In the airlessness of space, objects can be hot and cold at the same time, especially if one side is in sunshine and another is in shade. In such conditions, thermal radiation is the main driver of temperature change (rather than convection or conduction), and reflective MLI serves to minimize it.

Thermal control specialists aim to maintain the temperature of the satellite within set limits, to keep electronic and mechanical parts working optimally and to prevent any temperature-triggered structural distortion.

Placing MLI blankets on a satellite body is a skilled art in itself, with complex shapes needing to be created to fit around around edges or joints.



Creating exotic ‘outer space’ ice in the lab
Enhanced image of a small region of the thin, disrupted ice crust on Jupiter's moon Europa taken in 1996 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft. Credit: NASA

The search for life beyond Earth typically focuses on first looking for water, the basis for life as we know it. Whether the water is a gas, liquid, or solid, its presence and composition can tell researchers a lot about the planet, moon, comet, or asteroid on which it is detected and whether it could support life.

Because is so cold and is primarily a vacuum, the we detect from Earth is usually in the form of amorphous ice, meaning its is not arranged neatly into a crystalline lattice like ice on Earth. How the transition between the crystalline and amorphous ice phases occurs on like Europa or on Kuiper Belt Objects beyond Pluto, is difficult to study—unless you can mimic the cold, dark vacuum of outer space, under intense radiation, in a laboratory.

Wednesday, 02 June 2021 07:29

Samantha in command

Image:

Quiet please, future International Space Station commander in training. ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti prepares for her upcoming mission to the International Space Station at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Texas, USA.

Samantha is a member of Crew-4 and will launch with NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren and Bob Hines to the Station from Florida, USA, on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft in 2022.

This will be Samantha’s second mission in space after Futura in 2015 and she is expected to serve as Space Station commander for Expedition 68a, a first for her. Her experience will stand her in good stead as Europe’s

Wednesday, 02 June 2021 08:06

It’s a wrap

It’s a wrap Image: It’s a wrap
Jerusalem (AFP) June 1, 2021
Israeli military exports reached $8.3 billion in 2020, buoyed by a 15 percent spike in the number of agreements signed compared with the previous year, the government announced Tuesday. Despite fears the coronavirus pandemic would impact 2020 sales, Israel cited new markets in allowing sales jumping $1 billion from 2019. It's the second highest sales figure ever, behind 2017, when the to
London, Canada (SPX) Jun 02, 2021
Hidden beneath a kilometre of ice in northwestern Greenland, an impact crater that could swallow a city the size of London, Ont. is the subject of much debate about its origins and age. Now, Western planetary scientist Elizabeth Silber has published new research suggesting the crater could be young - as craters go - having formed during the Pleistocene geological epoch, between 11,700 and
Huntsville AL (SPX) Jun 02, 2021
Instead of chasing storms, NASA researchers are using new weather prediction methods to see storms ahead of time. By studying lightning, the team of scientists is working to develop new ways to help forecast the intensity of incoming hurricanes. Typically, an increase in lightning within the storm signals that the storm is likely to strengthen. But sometimes even weakening hurricanes have large
Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 02, 2021
The European Space Agency (ESA) Living Planet Symposium takes place every three years with approximately 4000 to 5000 participants. The previous symposium was held in Milan during May 2019 - with extensive support from the city and university. From 23 to 27 May 2022, the world's largest specialist conference in the field of Earth observation will be coming to Germany for the first time - to Bonn
Stockholm, Sweden (SPX) Jun 02, 2021
The global technology and consulting company Indra in Spain and the Spanish Air Navigational Service Provider (ANSP) Enaire has selected GomSpace A/S to deliver a large-scale development and demonstration project including the launch of three dedicated in orbit demonstration (IOD) nanosatellites. The contract GomSpace disclosed on May 10 with Indra, which is estimated to be at a value of E
Charlottesville VA (SPX) Jun 02, 2021
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) has selected a contractor to develop a production-ready design and produce a prototype antenna for the Next Generation Very Large Array (ngVLA). NRAO officials signed an agreement with mtex antenna technology GmbH of Germany on May 27. The ngVLA, a powerful radio telescope with a total of 263 dish antennas distributed across North America, is
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