Copernical Team
NOAA's hurricane hunting GOES-U satellite nears SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch
Hurricanes Michael, Dorian, Ian, Nicole and Idalia have all been stared down by one of the NOAA's most powerful satellites since it took its place in geostationary orbit in late 2017. Its replacement is gearing up for launch on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy later this month.
The GOES-U satellite is the 19th Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite in the NOAA and NASA partnership since the first one launched in 1975. It's the fourth and final of the latest version of the satellites. The first three are already parked at more than 22,000 miles altitude and have their wide-view sites set to track tropical weather, fires, lightning and other dangerous weather on Earth.
The final satellite sits in a stark, white clean room at Astrotech Space Operations' payload processing facility just across the river from Kennedy Space Center. It's already fueled and awaits encapsulation in a SpaceX fairing before heading to KSC for launch. Liftoff is slated for June 25 at 5:16 p.m. during a two-hour window atop what will be the first Falcon Heavy launch of the year.
All four satellites are part of what NOAA calls the GOES-R series, the most powerful satellites for weather forecasting.
A milestone in digital Earth modelling
Destination Earth is now live! Launched today during a ceremony at the EuroHPC LUMI Supercomputer Centre in Kajaani, Finland, Destination Earth provides unprecedented insights into the complexity of our planet to advance climate change adaption and environmental resilience modelling.
Frosty volcanoes discovered in Mars’s tropics
ESA’s ExoMars and Mars Express missions have spotted water frost for the first time near Mars’s equator, a part of the planet where it was thought impossible for frost to exist.
Earth's Climate May Have Been Affected by Interstellar Clouds 2 Million Years Ago
Around two million years ago, Earth experienced multiple ice ages, coinciding with significant climatic changes. Scientists propose that these ice ages were caused by factors such as the planet's tilt, rotation, plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. A new study suggests that the sun's position in the galaxy could also have influenced Earth's climate.
I Yahsat Contracts Airbus for New Al Yah Satellites
Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PJSC (Yahsat) has contracted Airbus Defence and Space for its new geostationary telecommunications satellites, Al Yah 4 ("AY4") and Al Yah 5 ("AY5").
This step follows the signing of an Authorisation-to-Proceed with Airbus in Q2 2023 to begin initial activities related to the AY4 and AY5 satellite program.
Airbus will design and build the AY4 a European Consortium Receives euro 15M for Inflatable Heat Shield Development
A European consortium, led by Spanish mission and system integrator Elecnor Deimos ("Deimos"), is working to develop an inflatable heat shield (IHS) for recovering rocket stages from space. This system could also protect cargo during re-entry and may be used for Mars missions.
ICARUS ("Inflatable Concept Aeroshell for the Recovery of a re-Usable launcher Stage") has received euro 10 milli 
Teaming up for space fun
PLAYMOBIL's little robot space explorer ROBert was reunited with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and ESA Kids mascot Paxi as they teamed up to meet young space fans at ESA's Space Days. Children had an absolute blast at ESA's Space Days, held at the PLAYMOBIL FunPark in Zirndorf, Germany from 30 May to 2 June 2024.
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New method could allow multi-robot teams to autonomously and reliably explore other planets
While roboticists have developed increasingly sophisticated systems over the past decades, ensuring that these systems can autonomously operate in real-world settings without mishaps often proves challenging. This is particularly difficult when these robots are designed to be deployed in complex environments, including space and other planets.
Researchers at the University of Glasgow recently developed a new methodology that could allow teams of multiple rovers to autonomously and reliably explore other planets. This method, introduced in a paper pre-published on arXiv, incorporates data derived from various sources, including imaging data, maps and information collected by sensors, to plan efficient routes for different robots in a team.
"Using a team of planetary exploration rovers to explore the Martian surface, rather than a single rover, could greatly extend the scientific capabilities of a mission," Sarah Swinton, first author of the paper, told Tech Xplore.
