Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 660
Feb 6, 2019
US needs megawatt class combat lasers to counter hypersonic missiles
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: engineering, space
Michael Griffin, the undersecretary for research and engineering, expects future budgets to provide funds for lasers that the missile defense agency can more rapidly develop and field. Space-control needs to have megawatt-class lasers.
Hypersonic weapons’ low signature in flight and high degree of maneuverability upon final approach to targets make the weapons difficult to defend against.
The last time the US really invested in transformative capabilities that overwhelmed adversaries [in Desert Storm] was the Reagan era.
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Feb 6, 2019
A meteorite exploded over Cuba and its boom was captured on video
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: mobile phones, space
Space rocks come crashing down to Earth with somewhat startling regularity, and when they do they often create a big boom. When a meteorite detonates in Earth’s atmosphere it produces an explosion which researchers call bolides, or simply “fireballs.”
Most of the time, a fireball appears and disappears before anyone is quick enough to grab their smartphone and record it, so we’re left with dash cam videos and still images from stationary cameras to give us a glimpse of the event. Last week, a fireball came crashing down in Cuba and, in a rare treat, we actually get to hear it.
Feb 5, 2019
This Photo Shows the Dark Side of the Moon and Earth in the Same Shot
Posted by Alberto Lao in category: space
A Chinese satellite currently orbiting the moon has captured a beautiful photo showing both the far side (AKA dark side) of the Moon as well as planet Earth in the background.
The Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in the Netherlands reports that the photo was captured by China’s Longjiang-2 satellite on February 3rd, 2019.
Feb 5, 2019
Russia Says the American Toilet on the Space Station Blew Up
Posted by Albert Sanchez in categories: government, space
One small step for man. One giant leap for…
Russian media is reporting that the American toilet on the International Space Station (ISS) burst late last week, spilling gallons of fluid that astronauts had to catch with towels.
Sure, it sounds like a story about an exceptionally bad roommate — but it might also be the latest escalation in the deterioration of relations between Russia and the U.S. in space, lending grim gravitas to the plumbing snafu.
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Feb 5, 2019
How easy will it be to build a Moon base?
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: materials, space
Musk has yet to make a definite announcement about a Moon base. He has said we may need one just to get people fired up about Mars, and he is going to shoot someone around the Moon and back. I point this out because the first part of this article makes it seem like Musk has drawn up plans and announced them.
How can astronauts build a lunar base if traditional building materials are too heavy to load into a rocket?
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Feb 5, 2019
What Happened to the 100,000-Hour LED Bulbs?
Posted by Caycee Dee Neely in categories: life extension, space
An excellent article on Hackaday addresses the lifetime of LED bulbs. To a certain degree, it also addresses the lifetime of LED’s themselves. However, the majority of the article investigates the various parts of the LED bulb, such as electronics and housings, and how they last. The article also addresses the issues of lumen depreciation and color change.
These issues are all important when thinking about long-term use in space applications.
Early adopters of LED lighting will remember 50,000 hour or even 100,000 hour lifetime ratings printed on the box. But during a recent trip to the hardware store the longest advertised lifetime I found was 25,000 hours. Others claimed only 7,500 or 15,000 hours. And yes, these are brand-name bulbs from Cree and GE.
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Feb 5, 2019
Scientists reveal true shape of Milky Way: It’s warped & twisted
Posted by Michael Lance in categories: energy, mapping, space
It’s even more fascinating than we thought.
The Milky Way looks nothing like the flat space pancake it is usually depicted as. The newly-created and most accurate 3D map of our galaxy reveals that it’s warped and twisted, and even more fascinating.
A group of astronomers from Australia and China have built their “intuitive and accurate three-dimensional picture” by mapping the so-called “classical Cepheids.”
Continue reading “Scientists reveal true shape of Milky Way: It’s warped & twisted” »
Feb 4, 2019
This Israeli company will soon launch the world’s first private Moon
Posted by Alberto Lao in category: space
Spawned from the Google Lunar X Prize competition, the privately funded SpaceIL organization plans to shoot for the Moon in the next month.
Feb 4, 2019
These Four Universities Are Trying to Figure Out Space Law
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: geopolitics, law, military, space, treaties
Jack Beard, a professor in the University of Nebraska College of Law’s Space, Cyber and Telecommunications Law Program, told Politico that the Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Operations “will become the definitive document on military and security law as it applies to space.”
The Woomera Manual won’t actually lay out any new guidelines. Instead it will organize and present the laws that are already on the books so that politicians, industry leaders, and others can make better informed decisions regarding activity in space.
Given the fact that the Outer Space Treaty, which banned military actions in outer space, has all but been tossed aside, it’s unclear how much they’ll actually listen.