Copernical Team
NanoAvionics' built satellite for Aurora Insight to fly on SpaceX's Transporter 1 mission
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NanoAvionics, a leading nanosatellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, has announced that the first of two nanosatellites, built and integrated for US radio frequency spectrum and wireless data provider Aurora Insight, will be part of SpaceX's "Transporter 1" rideshare launch onboard a Falcon 9.
The nanosatellite, nicknamed "Charlie", forms one half of the two-satellite mission con New Year, New Record for Australia's Gilmour Space
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Australia's leading rocket company, Gilmour Space Technologies, has ushered in the New Year with a successful hotfire of the world's largest single-port hybrid rocket engine. [See video]
"We achieved a record 91 kilonewtons (or 9 tonnes-force) of thrust in this initial verification test of our main engine," said Adam Gilmour, CEO and co-founder of Gilmour Space, a Queensland-based company Mystery of Martian glaciers revealed
Halted rocket test could stall NASA moon shot, redo possible
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Testing the waters: Analyzing different solid states of water on other planets and moons
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Just like on Earth, water on other planets, satellites, and even comets comes in a variety of forms depending on multiple factors such as pressure and temperature.
NASA explores solar wind with new view of small sun structures
The first CubeSat with a Hall-effect thruster has gone to space
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Student-led teams aren't the only ones testing out novel electric propulsion techniques recently. Back in November, a company called Exotrail successfully tested a completely new kind of electric propulsion system in space—a small Hall-effect thruster.
Hall effect thrusters themselves have been around for awhile. However, they have been limited in their practicality, primarily because of their size. Normally they are about the size of a refrigerator and require kilowatts of power, making them impractical for any small satellites.
That's where Exotrail's novel system shines. It is about the size of a 2 liter bottle of soda (or pop if you're from that part of the world), and only requires around 50 watts of power. This makes the propulsion system ideal for satellites ranging from 10 to 250 kg.
The demonstration system launched aboard a PSLV rocket on November 7th, and completed its first in flight maneuvers using the Hall effect thruster in December. With those tests successfully completed the team plans further testing to prove how useful these thrusters can be for collision avoidance, orbital maintenance, and intentional deorbiting.
Keep this surface dirty
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A ‘do not touch’ directive applies to both a Matisse painting and this Matiss experiment on board the International Space Station.
Designed to test the antibacterial properties of hydrophobic (or water-repelling) surfaces on the Station, the sample holders of the upgraded Matiss-2.5 experiment have done their work for roughly a year on board and are now back on Earth for analysis.
Bacteria are a big problem in space as they tend to build up in the constantly-recycled atmosphere of the Space Station. For the six astronauts living in humanity’s habitat in space, keeping the Station clean is an important
Autonomous driving on intelligent road at Europe’s edge
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An ESA-supported effort put an intelligent road up in Finnish Lapland through its paces, assessing its suitability for testing autonomous vehicles in some of Europe’s most challenging driving conditions.
Astronauts to boost European connectivity
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Astronauts aboard the International Space Station are planning a spacewalk to install a high-speed satellite link that will improve their connections with Europe.