Video: Orbital debris threatens satellites
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 13:25
The launch of Sputnik, humankind's first satellite, in 1957 marked the dawn of a new era for the people of Earth.
Decades later, our planet is now surrounded by spacecraft carrying out extraordinary work to study our changing climate, save lives following disasters, deliver global communication and navigation services and help us answer important scientific questions.
But these satellites are at risk. Accidental collisions between objects in space can produce huge clouds of fast-moving debris. These clouds can spread and damage additional satellites with cascading effect, eventually making the most useful orbits around Earth no longer safe for spacecraft or people.
Satellites today have to carry out collision avoidance maneuvers to avoid possible impact with debris. These are costly, and hundreds of collision avoidance alerts are already issued every week.
And this is nothing compared to what is coming. Several companies have begun to launch mega-constellations into low-Earth orbit to provide global internet access. They have great benefits, but could be a source of huge disruption if we do not change our behavior.
Our current methods for avoiding collisions in space will become inadequate in just a few years—and even compliance with space debris mitigation guidelines may no longer be enough.
Mars: How Ingenuity helicopter made the first flight on another planet
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 12:22
Imagine that you are flying a model helicopter or a drone. You are there with the auto controls. You switch them on. The rotors start to turn, gradually increasing their spin. You watch, then push the control for lift. Your helicopter rises, hovers, then at the next command moves forward. Oops, it didn't go high enough. You quickly move the joystick and the drone rises to fly above the obstruction. Finally it's in the air, moving at speed above sand dunes, hills and valleys—sending back pictures as the landscape unfolds.
Now imagine that you are flying your drone on a planet 180 million kilometers away. It takes 20 minutes for your command to reach the planet—and the pictures you see of what is happening are 20 minutes old. You cannot take evasive or corrective action if anything goes wrong. If it went wrong, it would be too late. This is the type of situation that Nasa's engineers did not wish to experience on the maiden flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars on April 19.
Interview with Frank De Winne on mission Alpha launch
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 12:00
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ESA astronaut and ESA’s International Space Station programme manager Frank de Winne interviewed in Florida, USA, in the run-up to the launch of ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet on his Alpha mission.
Frank was the first European commander of the International Space Station and as ESA celebrates 20 years of Europeans visiting the orbital outpost it is fitting that Frank is in Florida to see Thomas off to space.
French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet is returning to the International Space Station on his second spaceflight. Called ‘Alpha’ the mission will see a European astronaut launch on a US spacecraft for
Russia says to launch own space station in 2025
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
Russia's space agency said Tuesday it hoped to launch its own orbital station in 2025 as Moscow considers withdrawing from the International Space Station programme to go it alone.
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said work had begun on the fist module of a new station, after officials warned that Russia was considering pulling out of the ISS, one of the few successful examples of cooperation Jeff Bezos' Amazon signs rocket deal to launch network to rival SpaceX
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
Amazon's plans to build the Kuiper Project satellite Internet service to rival SpaceX's Starlink now have a launch provider, Colorado-based United Launch Alliance.
Amazon has contracted with ULA for nine launches, the online retail giant said, but it didn't say when launches will occur.
"Those details will be released closer to launch," ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye said in an emai NASA's Mars helicopter succeeds in historic first flight
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
NASA successfully flew its mini helicopter Ingenuity on Mars early Monday, the first powered flight on another planet and a feat the agency likened to "our Wright brothers moment."
The four pound (1.8 kilogram) rotorcraft lifted off at 3:34 am Eastern Time (0734 GMT), rose to a height of 10 feet (three meters), swiveled its tissue-box sized body, swayed in a gentle Martian breeze and then to NASA Crew 2 science payload to carry human tissue growth studies to ISS
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
NASA's Crew 2 payload is scheduled to carry several important science experiments to the International Space Station this week.
During a press briefing on Monday, investigators detailed several of the experiments slated to make the trip to ISS.
Several of the experiments involve the growth of biological tissues in 3D, which can allow scientists to study the development and behavi Tracking the progress of fusion power through 60 years of neutral particle analysis
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
As the world's energy demands grow, so too does growing concern over the environmental impact of power production. The need for a safe, clean, and reliable energy source has never been clearer. Fusion power could fulfil such a need.
A review paper published in EPJ H examines the 6-decade history of neutral particle analysis (NPA), developed in Ioffe Institute, Saint Petersburg, Russia, a v Spotting greenhouse gas super-emitters
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California is providing the instrument that will enable a nonprofit organization called Carbon Mapper to pinpoint and measure methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) point-sources from space.
The data collected by the instrument will help to find super-emitters - the small percentage of individual sources that are responsible for a significant fraction Peering through the clouds of Earth's 'Evil Twin'
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists were recently left scratching their heads over a familiar sight in the sky. Venus images are nothing new, but a solar probe surprised the researchers by seeing through the planet's clouds. NRL's Wide-field Imager for Parker Solar Probe (WISPR) took a stunning image of Earth's celestial neighbor Venus last year that left researchers searching for answers Baked meteorites yield clues to planetary atmospheres
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
In a novel laboratory investigation of the initial atmospheres of Earth-like rocky planets, researchers at UC Santa Cruz heated pristine meteorite samples in a high-temperature furnace and analyzed the gases released.
Their results, published April 15 in Nature Astronomy, suggest that the initial atmospheres of terrestrial planets may differ significantly from many of the common assumption As different as day and night
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
Telescopes are getting better and better at detecting the components of exoplanet atmospheres. But what can those components tell us about a planet's climate? It turns out that water vapor may be especially useful in this regard.
As we find more and more exoplanets, we're realizing that our solar system may be the exception to the rule! The menagerie of exoplanets we've discovered so far i Researchers identify five double star systems potentially suitable for life
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 11:19
Almost half a century ago, the creators of Star Wars imagined a life-sustaining planet, Tatooine, orbiting a pair of stars. Now, scientists have found new evidence that five known systems with multiple stars, Kepler-34, -35, -38, -64 and -413, are possible candidates for supporting life.
A newly developed mathematical framework allowed researchers at New York University Abu Dhabi and the U Astronaut Samantha on sharing the skies with debris
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 10:00
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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti spent 199 days on the International Space Station, during her record-breaking Futura mission. So what's it like to share the skies with space debris? Did she see any signs of damage while she was up there? How often was the risk of debris on her mind?
In this interview with Operations Editor Rosa Jesse, Samantha tells all, as well as describing the rigorous training astronauts go through in case of debris impact and why its so important we address this issue to ensure the future of all space activities.
ESA and FAO unite to tackle food security and more
Tuesday, 20 April 2021 09:00
With ESA positioned as a world-class provider of Earth observation data and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) leading international efforts to defeat hunger, the two organisations have teamed up to exploit their particular fields of expertise to better address major global issues such as food security, and to take further advantage of the digital transformation in agriculture.