Copernical Team
Scientists demonstrate producing fiber materials from simulated Martian soil
Write a comment
A study conducted by Chinese researchers has confirmed that it is possible to continuously produce fiber materials from Martian soil, suggesting that "in-situ resource utilization" could be achieved in the construction of future Mars bases.
A research team from the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), collaborated with various China targets Mars sample-return mission by 2028
Write a comment
China is preparing to launch its Tianwen-3 mission with the aim of returning samples from Mars by 2028, a Chinese space expert revealed on Thursday.
Liu Jizhong, the chief designer of the Mars sample-return mission, provided details during the 2nd International Deep Space Exploration Conference held in Tunxi, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, China.
The mission's primary goal will be t Why the Martian polar caps show significant differences
Write a comment
For centuries, observers have watched the bright poles of Mars change with the seasons. In the last 50 years, scientists have determined that these polar caps are primarily composed of carbon dioxide that cycles in and out of the atmosphere with the seasons. However, the underlying processes driving these changes are intricate and continue to be a focus of scientific study.
In a recent pap ICEYE and Aon broaden partnership with global flood and US wildfire data agreement
Write a comment
ICEYE, a leader in satellite-powered disaster management, has announced an expanded data licensing agreement with Aon, a global professional services firm. This partnership now includes ICEYE's Flood Insights data globally and Wildfire Insights data for the United States.
Through this agreement, Aon will integrate ICEYE's near real-time flood and wildfire data into its event response capab Floodbase's Enhanced Flood Mapping Technique surpasses NOAA's accuracy
Write a comment
A newly published study in 'Geophysical Research Letters' reveals that Floodbase's flood mapping technology achieves an 11% improvement in accuracy over leading methods, offering more precise flood monitoring and potentially lowering costs for parametric flood insurance.
Floodbase, a key provider of flood intelligence and data for disaster management and re/insurance sectors, has developed UK-US integration key to future of space security
Write a comment
U.S. Space Force Lt. Gen. David N. Miller, Jr., commander of Space Operations Command, and Chief Master Sgt. Caleb Lloyd, SpOC senior enlisted leader, met with Airmen, Guardians and UK counterparts during a visit Aug. 27-30.
The SpOC command team visited RAF Waddington, Feltwell and High Wycombe to engage with members of the Space Force on morale, readiness, and interoperability with host Cluster reentry explained: world's first targeted reentry
Write a comment
Video:
00:06:50
The first of four satellites that make up ESA’s Cluster mission is coming safely back down to Earth, marking a brilliant end to this remarkable mission.
The satellite’s orbit was tweaked back in January to target a region as far as possible from populated regions. This ensures that any spacecraft parts that survive the reentry will fall over open ocean.
During 24 years in space, Cluster has sent back precious data on how the Sun interacts with Earth’s magnetic field, helping us better understand and forecast potentially dangerous space weather.
With this first ever targeted reentry, Cluster goes down in history
Q&A: Scientist discusses the MESSENGER mission to Mercury
Write a comment
Twenty years ago, the MESSENGER mission revolutionized our understanding of Mercury. We sat down with project head and former Carnegie Science director Sean Solomon to talk about how the mission came together and the groundbreaking work it enabled.
Q: As the principal investigator of the MESSENGER mission, what were your personal highlights or proudest moments throughout the mission's duration?
Sean Solomon: There were many personal highlights for me during the MESSENGER mission, beginning with our initial selection by NASA in 1999 and culminating in the publication by the MESSENGER science team of all of the findings from our mission in a book published nearly two decades later.
The most challenging events in any planetary orbiter mission are launch and orbit insertion. The successful completion of those two milestones for MESSENGER—in 2004 and 2011, respectively—were sources of great pride for me in the technical expertise of all of the engineers, mission design experts, and project managers who contributed to the mission.
The long flight portion of the mission provided multiple scientific highlights. MESSENGER's first flyby of Mercury in January 2008 yielded the first new spacecraft observations of Mercury in 33 years, and our team published 11 papers in a single issue of Science from those measurements six months later.
NASA explains strange noise heard by astronaut in Boeing's Starliner
Write a comment
There's nothing to see here, or hear here, actually. That's the message NASA gave after reports of a strange noise heard by astronaut Butch Wilmore emanating from Boeing's Starliner docked to the International Space Station this weekend.
"A pulsing sound from a speaker in Boeing's Starliner spacecraft heard by NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore aboard the International Space Station has stopped," NASA posted to its social media accounts Monday.
It explained the mystery noise as feedback from the speaker that was the result of an audio configuration between the spacecraft and the ISS. Wilmore reported the sound as he was working inside Starliner on Saturday.
"The space station audio system is complex, allowing multiple spacecraft and modules to be interconnected, and it is common to experience noise and feedback," NASA stated. "The crew is asked to contact mission control when they hear sounds originating in the comm system."
NASA also took the opportunity to state the feedback has "no technical impact to the crew, Starliner, or station operations, including Starliner's uncrewed undocking from the station no earlier than Friday, Sept.
SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission set to launch early Friday
Write a comment
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, a multiday orbital expedition set to feature the first-ever spacewalk by private citizens, is now scheduled to launch on Friday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
An operations plan released by the agency indicates a four-hour launch window opening at 3:33 am (0733 GMT) on Friday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, with backup opportunities on Saturday and Sunday.
