Op-ed | You can’t go to space on a Ford Pinto (and other harsh truths I learned courting venture capital)
Thursday, 13 October 2022 14:44
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Daunted but undeterred, I set off into the depths of venture capitalism, strategy, marketing, pitches, PowerPoint slides, NewSpace, small talk, zero-sum games, and artificial politeness.
The post Op-ed | You can’t go to space on a Ford Pinto (and other harsh truths I learned courting venture capital) appeared first on SpaceNews.
Video: Solar Orbiter speeds toward its next rendezvous with the sun
Thursday, 13 October 2022 13:22 Write a comment
The ESA-led Solar Orbiter mission arrives at its next close approach to the sun on 12 October 2022 at 19:12 UTC (21:12 CEST). This sequence of images shows the progress of the ESA/NASA spacecraft as it heads inwards on its voyage of discovery. The sequence begins on 20 September and finishes on 10 October.
The sequence was taken by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) using the Full sun Imager (FSI) telescope, and shows the sun at a wavelength of 17 nanometers. This wavelength is emitted by gas in the sun's atmosphere with a temperature of around one million degrees. The color on this image has been artificially added because the original wavelength detected by the instrument is invisible to the human eye.
So much of modern society relies on spacecraft in orbit around Earth to provide essential communications and navigation. Understanding more about the sun and the "space weather" it generates will help companies operate their satellites around Earth safely and securely.
Protecting Mars Sample Return spacecraft from micrometeorites requires high-caliber work
Thursday, 13 October 2022 13:08 Write a comment
Micrometeorites are a potential hazard for any space mission, including NASA's Mars Sample Return. The tiny rocks can travel up to 50 miles per second. At these speeds, "even dust could cause damage to a spacecraft," said Bruno Sarli, a NASA engineer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Sarli leads a team designing shields to protect NASA's Mars Earth Entry System from micrometeorites and space debris. Recently, he traveled to a NASA lab designed to safely re-create dangerous impacts to test the team's shields and computer models.
Set far away from residents and surrounded by dunes, the Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory at NASA's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, has supported every human spaceflight program from the Space Shuttle to Artemis. The lab also supports testing for the International Space Station, Commercial Crew, and Commercial Resupply programs.
The lab uses two-stage light gas guns to accelerate objects to speeds that simulate micrometeorite and orbital debris impacts on spacecraft shielding. The first stage uses gun powder as a propellent the way a standard gun does.
Op-ed | Lessons in Creativity from Space Astronauts
Thursday, 13 October 2022 13:00 Write a comment
New Shepard space flyer and Voyager Space chairman Dylan Taylor reflects on five work lessons we can take from astronauts.
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Nano-material diet can mean safer, slimmer satellites
Thursday, 13 October 2022 10:47 Write a comment
A miniscule special ingredient blended with satellite materials could lead to significant mass savings for future missions. An ESA project with Adamant Composites in Greece tested how the addition of graphene – microscopic flakes of carbon just a single atom thick, combining robust strength with electrical conductivity – plus other nano-sized materials has the potential to optimise a satellite’s thermal and electrical properties.
Nano-material diet means safer, slimmer satellites
Thursday, 13 October 2022 10:47 Write a comment
A miniscule special ingredient blended with satellite materials could lead to significant mass savings for future missions. An ESA project with Adamant Composites in Greece tested how the addition of graphene – microscopic flakes of carbon just a single atom thick, combining robust strength with electrical conductivity – plus other nano-sized materials has the potential to optimise a satellite’s thermal and electrical properties.
Airbus Ventures leads Solestial's oversubscribed $10M seed round
Thursday, 13 October 2022 09:47 Write a comment
Airbus Ventures announces its newest lead investment in Solestial, Inc. ("Solestial"), the solar energy company for space. The round was joined by AEI HorizonX, GPVC, Stellar Ventures, Industrious Ventures, and others. This new funding will be used to ramp up production and customer engagement capabilities, as the company expands ground and flight testing in parallel; additional investments in R Second batch of Airbus' Sparkwing solar panels selected by Aerospacelab
Thursday, 13 October 2022 09:47 Write a comment
An additional six of Airbus' Sparkwing solar panels have been selected by Aerospacelab to accommodate their ramp up towards higher satellite production volumes. The panels are designed and produced at Airbus' Dutch site in Leiden. The ordered configuration, consisting of two single panel wings, each measuring 1070x570mm, is identical to the set recently delivered by Airbus for the first flight m Goddard awards contract to SpaceLink for technology demonstration
Thursday, 13 October 2022 09:47 Write a comment
SpaceLink, a company that provides secure data relay from any orbit, any time, announced it was awarded a contract by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) to study how commercial optical ground terminals will integrate into the Near Space Network. The funded study includes a demonstration of end-to-end transport of multi-source data at the SpaceLink gateway in the Mojave Desert.
SpaceLi ViaSat-3 satellite completes mechanical environmental testing
Thursday, 13 October 2022 09:47 Write a comment
Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) reports that reports that the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite has completed mechanical environmental testing. This is a significant milestone that is designed to verify the satellite can endure the rigors of launch and continues the momentum for launch later this year.
During mechanical environmental testing, the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite was subjected to simulatio Artemis 1, ispace lander set November launch dates
Thursday, 13 October 2022 09:11 Write a comment
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission and a Japanese lander are set to launch to the moon from Florida within days of each other in November.
The post Artemis 1, ispace lander set November launch dates appeared first on SpaceNews.
China launches radar satellite for environmental monitoring
Thursday, 13 October 2022 08:59 Write a comment
China launched a 5-meter-resolution synthetic aperture radar satellite late Wednesday, continuing a period of intense Chinese launch activity.
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Mars and Jupiter moons meet
Thursday, 13 October 2022 08:00 Write a comment
ESA’s Mars Express has captured the rare moment of Mars’ small moon Deimos passing in front of Jupiter and its four largest moons – the focus of ESA’s upcoming Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer launching next year. Celestial alignments like these enable a more precise determination of the martian moons’ orbits.
Next-generation spacesuits on drawing board for NASA moon mission
Thursday, 13 October 2022 07:13 Write a comment
Nicole Mann, spacecraft commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavor, just arrived at the International Space Station last week wearing a spacesuit designed decades ago for male test pilots.
The suit, originally developed for Space Shuttle missions that started in 1981, has been upgraded through the years, but has far outlasted its original 15-year design.
All that will change Japan orders satellite-carrying rocket to self-destruct after failed launch
Thursday, 13 October 2022 07:13 Write a comment
A Japanese rocket attempting to launch a satellite into space self-destructed after it failed to reach trajectory after liftoff on Wednesday.
The Epsilon-6 rocket took off from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday. The rocket, though, deviated from its intended trajectory shortly after leaving the launching pad.
Officials from the Japan Aerospace Explor