Tag Archives: space

Vint Cerf and NASA’s BP and DTN Protocol: How It Works

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The big difference between BP and IP is that, while IP assumes a more or less smooth pathway for packets going from start to end point, BP allows for disconnections, glitches and other problems you see commonly in deep space, Younes said. Basically, a BP network — the one that will the Interplanetary Internet possible — moves data packets in bursts from node to node, so that it can check when the next node is available or up.

via Vint Cerf and NASA’s BP and DTN Protocol: How It Works.

DTN = Disruption Tolerant Networking

Open source software is key to transferring large amounts of data to us, quickly

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But, dig beneath the hood of this story—and the diagram included—and you’ll see another story. One that points to the key role of open source software in making this phenomenal mission work and the results available to so many, so quickly.

via Open source software is key to transferring large amounts of data to us, quickly | opensource.com.

Perhaps the most important piece of this high-demand configuration, GlusterFS is an open source, distributed file system capable of scaling to several petabytes (actually, 72 brontobites!) and handling thousands of clients. GlusterFS clusters together storage building blocks over Infiniband RDMA or TCP/IP interconnect, aggregating disk and memory resources and managing data in a single global namespace.

Why We Need a Supercomputer on the Moon

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Ouliang Chang floated his lunar supercomputer idea a few weeks ago at a space conference in Pasadena, California. The plan is to bury a massive machine in a deep dark crater, on the side of the moon that’s facing away from Earth and all of its electromagnetic chatter. Nuclear-powered, it would process data for space missions and slingshot Earth’s Deep Space Network into a brand new moon-centric era.

via Why We Need a Supercomputer on the Moon | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com.

Clearly, the business of dreaming up supercomputers in space is not for those who think small.

New Comet Discovered—May Become “One of Brightest in History”

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The comet is already remarkably bright, given how far it is from the sun, astronomer Raminder Singh Samra said. What’s more, 2012 S1 seems to be following the path of the Great Comet of 1680, considered one of the most spectacular ever seen from Earth.

“If it lives up to expectations, this comet may be one of the brightest in history,” said Samra, of the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vancouver, Canada.

via New Comet Discovered—May Become “One of Brightest in History”.

Because 2012 S1 appears to be fairly large—possibly approaching two miles (three kilometers) wide—and will fly very close to the sun, astronomers have calculated that the comet may shine brighter, though not bigger, than the full moon in the evening sky.

Air Force sets first post in ambitious Space Fence project

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The Space Fence will use multiple S-band ground-based radars — the exact number will depend on operational performance and design considerations — that will permit detection, tracking and accurate measurement of orbiting space objects. The idea is that the Space Fence is going to be the most precise radar in the space situational surveillance network and the S-band capability will provide the highest accuracy in detecting even the smallest space objects, the Air Force stated. The Fence will have greater sensitivity, allowing it to detect, track and measure an object the size of a softball orbiting more than 1,200 miles in space. Because it is an uncued tracking system, it will provide evidence of satellite break-ups, collisions or unexpected maneuvers of satellites, the Air Force said.

via Layer 8: Air Force sets first post in ambitious Space Fence project.

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.

ISRO successfully launches PSLV-C21

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Describing the mission as a milestone in the nation’s space capabilities, he said the launch was “testimony to the commercial competitiveness of the Indian space industry and is a tribute to Indian innovation and ingenuity”.

A beaming ISRO chief K. Radhakrishnan told the post-launch media conference that with today’s successful mission the agency has launched 62 satellites, one space recovery module and 37 rockets, making it a grand 100.

via The Hindu : News / National : ISRO successfully launches PSLV-C21.

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?.

Mirrors Finished for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope

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“Hubble is the size of a school bus,” Mountain said. “JWST is the size of a tennis court.”

JWST’s mirrors are so flat that if you stretch them all out across the United States, “the largest bump would be no bigger than two inches. That’s how smooth these mirrors are,” Mountain added.

Via Mirrors Finished for NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope | Space.com.

NASA upgrades Mars Curiosity software … from 350M miles away

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“We need to take a whole series of steps to make that software active,” said Steve Scandore, a senior flight software engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. “You have to imagine that if something goes wrong with this, it could be the last time you hear from the rover.”

via NASA upgrades Mars Curiosity software … from 350M miles away – Computerworld.

Curiosity, while working on Mars alone, needs to be told what it will do every day — move across the bottom of the crater, zap a rock with its laser, scoop up a soil sample. And once a team of NASA scientists make the daily decision as to what the rover will do, programmers have to begin furiously working on up to a 1,000 different commands that will be uploaded to the rover.