Just add nano-materials for stronger, tougher diving fins
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Adding microscopic nano-materials to carbon fibre composites has resulted in stronger, tougher fins for divers. A space material company teamed up with a market leader in the design and production of free-diving and spear-fishing equipment through ESA’s Technology Transfer and Patent Office.
Flight over Korolev Crater on Mars
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Video:
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This movie, based on images taken by ESA’s Mars Express, showcases the 82 km wide Korolev crater on Mars.
Located in the northern lowlands of the Red Planet, south of the large Olympia Undae dune field that partly surrounds Mars’ north polar cap, this well-preserved impact crater is filled with water ice all year round. The crater’s floor lies two kilometers below its rim, enclosing a 1.8 km thick domed deposit that represents a large reservoir of non-polar ice on Mars.
Water ice is permanently stable within Korolev crater because the deepest part of this depression acts as a
Metals in lunar craters provide new insights to its origin
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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 02, 2020
Life on Earth would not be possible without the Moon; it keeps our planet's axis of rotation stable, which controls seasons and regulates our climate. However, there has been considerable debate over how the Moon was formed.
The popular hypothesis contends that the Moon was formed by a Mars-sized body colliding with Earth's upper crust which is poor in metals. But new research suggests the
China eyes July 20-25 launch for Mars rover
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Beijing (AFP) July 1, 2020
China's first Mars rover should launch later this month, authorities said Wednesday, as the country races to catch up with the US dominance of space.
The Tianwen-1 Mars rover is scheduled to blast off from Hainan island, off China's south coast, between July 20 - 25, according to the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre.
It will be China's first interplanetary mission, and takes place shortly
Exolaunch and NanoAvionics sign two launch agreements for SpaceX's rideshare missions
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Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
Exolaunch, a rideshare launch and deployment solutions provider, signed launch agreements with NanoAvionics, a nano-satellite bus manufacturer and mission integrator, to launch two 6U nano-satellites aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rideshare missions. Under the contract, Exolaunch will provide launch, integration and deployment services to the NanoAvionics-built satellites. The first contracted spacecr
Advanced Rockets Corporation granted Space Vehicle System patents
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Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jul 02, 2020
Advanced Rockets Corporation (ARC) report it has been granted a Space Vehicle Systems patent featuring a unique architecture for multiple applications, including space launch, national defense, and high-speed civil aviation.
The patent also addresses critical factors for reducing the cost of access to space, including, high-utilization, Continuous Intact Abort Capability (CIAC), and reusab
Senate offers more funding for hypersonic weapons tracking
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Washington DC (UPI) Jun 26, 2020
The U.S. Senate's defense bill adds $120 million to the Defense Department's space-based anti-hypersonic weapons program, despite no request for an increase.
The Hypersonic and Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor, a constellation of satellites dedicated to locating the firing and direction of enemy missiles capable of achieving 5,000 miles-per-hour speeds, is a part of the Defense Departmen
NASA invests $51M in innovative ideas from US Small Businesses
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Washington DC (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
NASA has selected 409 technology proposals for the first phase of funding from the agency's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program. The contracts will provide approximately $51 million to 312 small businesses in 44 states and Washington, D.C.
"NASA depends on America's small businesses for innovative technology development that helps
NASA checks out SLS Core Stage avionics for Artemis I mission
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Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
The flight computers and avionics of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's core stage for the Artemis I mission were powered on and have completed a thorough systems checkout. The test used Green Run software that was developed for the test and loaded in the flight computers for the first time.
The SLS avionics power on and checkout was the second of eight tests in the Green Run test s
Return to Venus on Indian Space Mission
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Kiruna, Sweden (SPX) Jul 02, 2020
For the second time the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) will explore Venus. On board the Indian Venus mission Shukrayaan-1, IRF's satellite instrument Venusian Neutrals Analyzer (VNA) will study how the charged particles from the Sun interact with the atmosphere and exosphere of the planet.
Between 2006-2014 IRF's instrument ASPERA-4 (Analyzes of Space Plasma and EneRgetic Atoms)
First exposed planetary core discovered
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Bern, Switzerland (SPX) Jul 02, 2020
The newly discovered exoplanet TOI 849 b offers the unique opportunity to peer inside the interior of a planet and learn about its composition. It orbits around a star about 730 light years away, which is very similar to our sun.
The exposed core is the same size as Neptune in our solar system. The researchers assume that it is a gas giant that was either stripped of its gaseous atmosphere
ESO telescope captures the disappearance of a massive star
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Munich, Germany (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have discovered the absence of an unstable massive star in a dwarf galaxy. Scientists think this could indicate that the star became less bright and partially obscured by dust. An alternative explanation is that the star collapsed into a black hole without producing a supernova. "If true," says team leader and PhD
Are black holes responsible for excess neutrinos and missing gamma rays
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University Park PA (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
The origin of high-energy cosmic neutrinos observed by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory, whose detector is buried deep in the Antarctic ice, is an enigma that has perplexed physicists and astronomers. A new model could help explain the unexpectedly large flux of some of these neutrinos inferred by recent neutrino and gamma-ray data.
A paper by Penn State researchers describing the model, w
NASA's TESS delivers new insights into an ultrahot world
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Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 01, 2020
Measurements from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) have enabled astronomers to greatly improve their understanding of the bizarre environment of KELT-9 b, one of the hottest planets known.
"The weirdness factor is high with KELT-9 b," said John Ahlers, an astronomer at Universities Space Research Association in Columbia, Maryland, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center i
TESS mission discovers massive ice giant
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Boston MA (SPX) Jul 02, 2020
The "ice giant" planets Neptune and Uranus are much less dense than rocky, terrestrial planets such as Venus and Earth. Beyond our solar system, many other Neptune-sized planets, orbiting distant stars, appear to be similarly low in density.
Now, a new planet discovered by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, TESS, seems to buck this trend. The planet, named TOI-849 b, is the 749t
Russian cosmonaut votes on Putin's reforms from ISS
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Moscow (AFP) June 30, 2020
Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin became the first person to vote online from the International Space Station on Tuesday, the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos announced.
The 51-year-old cosmonaut, who came aboard the ISS in April, cast his ballot as part of a week-long vote to approve constitutional reforms that could extend President Vladimir Putin's rule, Roscosmos said.
"Anatoly Ivani
Space Station science and spring-cleaning special
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The arrival of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley in the first crewed SpaceX Dragon on 31 May brought the Space Station crew to five and heralded the start of a new month of science 400 km above our heads.
Southwest Research Institute wins NOAA contract to build space weather instrument
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SAN FRANCISCO – The Southwest Research Institute won a $15.6 million contract to design and build the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) Lagrange 1 satellite. NOAA announced the cost plus, fixed-fee contract July 1, which it awarded through NASA.
L3Harris wins NOAA weather constellation study contracts
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SAN FRANCISCO – L3Harris Technologies won four National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration contracts worth a combined $2.55 million for design studies of weather satellites, instruments and mission concepts.
L3Harris supplies the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) for NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite R series, the Cross Track Infrared Sounder for NOAA’s Joint Polar Satellite System, Japan’s Advanced Himawari Imagers and South Korea’s Advanced Meteorological Instrument.
Blue Origin delivers the first BE-4 engine to United Launch Alliance
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WASHINGTON — Blue Origin this week delivered a BE-4 rocket engine to United Launch Alliance. ULA will use two BE-4s in the main stage of its future Vulcan Centaur rocket
In a celebratory tweet July 1 with the hashtag #CountdowntoVulcan ULA announced that a BE-4 engine arrived at its rocket factory in Decatur, Alabama.