Tag Archives: space

Robot Arm Will Install New Earth-Facing Cameras On The Space Station

Posted on by

TORONTO, CANADA – Canada’s robotic Canadarm2 will install the next two Urthecast cameras on the International Space Station, removing the need for astronauts to go outside to do the work themselves, the company announced today (Sept. 30).

Urthecast plans to place two Earth-facing cameras on the United States side of the station (on Node 3) to add to the two they already have on the Russian Zvezda module. Technical problems with the cameras forced the Russians to do an extra spacewalk to complete the work earlier this year.

via Robot Arm Will Install New Earth-Facing Cameras On The Space Station.

Gaining experience by doing and then figuring out how to automate that in space is the main reason for having a space station.   This station is a valuable resource for all of mankind.

Space Station Sharper Images of Earth at Night Crowdsourced For Science

Posted on by

The images are available to the public through The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, the most complete online collection of images of Earth taken by astronauts. This database contains photographs beginning with those taken during Mercury missions in the early 1960s up to recent images from the station, with more added daily. As of August 2014, the collection included a total of nearly 1.8 million images, more than 1.3 million of them from the space station. Approximately 30 percent of those were taken at night.

via Space Station Sharper Images of Earth at Night Crowdsourced For Science | NASA.

Lost at Night requires the most skill, seeking to identify cities in images encompassing a circle 310 miles around. “We don’t know which direction the astronaut pointed the camera, only where the station was at the time the image was taken,” explains Sanchez. “Some images are bright cities but others are small towns. It is like a puzzle with 300,000 pieces.”

Rosetta arrives at comet destination

Posted on by

“After ten years, five months and four days travelling towards our destination, looping around the Sun five times and clocking up 6.4 billion kilometres, we are delighted to announce finally ‘we are here’,” says Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General.

“Europe’s Rosetta is now the first spacecraft in history to rendezvous with a comet, a major highlight in exploring our origins. Discoveries can start.”

via Rosetta arrives at comet destination / Rosetta / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA.

From: Re-Live the excitement

For those of you who couldn’t follow the live streamed event this morning, here’s a short summary of what happened here at ESA’s European Space Operations Centre in Darmstadt at the Rosetta Rendezvous event. A full replay of the livestream can be found here.

A couple of pics here.

Previous coverage of it waking up here and of it having its software upgraded here.

NASA Beams “Hello, World!” Video from Space via Laser

Posted on by

Optical communication tools like OPALS use focused laser energy to reach data rates between 10 and 1,000 times higher than current space communications, which rely on radio portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Because the space station orbits Earth at 17,500 mph, transmitting data from the space station to Earth requires extremely precise targeting. The process can be equated to a person aiming a laser pointer at the end of a human hair 30 feet away and keeping it there while walking.

via NASA Beams “Hello, World!” Video from Space via Laser | NASA.

Software upgrade at 655 million kilometres

Posted on by

Although Rosetta and MIDAS spent 957 days in hibernation, the MIDAS team back on Earth were busy learning how best to use MIDAS with tests on the Flight Spare (the identical twin instrument). As a result we have made a number of tweaks and enhancements to the software ready for our encounter with comet 67P/CG. After the passive checkout we know that we’re in good shape, so the next step is to upload and apply the software patches. The new software was tested both on the Flight Spare and on an instrument/processor simulator developed by the institute.

via Software upgrade at 655 million kilometres | Rosetta – ESA’s comet chaser.

Responding to Potential Asteroid Redirect Mission Targets

Posted on by

NASA is developing an Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) — a first-ever mission to identify, capture and redirect an asteroid to a safe orbit of Earth’s moon for future exploration by astronauts in the 2020s.

ARM will use capabilities in development, including the new Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, and high-power Solar Electric Propulsion. All are critical components of deep-space exploration and essential to meet NASA’s goal of sending humans to Mars in the 2030s. The mission represents an unprecedented technological feat, raising the bar for human exploration and discovery, while helping protect our home planet and bringing us closer to a human mission to one of these intriguing objects.

via Responding to Potential Asteroid Redirect Mission Targets | NASA.

Here is an article from 12/24/2012 about this.

Wake up, Rosetta!

Posted on by

Rosetta was launched in 2004 and has since travelled around the Sun five times, picking up energy from Earth and Mars to line it up with its final destination: comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. For the coldest, loneliest leg of the mission, as Rosetta travelled out towards the orbit of Jupiter, the spacecraft was put into deep-space hibernation.

In 2014, Rosetta will complete its cruise towards the comet, rendezvousing with it in August, before putting its Philae lander onto the comet’s surface in November, as it begins its journey closer to the Sun.

via Wake up, Rosetta! / Rosetta / Space Science / Our Activities / ESA.

Rosetta will arrive at 67P in August 2014, where it will become the first spacecraft to orbit the nucleus of a comet and, later in the year, the first to land a probe – Philae – on a comet’s surface. It will also be the first mission to escort a comet as it journeys around the Sun.

China: The Next Space Superpower

Posted on by

“They are having launches, and in the United States we’re in gridlock,” says Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, in Newport, R.I. “The Chinese will have a rover onthe moon, and we’re still developing PowerPoints for programs that don’t get approved by Congress.” That rover is rolling over the regolith right now.

via China: The Next Space Superpower – IEEE Spectrum.

NASA has a couple rovers on Mars.

Mars Express Orbiter Buzzes Martian Moon Phobos

Posted on by

During the flyby, DSN operators reported “a slight effect in the Doppler residuals,” meaning that, as expected, Phobos’ gravity had accelerated Mars Express’ orbital velocity very slightly. Through careful analysis of the Doppler shifting of the radio signal, Phobos’ gravity can be measured, allowing scientists to discern its mass and density — the most precise measurement to date.

via Mars Express Orbiter Buzzes Martian Moon Phobos : Discovery News.

However, the operation allowed the spacecraft to beam back an extra 200 Gigabits of observational data, including imagery of Phobos during an earlier 500 kilometer pass of the moon.

NASA’s LLCD tests confirm laser communication capabilities in space

Posted on by

The LLCD is a demonstration of the practicality of using broadband lasers for deep space communications with download speeds orders of magnitude greater than conventional radio communications. With the ability to download data to Earth at 622 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload at 20 Mbps, the LLCD transmitted a record-breaking download on October 20 from lunar orbit using a pulsed laser beam that was picked up by the main LLCD ground station in New Mexico, which is one of three set up in the US and Spain.

via NASA’s LLCD tests confirm laser communication capabilities in space.