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Category: satellites – Page 163

The first-ever surface mission to the far side of the moon is underway.

China’s robotic Chang’e 4 spacecraft streaked away from Earth today (Dec. 7), launching atop a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center at about 1:23 p.m. EST (1823 GMT; 2:23 a.m. on Dec. 8 local China time).

If all goes according to plan, Chang’e 4 will make history’s first landing on the lunar far side sometime in early January. The mission, which consists of a stationary lander and a rover, will perform a variety of science work and plant a flag for humanity in a region that remains largely unexplored to date. [China’s Chang’e 4 Moon Far Side Mission in Pictures].

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China launched its Chang’e 4 mission to the far side of the moon on Dec. 8, 2018 Beijing Time (Dec. 7 EST/GMT). China is the first country ever to send a rover to soft-land on the lunar farside. See the mission photos here! This Image: The Long March 3B rocket carrying Chang’e 4 lifts off from China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center.

Credit: Jiang Hongjing/Xinhua/Zuma

China’s Chang’e 4 lunar probe lifts off the pad at Xichang Satellite Launch Center on Dec. 7, 2018 (Dec. 8 local Chinese time).

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As on Earth, so in space. A four-satellite mission that is studying magnetic reconnection—the breaking apart and explosive reconnection of the magnetic field lines in plasma that occurs throughout the universe—has found key aspects of the process in space to be strikingly similar to those found in experiments at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). The similarities show how the studies complement each other: The laboratory captures important global features of reconnection and the spacecraft documents local key properties as they occur.

The observations made by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Satellite (MMS) mission, which NASA launched in 2015 to study in the magnetic field that surrounds the Earth, correspond quite well with past and present laboratory findings of the Magnetic Reconnection Experiment (MRX) at PPPL. Previous MRX research uncovered the process by which rapid reconnection occurs and identified the amount of magnetic that is converted to particle energy during the process, which gives rise to northern lights, and geomagnetic storms that can disrupt cell phone service, black out power grids and damage orbiting satellites.

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Fuel is heavy. And when launching a satellite into space, the amount of fuel you give it determines how long it can stay operational. That is, unless you can refuel at a space gas station.

The news: Startup Orbit Fab is scheduled to launch an experiment to the International Space Station on board a SpaceX Dragon cargo mission tomorrow at 1:38pm EST. Its goal is to test the company’s method of fluid transfer in space. It’ll be launched alongside other scientific experiments to be performed by astronauts on board the station in collaboration with the ISS US National Lab.

The challenge: Refueling and repairing satellites in space requires some expert wrangling, as well as well as the launch of large quantities and types of fuel into orbit. Also, pumping new fuel into a satellite doesn’t work in microgravity the way it does on Earth. Fluids are harder to measure and float around their tanks unpredictably.

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Mountains and volcanoes are some of the most fascinating geological formations on Earth — and scientists and adventurers alike can’t get enough of them. Not a lot of us will get a first-hand look at what the planet’s tallest peaks and ranges look like from their summits, but thanks to the photos taken by NASA satellites in orbit and camera-wielding astronauts in space, they are visible as they never would be to the naked eye — hundreds of miles above the Earth.

Click through the slideshow to see stunning images of the Earth’s mountains and volcanoes — from Mount Everest and the Himalayas to the volcanoes of Hawaii and the snow-covered peaks of the Rocky Mountains — captured from space.

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As an international relations scholar who studies space law and policy, I have come to realize what most people do not fully appreciate: Dealing with space debris is as much a national security issue as it is a technical one.

Considering the debris circling the Earth as just an obstacle in the path of human missions is naive. As outer space activities are deeply rooted in the geopolitics down on Earth, the hidden challenge posed by the debris is the militarization of space technologies meant to clean it up.

To be clear, space debris poses considerable risks; however, to understand those risks, I should explain what it is and how it is formed. The term “space debris” refers to defunct human-made objects, relics left over from activities dating back to the early days of the space age. Over time that definition has expanded to include big and small things like discarded boosters, retired satellites, leftover bits and pieces from spacecraft, screwdrivers, tools, nuts and bolts, shards, lost gloves, and even flecks of paint.

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