Space exploration and technology

[cobra commando]

NASA's Curiosity rover detects organic matter on Mars - The Hindu

 

[cobra commando]

Lost Beagle 2 spacecraft found on Mars | Spaceflight Now

 

[cobra commando]

Milky Way may contain Interstellar-style space-time tunnel - The Economic Times :dream:

 

[Dark Sorrow]

NASA's Working on a Helicopter That'll Fly on Mars

This week marks the 11th anniversary of the landing of the Mars Rover Opportunity. It's been an incredible run for the little robot, and such a success that NASA is planning out what new technologies future missions might include. And it looks like future rovers could get flying companions.

NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California have unveiled a prototype helicopter drone that could be added to Mars rovers launched in the future.

Because you can't exactly jet over to Mars to dislodge a rover that gets stuck, NASA engineers must be absolutely sure of the path ahead before making any move. They can use the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to take pictures of potential routes, but photographs taken from more than 150 miles away aren't nearly as good as those shot from just above the ground. That's why a drone could be the answer.

The scientists have designed a 2.2-pound (on Earth, at least) twin-rotor helicopter that is roughly 3.6 feet from one blade tip to the other. The body is about the size of a tissue box, with four spindly legs poking out from just beneath the bottom of the rotors.


JPL says that the drone could as much as triple the distance that the rover can travel in a Martian day, and allow scientists to examine different areas from the air to determine if they are worthy of further study from the ground.

With gravity on Mars equal to 3.711 m/s2, roughly a third of the 9.807 m/s2 on Earth, aircraft weight is less of an issue than it is on Earth. Instead, the problem is the air. Atmospheric pressure on Mars is a tiny fraction of that on Earth, thus the relatively enormous blades for the tiny helicopter. Scale models are being tested extensively at JPL in a vacuum chamber to simulate the low-density of air on the planet.

The drone must also be completely autonomous, because of the amount of time it takes roundtrip radio communications between the two planets, anywhere from 8 to 48 minutes. It also needs to be hardened to the solar radiation on the planet's surface. In other words, there's a lot of work to do before the next Mars Rover is scheduled to launch, in 2020.

 

[cobra commando]

Re: Moon Mission: Giant leap for startup

Team Indus from India wins Google Lunar Xprize in the race to the moon

 

[cobra commando]

For the record - We will land on the moon. Being first will be icing on the cake - The Times of India

 

[cobra commando]

Forgotten Apollo moon artifacts found in Neil Armstrong's closet - CNET

 

[cobra commando]

Mars ocean was bigger than the Arctic: NASA | Zee News

 

[cobra commando]

Tata Communications to partner Moon mission team - The Times of India

 

[MANT!]

US Astronauts start modification of International Space Station to accept Commercial crew spacecraft..
Astronauts Complete First of Three Spacewalks

 

[Screambowl]

PSLV C28 Commercial Mission a Success.PSLV injects all the 5 satellites from England into the desired Orbit.

 

[Screambowl]

The Indian Space and Research Organisation (ISRO) succesfully launched five British 'Earth observation' satellites today at 10.20 p.m IST, from Sriharikota(India)....

UK-DMC3A
UK-DMC3B
UK-DMC3C
UK-CBNT-1
UK-De-OrbitSail

The five satellites were launched as part of the arrangement entered into between DMC International Imaging (DMCii), a wholly owned subsidiary of SSTL, UK and Antrix Corporation Limited.
The DMC3 constellation, comprising three advanced mini-satellites DMC3A, DMC3B and DMC3C, is designed to address the need for simultaneous high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution optical Earth Observation.
In addition to the three DMC3 satellites, two auxiliary satellites, CBNT-1, a technology demonstrator earth observation micro satellite built by SSTL, and De-OrbitSail, a technology demonstrator nano satellite built by Surrey Space Centre are also placed in orbit successfully.

The satellites are primarily to be used for imaging and monitoring resources and environment, besides disaster management efforts.These satellites can image any target on the Earth's surface every day. Major application areas include surveying the resources on earth and its environment, managing urban infrastructure and monitoring disasters.

The satellites, together weiging 1439kg, made it the the heaviest commercial mission accomplished by ISRO so far.
The rocket used was India's trusted workhorse PSLV(PSLV-XL-C28) which has so far successfully launched about 78 satellites, including 47 foreign ones, into space.

 

[cobra commando]

Pluto larger than previously thought: NASA

 

[cobra commando]

______________________________

 

[cobra commando]

NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on
Today’s Mars

 

[amoy]

China successfully launches its first dark matter satellite

Carrier Long March 2-D rocket blasts off at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province, Dec 17, 2015, sending into space the country's first Dark Matter Particle Explorer Satellite. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's Dark Matter Particle Explorer Satellite was successfully launched at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu province on Thursday.

At 8:12 am, the carrier Long March 2-D rocket blasted off, sending the satellite into the sun-synchronous orbit.

After three months' on-orbit test, the Dark Matter Particle Explorer Satellite (DAMPE) will be in service for three years to observe the direction, energy and electric charge of high-energy particles in space in search of dark matter.

Designed in the shape of a one-cubic-meter box weighing 1.9 metric tons, DAMPE carries four probes that coordinate with each other to search for signs of dark matter, which gives the satellite the widest observation spectrum and highest energy resolution of any dark matter probe in the world.

First postulated in the 1930s, dark matter is believed to make up 85 percent of the matter in the cosmos and 27 percent of the known universe - but only theoretically, as it has never been observed by any instruments.

So far scientists have little knowledge on dark matter, but many believe dark matter as the key to help us understand phenomena that could not be explained with current knowledge in physics.

Besides searching dark matter, the satellite will also be used to study the origin of cosmic rays and observe high-energy gamma rays.

DAMPE is the first satellite of a scientific satellite series the Chinese Academy of Sciences plans to launch in the coming two years, which include a retrievable scientific research satellite, a satellite for quantum science experiments, and a hard X-ray telescope for black hole and neutron star studies.



Facts about the dark matter satellite

Size: 1.5m*1.5m*1.2m
Weight: 1.85 metric ton
Orbit: 500-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit
Design life: 3 years
Source: National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences

 

[Tactical Frog]

Ariane 5 new launch live in 5 minutes ..http://www.arianespace.com/
On its fifth launch of the year, which will be the third mission in 2016 utilizing an Ariane 5 launcher from the Guiana Space Center (CSG) in French Guiana, Arianespace will orbit two satellites: EchoStar XVIII for the operator DISH Network L.L.C.; and BRIsat for PT.Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk.

This mission – the 230th overall by an Ariane launcher – will mark a new all-time Arianespace record for a total payload weight orbited: 10,730 kg., including a net weight of 9,840 kg. for the two satellites. The launch, designated Flight VA230, is to be the very first time that Arianespace orbits two satellites built by SSL (Space Systems Loral) on the same launcher, as well as Arianespace’s initial launch of a spacecraft entirely dedicated to use by a financial institution.

EchoStar XVIII and BRIsat will be the 533rd and 534th satellites launched by Arianespace.

 

[Varun2002]

Despite a Tiny Budget, This Man Built One of the World's Largest Telescopes in India

Govind Swarup, one of the pioneers of Radio astronomy, and known as the ‘Father of Indian Radio Astronomy’ passed away on 7 September 2020 after a period

www.thebetterindia.com

A titan of Indian science passes...

 

[Leonardo Alves]

Russia launches new Angara A5 rocket on second test flight in nighttime liftoff

Russia's new Angara-A5 heavy-lift rocket launched on tis second test flight from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Dec. 14, 2020.

www.space.com

India too is planning it's SHLV but don't know how much long will it take.
Europe has Arianne-5,Americans have delta and falcon series, Chinese have long march-5 and now Russia has.
These countries have demonstrated capabilities, mind you each of these countries space budget is larger than isro.

 

[Challenger007]

Russia launches new Angara A5 rocket on second test flight in nighttime liftoff

Russia's new Angara-A5 heavy-lift rocket launched on tis second test flight from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on Dec. 14, 2020.

www.space.com

India too is planning it's SHLV but don't know how much long will it take.
Europe has Arianne-5,Americans have delta and falcon series, Chinese have long march-5 and now Russia has.
These countries have demonstrated capabilities, mind you each of these countries space budget is larger than isro.

The budget of the industry depends on the interests of the state in this direction, as well as in attracting investments from individuals. Without money, there won't be much progress here, this is probably the most expensive industry. I do not know what else could be more expensive and risky.