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Copernical Team

Copernical Team

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New automatic control technique uses spacecraft solar panels to reach desired orbit at Mars
Representation of (a) current aerobraking with static, perpendicular solar panels, and (b) the proposed concept using rotating solar panels to actively control the trajectory. Credit: University of Illinois Dept. of Aerospace Engineering

A satellite on a science mission to Mars aims for a low-altitude orbit, but the lower the orbit, the more propellant is required to enter orbit when arriving from Earth. To save propellant, a technique called aerobraking uses a small propulsive maneuver for orbit insertion to enter a large orbit; the satellite then makes many passes through the upper atmosphere, using drag on the solar panels to reduce the size of the orbit a little bit each pass until the orbit is the desired size for science operations.

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Matthias Maurer in the Cupola

Join ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer on Thursday, 20 January, in a live call from the International Space Station, from 14:00 GMT/15:00 CET, talking with prominent experts and industry leaders, to explore how space research can improve life on our planet.

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ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet helping grow chilli peppers on ISS

It took a crop of potatoes to keep Matt Damon alive on the red planet in The Martian. And in future, real life astronauts on the Moon and Mars will have to be gardeners, farmers and expert recyclers as well as explorers. Do you have promising ideas that might help them to get by in space on next to no resources?

Wednesday, 19 January 2022 09:50

Crash test dummy

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Crash test dummy Image: Crash test dummy
Wednesday, 19 January 2022 05:49

Access to the 'SpaceDataHighway'

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Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 18, 2022
The 'Columbus Ka-Band Terminal' (ColKa) has commenced service. "The volume of scientific data generated by the experiments on the International Space Station (ISS) is continuously increasing. ColKa gives the Columbus laboratory on the ISS its own direct access to the SpaceDataHighway. The high-speed satellite link will significantly accelerate 'data traffic' to Europe. Many scientists will
Wednesday, 19 January 2022 05:49

New AI navigation prevents crashes

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Cincinnati OH (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
What do you call a broken satellite? Today, it's a multimillion-dollar piece of dangerous space junk. But a new collision-avoidance system developed by students at the University of Cincinnati is getting engineers closer to developing robots that can fix broken satellites or spacecraft in orbit. UC College of Engineering and Applied Science doctoral students Daegyun Choi and Anirudh Chhabr
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Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
Northrop Grumman recently signed agreements to license three technologies from NASA related to satellite servicing. Two of the technologies were developed by NASA for the On-orbit Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing 1 (OSAM-1) mission. OSAM-1 is a first-of-its-kind mission that will grapple a US government-owned satellite, Landsat 7, to refuel it and to demonstrate the capability to pot
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Washington DC (SPX) Jan 19, 2022
There are 6,500 satellites in orbit, but only about half of them are functional. Once a satellite breaks down or runs out of fuel, it is essentially useless. Repairs, maintenance and upgrades are nearly impossible in orbit. It's launch once, use once. But as satellites have become more robust, their operators often find that fleets outlast their projected lifespans and need new technology,
Wednesday, 19 January 2022 05:49

New spheres of knowledge on the origin of life

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Tsukuba, Japan (SPX) Jan 13, 2022
The shape of a cell affects its physical and chemical properties. Different cell types have developed different shapes to enable effective functioning. But what shape were the very first cells, as life began to evolve? Primitive cells are thought to have been spherical, but experimental evidence supporting this belief remains elusive. Now, however, researchers from the University of Tsukub
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