Copernical Team
3 Russian cosmonauts arrive at International Space Station
A trio of Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, the first new faces in space since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine.
A solar power station in space? How it would work, and the benefits it could bring
The UK government is reportedly considering a £16 billion proposal to build a solar power station in space.
Yes, you read that right. Space-based solar power is one of the technologies to feature in the government's Net Zero Innovation Portfolio. It has been identified as a potential solution, alongside others, to enable the UK to achieve net zero by 2050.
But how would a solar power station in space work? What are the advantages and drawbacks to this technology?
Space-based solar power involves collecting solar energy in space and transferring it to Earth. While the idea itself is not new, recent technological advances have made this prospect more achievable.
The space-based solar power system involves a solar power satellite—an enormous spacecraft equipped with solar panels. These panels generate electricity, which is then wirelessly transmitted to Earth through high-frequency radio waves. A ground antenna, called a rectenna, is used to convert the radio waves into electricity, which is then delivered to the power grid.
Artemis: Crawling toward launch
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Week in images: 14 - 18 March 2022
Week in images: 14 - 18 March 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Cupola Moon
Image:
New picture, but a familiar face.
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer took this image of Earth’s natural satellite, the subject of exciting news this week, from the seven-windowed cupola of the International Space Station.
Down on Earth, the rocket that will launch NASA’s Orion spacecraft with the European Service Module to the Moon has been moved to the launchpad in Florida, USA, for its first full test before the Artemis I launch later this year.
The Space Launch Systems rocket (SLS), aka the Moon rocket, left the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at around 23:00 CET (22:00 GMT) on 17
NASA rolls out its mega Moon rocket
NASA's massive new rocket began its first journey to a launchpad on Thursday ahead of a battery of tests that will clear it to blast off to the Moon this summer.
It left the Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building around 5:47 pm Eastern Time (2147 GMT) and began an 11-hour journey on a crawler-transporter to the hallowed Launch Complex 39B, four miles (6.5 kilometers) away.
Aro Earth from Space: Lake Nasser, Egypt
Part of Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Artemis: crawling towards launch
Video:
00:08:04
One of the many milestones in the leadup to the launch of Artemis is its rollout: this is when a crawler will carry the SLS rocket with Orion and ESM from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launchpad 39B. NASA’s John Giles gives us a tour of the crawler and explains the adaptations made to this “wonderful piece of machinery” since it was first built for the Apollo programme in the 1960s. ESA is playing a key role in NASA’s Artemis programme, which will bring astronauts back to the Moon. The European Service Module – or ESM –
First spacewalk for Matthias Maurer
ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer is scheduled to perform his first spacewalk next week, stepping outside the International Space Station on Wednesday 23 March alongside NASA’s Raja Chari.
Pete Davidson skipping ride to space on Jeff Bezos rocket
![Pete Davidson skipping ride to space on Jeff Bezos rocket](https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800a/2022/pete-davidson-skipping.jpg "Comedian Pete Davidson attends the premiere of "Big Time Adolescence" at Metrograph on Thursday, March 5, 2020, in New York. Pete Davidson has bowed out of a short trip to space in late March. Jeff Bezos' space travel company said Thursday, March 17, 2022, that the "Saturday Night Live" star is no longer able to make the flight. Credit: Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File")
