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Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 56

Feb 4, 2022

New insight into blobs improves understanding of a universal process

Posted by in categories: computing, mobile phones, satellites

Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have gained insight into a fundamental process found throughout the universe. They discovered that the magnetic fields threading through plasma, the charged state of matter composed of free electrons and atomic nuclei, can affect the coming together and violent snapping apart of the plasma’s magnetic field lines. This insight could help scientists predict the occurrence of coronal mass ejections, enormous burps of plasma from the sun that could threaten satellites and electrical grids on Earth.

The scientists focused on the role of guide fields, magnetic fields threading through blobs, or chunks, known as plasmoids. The guide fields add rigidity to the system and ultimately affect the ratio of large plasmoids to small ones and help determine how much reconnection occurs.

Plasmoid reconnection resembles the that occurs in smart phones or in high-powered computers that model the weather. During this computing, many processors are calculating simultaneously and making the overall calculation rate quicker. Similarly, plasmoids speed up the overall rate of reconnection by making it occur in many places at once.

Feb 4, 2022

A Chinese Satellite Just Grappled Another and Pulled It Out of Orbit

Posted by in category: satellites

Feb 3, 2022

SpaceX’s first converted Falcon Heavy booster already preparing for next launch

Posted by in category: satellites

SpaceX has rapidly recovered the first converted Falcon Heavy ‘side core’ after its first Falcon 9 launch and landing, kicking off preparations for its fourth launch less than two days after its third.

After four consecutive days of delays, one of which was caused by an inexplicably wayward cruise ship, former Falcon Heavy side core B1052 finally lifted off on January 31st on its first mission as a Falcon 9 booster. Despite the painful launch campaign, B1052 performed perfectly and helped send the Italian Space Agency’s (ASI) CSG-2 Earth observation satellite to a polar sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) before boosting back to the Florida coast and landing just a few miles south of where it launched.

As a Falcon Heavy side core, B1052 supported both of the only two launches of the Block 5 variant of the rocket – first on April 11th, 2019 and again on June 25th, 2019. Both times, side boosters B1052 and B1053 performed return-to-launch-site (RTLS) maneuvers and landed side by side at SpaceX’s LZ-1 and LZ-2 landing pads. CSG-2 thus marked B1052’s third launch and third RTLS landing.

Feb 2, 2022

SpaceX rolls outs ‘premium’ Starlink satellite internet tier at $500 per month

Posted by in categories: business, Elon Musk, internet, satellites

But Elon Musk’s company touts improved hardware, faster service speeds and priority support for its premium customers.

“Starlink Premium has more than double the antenna capability of Starlink, delivering faster internet speeds and higher throughput for the highest demand users, including businesses,” the SpaceX website said.

According to the Starlink website, the first premium deliveries will begin in the second quarter.

Feb 1, 2022

SpaceX debuts converted Falcon Heavy booster on spectacular Italian satellite launch

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, satellites

For the first time, SpaceX has converted a flight-proven Falcon Heavy side core into a Falcon 9 booster and successfully launched the reborn rocket, carrying an Italian Earth observation satellite to orbit with one of the most visually spectacular Falcon launches in recent memory.

After a tortured campaign of four scrubbed or aborted launch attempts between January 27th and 30th, Falcon 9 finally lifted off from SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) LC-40 pad at 6:11 pm EST (23:11 UTC) on Monday, January 31st. The converted Falcon Heavy booster performed perfectly on its first solo mission, successfully carrying a Falcon upper stage and Italy’s CSG-2 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) Earth observation satellite to an altitude of 70 km (~45 mi) and a velocity of ~1.7 km/s (Mach 5) – effectively the edge of space.

Thanks to near-perfect weather and the timing of the launch about 15 minutes after sunset, Falcon Heavy side core B1052’s first mission as a Falcon 9 booster wound up producing some of the best views of a SpaceX launch in the company’s history. As the rocket ascended, the sky continued to darken for local ground observers. It wasn’t long before Falcon 9’s shiny, white airframe ascended into direct sunlight, which created some extraordinary contrast against the darkening sky for tracking cameras near the launch site.

Jan 31, 2022

Space Collisions: Can We Avoid A Catastrophe?

Posted by in category: satellites

Called ‘e. Deorbit’, it could change everything.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are 128 million objects the size of 1 mm to 1 cm, 900,000 objects the size of 1 cm to 10 cm, and 34,000 objects greater than 10 cm currently whizzing around our planet.

Continue reading “Space Collisions: Can We Avoid A Catastrophe?” »

Jan 30, 2022

Astronomers Suggest a Surprising New Way to Detect Alien Megastructures

Posted by in categories: alien life, satellites, solar power, sustainability

How do you power a super advanced alien civilization? Soak up a star.

We harness the power of the sun using solar panels. What if you were to scale this idea to astronomical proportions? Surround an entire star with solar-collecting structures or satellites to power your sprawling alien galactic empire. Such massive structures are known as megastructures—in this case a “Dyson sphere.” We are already trying to detect possible megastructures in space using the dimming of a star and the glow of megastructure components in infrared light. But recent research provides a new detection method—a Dyson sphere may cause its host star to swell and cool.

Jan 28, 2022

Israeli high-school students’ satellites launch into space

Posted by in categories: education, satellites

Students from eight Jewish and Arab schools spent three years building satellites and watched a live NASA feed as they took off for outer space.

Jan 27, 2022

China launches L-SAR 01A as new methane rocket nears first launch from Jiuquan

Posted by in category: satellites

China successfully launched the Gongjian Ludi Tance-1 01A (L-SAR 01A) satellite into a quasi sun-synchronous orbit of 607 kilometers. The 3.2 metric ton satellite was launched at 23:44 UTC on Tuesday, January 25 on a Chang Zheng 4C from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The satellite is equipped with an L-band and multi-channel synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payload. It is a civilian satellite that will use a 33 square meter array to survey the Earth after major events such as earthquakes and landslides.

This is comparable to the Argentinian SAOCOM satellites which are also equipped with L-band and a SAR to monitor environmental disasters. L-band brings the advantage of being able to penetrate clouds, rain, and vegetation which makes it easier to monitor the ground. It operates in a frequency range of 1–2 GHz.

Jan 26, 2022

SpaceX’s Starship Will Be Capable Of Capturing Satellites To Be Repaired In Orbit Or Returned To Earth

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, internet, robotics/AI, satellites, sustainability

SpaceX’s Starship will be a multipurpose launch vehicle, capable of returning astronauts to the Moon to build a permanent base and enabling humanity to build a sustainable colony on Mars. It is expected to become the world’s most powerful rocket-ship. “Starship was designed from the onset to be able to carry more than 100 tons of cargo to Mars and the Moon. The cargo version can also be used for rapid point-to-point Earth transport. Various payload bay configurations are available and allow for fully autonomous deployment of cargo to Earth, Lunar, or Martian surfaces,” the company said.

SpaceX’s Starship launch vehicle has many potential uses and capabilities that will enable access to space like never before. The cargo version of Starship will be able to launch entire satellite constellations in a single launch inside its payload bay. For perspective, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 can carry up to 60 Starlink in a tight configuration inside its 5.2-meter diameter fairing, Starship will be able to carry 400 Starlink to deploy in a single launch inside its fairing. Starship will be capable of deploying giant spacecraft to space inside its clamshell-like fairing, which has an outer diameter of 9-meters –“the largest usable payload volume of any current or in development launcher,” the company says. SpaceX also plans to design an extended Starship volume capability for payloads requiring up to 22-meters of height.

Starship will also be able to capture already in orbit to be repaired or brought back to be disposed of on Earth, according to SpaceX’s Starship User Guide. “Fully-reusable Starship and Super Heavy systems are expected to allow for space-based activities that have not been possible since the retirement of the Space Shuttle and Space Transportation System, or have never been possible before. With a fully reusable Starship, can be captured and repaired in Orbit, returned to Earth, or transferred to a new operational orbit,” SpaceX’s vehicle guide says. This will be possible with Starship’s large clamshell-like cargo door mechanism that opens and closes, as shown in the image below. The clamshell door can be modified to “chomp up” old and space junk orbiting Earth. “We can fly Starship around space and chomp up debris with the moving fairing door,” SpaceX founder Elon Musk said in July 2021.

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