Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 870
Sep 15, 2017
The Universe is Flat – Here’s How Astrophysicists Know and Why They Care
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: space
Sep 15, 2017
NASA tells SSL and Tethers Unlimited to move forward on orbital assembly system
Posted by Klaus Baldauf in categories: robotics/AI, space
https://youtube.com/watch?v=y6n5dRdIHVI
California-based SSL, formerly known as Space Systems Loral, says it’ll receive continued funding from NASA for an on-orbit satellite assembly program known as Dragonfly. SSL and its partners, including Bothell, Wash.-based Tethers Unlimited, recently completed a successful ground demonstration of the Dragonfly system, which is designed to assemble pieces of space hardware in orbit robotically. The next step is to move forward with a detailed design for a semi-autonomous assembly system that could be sent into space sometime in the 2020s. Check out this 11-second video clip about the Dragonfly’s ground test:
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Sep 12, 2017
Monster Solar Flare Marks 7th Powerful Sun Storm in 7 Days
Posted by John Gallagher in categories: energy, space
The sun fired off yet another powerful solar flare yesterday (Sept. 10), its seventh in seven days.
The flare, which peaked at 12:06 EDT (1606 GMT), covered North and South America in high-energy light. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) released a statement that warned of strong, high-frequency radio blackouts and navigation-system disruption, potentially lasting up to an hour.
Like the six other flares observed since Sept. 4, this one came from a sunspot known as Active Region (AR) 2673, which is currently turning away from Earth and will soon be out of sight.
Continue reading “Monster Solar Flare Marks 7th Powerful Sun Storm in 7 Days” »
Sep 10, 2017
‘THE 21ST CENTURY RACE FOR SPACE’, TONIGHT 9PM (BBC TWO) “Fascinating” — The Times “Mind-bending one-off documentary” — The Daily Mail
Posted by Brett Gallie II in categories: education, space
Sep 9, 2017
CTA Prototype Telescope, the SST-1M, Catches its First Glimpse of the Sky
Posted by Roman Mednitzer in categories: physics, space
On Thursday, 31 August, 2017, a prototype telescope proposed for the Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), the SST-1M, recorded its first events while undergoing testing at the Institute of Nuclear Physics Polish Academy of Sciences (IFJ-PAN) in Krakow, Poland. The SST-1M is proposed as one of CTA’s Small-Sized Telescopes (SSTs), which will cover the high end of CTA’s energy range, between about 1 and 300 TeV (tera-electronvolts).
A crew in Krakow worked for two days to install the camera on the telescope and spent another two days monitoring it to ensure it could be safely switched on in the high humidity conditions. Watch the camera installation in the video below.
Continue reading “CTA Prototype Telescope, the SST-1M, Catches its First Glimpse of the Sky” »
Sep 7, 2017
We’ve just seen 15 new mysterious cosmic radio bursts from space
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
Sep 6, 2017
Sun Unleashes Monster Solar Flare, Strongest in a Decade
Posted by John Gallagher in category: space
Early this morning (Sept. 6), the sun released two powerful solar flares — the second was the most powerful in more than a decade.
At 5:10 a.m. EDT (0910 GMT), an X-class solar flare — the most powerful sun-storm category — blasted from a large sunspot on the sun’s surface. That flare was the strongest since 2015, at X2.2, but it was dwarfed just 3 hours later, at 8:02 a.m. EDT (1202 GMT), by an X9.3 flare, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The last X9 flare occurred in 2006 (coming in at X9.0).
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