Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 163
Jun 28, 2018
Earth Views from the Space Station
Posted by Michael Lance in categories: habitats, satellites
Behold, the Earth! See live views of Earth from the coming to you by NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment.
Behold, the Earth! See live views of Earth from the International Space Station coming to you by NASA’s High Definition Earth Viewing (HDEV) experiment.
While the experiment is operational, views will typically sequence through the different cameras. If you are seeing a black image, the Space Station is on the night side of the Earth. If you are seeing an image with text displayed, the communications are switching between satellites and camera feeds are temporarily unavailable. Between camera switches, a black & gray slate will also briefly appear.
Jun 27, 2018
The rockets that are pushing the boundaries of space travel
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
Friday morning at 5:24 am (0924 GMT), a rocket owned by the US company SpaceX will blast off from Florida carrying two and a half tons of gear from NASA, only to dock three days later and 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth at the International Space Station.
The rocket itself is not new. It launched a NASA satellite into orbit two months ago, then landed back on Earth—upright—on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Canaveral.
Even the Dragon capsule, carrying the cargo and affixed to the top of the rocket was used before, having flown a mission to the ISS in 2016.
Read more
Jun 23, 2018
This floating robotic factory will build satellites and spaceships in orbit
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: 3D printing, robotics/AI, satellites
Jun 21, 2018
Air Force certifies Falcon Heavy, orders satellite launch for 2020
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: satellites
Jun 18, 2018
Aevum’s New Rocket-Drone Airplane Duo Could Launch Satellites Every 3 Hours
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: drones, robotics/AI, satellites
A space launch every 3 hours may soon be possible using rockets carried on a fully autonomous unmanned airplane, a new startup company suggests.
Alabama-based startup Aevum aims to per mission, using an air-launch system called Ravn.
“Ravn is designed to launch every 180 minutes,” Jay Skylus, Aevum’s CEO and chief launch architect, told Space.com. “Other launch vehicles fly only a handful of times a year with an average of 18 months of lead time.” [Rocket Launches: The Latest Liftoffs, Photos & Videos].
Read more
Jun 15, 2018
Chinese satellite snags new views of Earth from lunar orbit
Posted by Alberto Lao in categories: habitats, satellites
On May 20, China launched Queqiao, a lunar communications relay satellite for the upcoming Chang’e 4 lander and rover mission. On the way out to the Moon, it dropped off a pair of small satellites bound for lunar orbit called Longjiang-1 and Longjiang-2. The satellites weigh just 45 kilograms each and measure 50-by-50-by-40 centimeters. Their purpose is testing out future radio astronomy and interferometry techniques, and one also has a camera built by Saudi Arabia.
Unfortunately, Longjiang-1 had a problem and didn’t make it into lunar orbit. Longjiang-2, however, was successful, and sent home a few pictures! Check them out:
Read more
Jun 11, 2018
In-orbit services poised to become big business
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: business, government, robotics/AI, satellites
A transition is happening in the satellite business. Fast-moving technology and evolving customer demands are driving operators to rethink major investments in new satellites and consider other options such as squeezing a few more years of service out of their current platforms.
Which makes this an opportune moment for the arrival of in-orbit servicing.
Sometime in early 2019, the first commercial servicing spacecraft is scheduled to launch. The Mission Extension Vehicle built by Orbital ATK on behalf of subsidiary SpaceLogistics, will the first of several such robotic craft that are poised to compete for a share of about $3 billion worth of in-orbit services that satellite operators and government agencies are projected to buy over the coming decade.
Read more
Jun 10, 2018
20 Years of Earth Data Now at Your Fingertips
Posted by Michael Lance in category: satellites
Powerful Earth-observing instruments aboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively, have observed nearly two decades of planetary change. Now, for the first time, all that imagery — from the first operational image to imagery acquired today — is available for exploration in Worldview.
Read more
Jun 1, 2018
Engineers design new solid polymer electrolyte, paving way for safer, smaller batteries and fuel cells
Posted by Bill Kemp in categories: energy, satellites
Fuel cells and batteries provide electricity by generating and coaxing positively charged ions from a positive to a negative terminal which frees negatively charged electrons to power cellphones, cars, satellites, or whatever else they are connected to. A critical part of these devices is the barrier between these terminals, which must be separated for electricity to flow.
Improvements to that barrier, known as an electrolyte, are needed to make energy storage devices thinner, more efficient, safer, and faster to recharge. Commonly used liquid electrolytes are bulky and prone to shorts, and can present a fire or explosion risk if they’re punctured.
Research led by University of Pennsylvania engineers suggests a different way forward: a new and versatile kind of solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) that has twice the proton conductivity of the current state-of-the-art material. Such SPEs are currently found in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, but the researchers’ new design could also be adapted to work for the lithium-ion or sodium-ion batteries found in consumer electronics.
