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Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 779

Apr 8, 2019

SPACEWALK: On April 8, two astronauts kick off their work week aboard the International Space Station with a spacewalk!

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Tune in beginning at 6:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, as Anne McClain of NASA and David Saint-Jacques of the Canadian Space Agency set up a redundant power supply for the station’s robotic arm. Watch live coverage here:

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Apr 8, 2019

China’s NewSpace: Mapping of its 60+ Start-ups

Posted by in categories: finance, mapping, space

Chinese space has been a very hot topic in recent years. Other than the impressive space exploration missions (Tiangong, Chang’e…), the interest for China is also due to the recent opening up of this industry to private investments, which has led to a leap in the number of space start-ups. These start-ups, supported by venture capital heavy-weights are covering the entire space industrial chain: launchers, satellite platforms, satellite subsystems, satellite services, ground segment, etc.

The number of space start-ups on the other hand, is a debated question. Chen Lan estimated in November 2018 that there were over 100 Chinese space start-ups [1]. FutureAerospace, a Beijing-based think-tank, sets the number at around 60, at the same period [2]. Other space watchers have suggested 80 such as in [3]. However, how this count is made is rarely detailed (how do we define a “NewSpace company”?), and very few lists are available at the time of writing, if any. Up to now, only Disrupt Space, a start-up which plans to build a global space entrepreneurial community, has undertaken the establishment of a list, which sets the count at 35 Chinese space start-ups (see map below).

disrupt space mapping
Fig. 1 – Disrupt Space’s Chinese Space Start-up Mapping in November 2018 [4]

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Apr 7, 2019

500,000 Pieces of Space Junk Are Traveling at 17,500 MPH Around Earth [VIDEOS]

Posted by in categories: space, transportation

More than 500,000 pieces of debris, or “space junk,” are tracked as they orbit the Earth. They all travel at speeds up to 17,500 mph, fast enough for a relatively small piece of orbital debris to damage a satellite or a spacecraft. If that sounds dangerous, that’s because it it is. The rising population of space debris increases the potential danger to all space vehicles, but especially to the International Space Station, space shuttles and manned spacecraft. NASA takes the threat of collisions with space debris seriously and has a long-standing set of guidelines on how to deal with each potential collision threat.

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Apr 6, 2019

Yesterday’s ISS resupply mission broke an incredible record

Posted by in category: space

A resupply mission for the International Space Station, Progress MS-11, took off yesterday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, eventually docking with the space station and providing its inhabitants with over 5,400 pounds of supplies. In many ways it was exactly like the countless resupply missions carried out before it, but in one way it was very special.

The mission, which was carried out by Russian space agency Roscosmos, took just three hours and 21 minutes to go from Earth to a successful docking with the ISS. That’s incredibly fast, and it’s actually now the fastest trip to the International Space Station ever, beating out the previous record (also set by a Progress resupply spacecraft) by a solid 19 minutes.

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Apr 5, 2019

New NASA Robots Will Be ‘Busy As a Bee’ Aboard ISS

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

NASA’s newest International Space Station crew members are creating quite the buzz.

The agency is sending three Astrobee robots to the orbiting outpost.

The cube-shaped devices will stay “as busy as a bee” flying around the station, assisting with routine tasks like maintenance and inventory tracking.

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Apr 4, 2019

Israel’s Beresheet Lunar Lander Moves Into Moon Orbit

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Next week, the robotic probe built by the nonprofit SpaceIL is to attempt to land on the lunar surface.

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Apr 3, 2019

Scientists discover first organism with chlorophyll genes that doesn’t photosynthesize

Posted by in categories: futurism, space

For the first time scientists have found an organism that can produce chlorophyll but does not engage in photosynthesis.

The peculiar organism is dubbed ‘corallicolid’ because it is found in 70 per cent of corals around the world and may provide clues as to how to protect in the future.

“This is the second most abundant cohabitant of coral on the planet and it hasn’t been seen until now,” says Patrick Keeling, a University of British Columbia botanist and senior researcher overseeing the study published in Nature. “This organism poses completely new biochemical questions. It looks like a parasite, and it’s definitely not photosynthetic. But it still makes chlorophyll.”

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Apr 3, 2019

Scientists weighed all the mass in the Milky Way galaxy. It’s mind-boggling

Posted by in category: space

The Milky Way has a mass of 1.5 trillion suns. We have no idea what most of it is made of.

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Apr 3, 2019

Beijing’s Fight for the Final Frontier

Posted by in category: space

U.S. commercial space efforts are being undercut by aggressive Chinese plans.

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Apr 2, 2019

Israeli Moon Lander Tweaks Orbit to Prep for Thursday Lunar Arrival

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

The 5-foot-tall (1.5 meters) Beresheet fired its engines for a little over a minute early this morning (April 1), altering its trajectory slightly to prepare for a planned capture into lunar orbit on Thursday (April 4).

If all goes according to plan, the robotic lander will touch down on the moon one week later, on April 11. That will be a huge milestone. To date, the only organizations to pull off a soft lunar landing are superpower governments — the Soviet Union, the United States and China.

Related: israel’s 1st moon lander beresheet in pictures.

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