Tag Archives: satellite

Tandem satellites probe the Moon’s interior

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GRAIL’s two probes, named Ebb and Flow by schoolchildren in a NASA competition, were launched in September 2011 (see ‘Twins to Probe Moon’s Heart’). The first probe began orbiting the Moon on 31 December 2011, with the second joining the next day. By March, they had begun detailed mapping. The two spacecraft exchange radio signals, recording fluctuations in their relative positions that are then used to reveal tiny accelerations and decelerations caused by variations in the Moon’s gravitational field. The average altitude of the primary mission was 55 kilometres —  much lower than the orbit used by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE), a similar gravity-mapping mission for Earth that has to fly higher to avoid atmospheric friction. Occasionally, the GRAIL operations team brought the craft lower than 20 kilometres to further improve the resolution of the data. “Nothing beats flying low,” says Zuber.

via Tandem satellites probe the Moon’s interior : Nature News & Comment.

Can Android Revolutionize Spacecraft Design?

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At first glance, the idea may sound a bit silly. Why would NASA trust the operation of a satellite to a Nexus One? Surely NASA could design their own platform to power these spacecraft?

They could, but the question is, why should they? The PhoneSat program is part of the larger Small Spacecraft Technology Program, which aims to leverage the incredible advances made in consumer technology to create cheaper spacecraft. Ames engineer Chris Boshuizen explains that NASA should embrace the latest consumer technology, rather than constantly reinventing the wheel

via Can Android Revolutionize Spacecraft Design?.

Kymeta

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Kymeta is working on a wide range of innovative and highly competitive products for a broad spectrum of applications. Potential applications and target specifications can be found on each product’s page.

via Products | Kymeta.

From: Metamaterials Surface Antenna Technology

mTenna utilizes new reconfigurable antenna technology: Metamaterials Surface Antenna Technology (MSA-T). MSA-T enables wide-angle, all-electronic beam steering from a proprietary, PCB-like surface that can be manufactured using a mature and affordable lithography manufacturing infrastructure.