Copernical Team
Eagle-designed space drones target in-orbit construction
What if vehicles could be assembled in space without human supervision? What if autonomous spacecraft could conduct routine maintenance and inspections on satellites, while flying in orbit around the Earth?
Dr. Hever Moncayo, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University associate professor of Aerospace Engineering, believes all of this is possible, and he's helping push the technology that will ac Rocket Lab to build solar panels for NASA's CADRE Mobile Robot Program
Rocket Lab USA, Inc. (Nasdaq: RKLB) has been selected by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to supply solar panels that will power NASA's shoe-box-sized mobile robots as part of the Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Explorers (CADRE) program.
The solar panels will use Rocket Lab's inverted metamorphic multi-junction (IMM) solar cells that are more efficient and lighter weight SpaceX ferries astronauts back to Earth after half-year away
Four astronauts returned to Earth in a SpaceX capsule Friday, ending their nearly six-month space station mission with a splashdown in the Atlantic off Florida.
Wet and windy weather across Florida delayed their homecoming. SpaceX and NASA finally gave the all-clear on Friday, and the three Americans and one Italian departed the International Space Station, their residence since April.
The capsule parachuted into the ocean, just off Jacksonville, Florida, about five hours later.
NASA's Lucy to fly past thousands of objects for Earth gravity assist
Mission engineers will track NASA's Lucy spacecraft nonstop as it prepares to swoop near Earth on Oct. 16 to use this planet's gravity to set itself on a course toward the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.
But they also will be closely tracking something else: more than 47,000 satellites, debris, and other objects circling our planet. A greater than 1-10,000 chance that Lucy will collide with one of these objects will require mission engineers to slightly adjust the spacecraft's trajectory.
Although an adjustment is unlikely, and collisions are rare, the chances are increasing as the number of objects in Earth's orbit grows, NASA experts say.
The International Space Station, for instance, has maneuvered out of the way of space debris 31 times since 1999, including three times since 2020.
"Low-Earth orbit is getting more crowded, so that has to be part of the consideration nowadays, especially for missions that fly low, like Lucy," said Dr.
First Eurostar Neo satellite launched
The first satellite to be built under ESA’s Eurostar Neo programme has launched.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returns from her second mission to the International Space Station
Press Release N° 53–2022
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth alongside NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins, marking the end of her second mission to the International Space Station (ISS), Minerva.
Week in images: 10-14 October 2022
Week in images: 10-14 October 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Examining our options for automated in-orbit assembly of large structures
The construction of large structures such as space stations, space solar power stations, and space telescopes is one of the main development trends for space exploration in the future.
Homeward bound
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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti looks out the window of the cupola while the International Space Station flies above the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Peru.
Taken earlier this month, this image captures one of Samantha’s favourite things to do in space – in addition to performing research or spacewalks – looking down on our beautiful planet – and one of the precious last views she’ll get from the Station’s ‘window to the world’, known as the Cupola, as she wraps up the end of her mission Minerva.
Samantha and fellow expedition 68 crew members NASA astronauts Kjell Lindgren, Bob Hines
From Space to Rome
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In October 2022, ESA Space Shop opened its first temporary concept store on one of Europe’s busiest shopping streets. Located in Rome’s city centre, the first physical ESA Space Shop outside an ESA establishment aims to bring ESA and its space missions closer to the general public. For a period of three months only, the store offers a mix of cosmic fashion, space fun and official ESA merchandise.
To mark the store’s opening in Rome, the ESA Space Shop brand also received an image boost! ESA clothing feels modern, cool and comfy, so you can have fun in
