A European satellite is making a first-of-its kind return to Earth this week.
The European Space Agency (ESA) is currently guiding its Aeolus wind-studying satellite down for a controlled destruction in Earth’s atmosphere. This strategy is a major shift for Aeolus, whose original end-of-life plan called for an unguided fall.
Kamilla Cziráki, a geophysics student at the Faculty of Science of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), has taken a new approach to researching the navigation systems that can be used on the surface of the moon to plan future journeys.
Working with Professor Gábor Timár, head of the Department of Geophysics and Space Sciences, Cziráki calculated the parameters used in the Earth’s GPS system for the moon using the method of mathematician Fibonacci, who lived 800 years ago. Their findings have been published in the journal Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica.
Now, as humanity prepares to return to the moon after half a century, the focus is on possible methods of lunar navigation. It seems likely that the modern successors to the lunar vehicles of the Apollo missions will now be assisted by some form of satellite navigation, similar to the GPS system on Earth. In the case of Earth, these systems do not take into account the actual shape of our planet, the geoid, not even the surface defined by sea level, but a rotating ellipsoid that best fits the geoid.
SpaceX is poised to launch the world’s largest commercial communications satellite.
On Wednesday (July 26), a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket will launch Maxar Technologies’ largest ever satellite, the Jupiter 3. The communications platform will join others in the Hughes Jupiter satellite fleet already in orbit, which provides broadband internet services to North and South America. According to a Hughes statement, the satellite will be the world’s largest commercial communications satellite once it’s fully deployed.
You’ve probably heard about SpaceX’s plans to use its giant new Starship vehicle to land people on the Moon and Mars, send numerous Starlink satellites or large telescopes into space, or perhaps even serve as a high-speed point-to-point terrestrial transport for equipment or people.
There’s another application for SpaceX’s Starship architecture that the company is studying, and NASA is on board to lend expertise. Though still in a nascent phase of tech development, the effort could result in repurposing Starship into a commercial space station, something NASA has a keen interest in because there are no plans for a government-owned research lab in low-Earth orbit after the International Space Station is decommissioned after 2030.
The space agency announced last month a new round of agreements with seven commercial companies, including SpaceX. The Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) program is an effort established to advance private sector development of emerging products and services that could be available to customers—including NASA—in approximately five to seven years.
China’s state media Xinhua claims that at least 300,000 people have worked on China’s space projects, almost 18 times the number of employees NASA has. Yes, the space race between the United States and China is set for a new and exciting turn, as the latter is geared to challenge the James Webb Space telescope with its fleet of tiny satellites, as they dive into deep space.#nasa #china #space Join Lab360 to get access to some amazing perks:
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Observations made by NASA
Established in 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is an independent agency of the United States Federal Government that succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). It is responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Its vision is “To discover and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity.” Its core values are “safety, integrity, teamwork, excellence, and inclusion.” NASA conducts research, develops technology and launches missions to explore and study Earth, the solar system, and the universe beyond. It also works to advance the state of knowledge in a wide range of scientific fields, including Earth and space science, planetary science, astrophysics, and heliophysics, and it collaborates with private companies and international partners to achieve its goals.
Safety first. I’ve read about tech saving lives and this is a step forward along with crash detection and AFib detection and more. Our phones are legit becoming rescue and medical devices. Any experience or thoughts?
The extent of satellite support is still not evident when it comes to smartphones, but I am really looking forward to seeing how Android 14 uses this feature. It is also important to understand that all Android phones are built differently, especially when it comes to manufacturers, and while Samsung might be the biggest, with the most amount of influence, it is possible that other companies won’t introduce the feature despite the latest version of Android supporting the feature.
Whatever the case might be, Android 14 is not far away, as the update will make its debut in October alongside Pixel 8 series. You can expect the Tensor G3 to have this support. In addition to that, new flagship phones are going to start popping up, which means that we will see some compelling hardware from a variety of companies and will perhaps also get a look at which phone does support satellite SMS and other satellite-based communication features and which doesn’t.
Remember what it’s like to twirl a sparkler on a summer night? Hold it still and the fire crackles and sparks but twirl it around and the light blurs into a line tracing each whirl and jag you make.
A new patented software system developed at Sandia National Laboratories can find the curves of motion in streaming video and images from satellites, drones and far-range security cameras and turn them into signals to find and track moving objects as small as one pixel. The developers say this system can enhance the performance of any remote sensing application.
“Being able to track each pixel from a distance matters, and it is an ongoing and challenging problem,” said Tian Ma, a computer scientist and co-developer of the system. “For physical security surveillance systems, for example, the farther out you can detect a possible threat, the more time you have to prepare and respond. Often the biggest challenge is the simple fact that when objects are located far away from the sensors, their size naturally appears to be much smaller. Sensor sensitivity diminishes as the distance from the target increases.”
KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Reuters) — Malaysia has issued a license to Starlink, the satellite communications service started by Elon Musk, to provide internet services in the country, particularly in remote areas, its communications minister said on Thursday.
Minister Fahmi Fadzil said in a Facebook post that Starlink, which is operated by Musk’s SpaceX, would begin by providing its services to schools and higher education institutions.
The government was also prepared to work with satellite communications firms, including Starlink, to ensure 100 percent internet coverage in populated areas, Fahmi said.
Last night at 9:09 p.m. PT (04:09 UTC), SpaceX successfully launched 15 V2 mini Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
Following a last-second aborted launch attempt the previous night, SpaceX teams performed checkouts of the Falcon 9 and determined another attempt to launch the next-gen satellites was good to go. During the previous attempt, the launch was held early in the countdown due to a “perceived leak” in the second stage, then eventually, the automated abort at T-minus 5 seconds.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/CzetVZFGbv
