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Archive for the ‘space travel’ category: Page 21

Jul 4, 2024

Computing and shielding startups join forces to put AI-capable chips in space

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

Sophisticated spacecraft often run on shockingly outdated computing systems: consider that the Perseverance rover runs on a PowerPC 750, the processor famous for running on iMacs in the late 1990s.

San Francisco-based Aethero is aiming to bring more powerful computing systems to orbit, and their first payload launches this month on SpaceX’s Transporter-11 rideshare mission. The computer, a small, stackable MVP called AetherNxN that’s built on an Nvidia Orin processor, will be getting extra protection from a new radiation shielding material that the product’s developers, Cosmic Shielding Corporation (CSC), say could help unlock a new era for computing in space.

Today, electronics in space are protected from harmful radiation in two ways. They’re physically shielded, using some combination of materials like aluminum and tantalum, and they’re radiation hardened, which generally means that they’re designed in ways that increase their tolerance to radiation exposure. The AetherNxN computer is rad-hardened, but adding CSC’s shielding “enables us to bring that AI-capable of hardware into space and have it operate under these very hostile conditions,” Aethero cofounder Edward Ge said in a recent interview.

Jul 3, 2024

Space Race Heats Up: Tackling Thermal Challenges Beyond Earth

Posted by in category: space travel

A new review examines advancements in thermal management technologies (TMTs) for spacecraft electronics, tackling the problems of heat acquisition, transport, and rejection in the extreme conditions of space. This review is intended to inform the development of future thermal management systems for spacecraft, enhancing both the reliability and effectiveness of space missions.

Spacecraft electronics operate under extreme conditions, facing issues like microgravity, thermal cycling, and space radiation. These factors necessitate robust thermal management solutions to maintain the functionality and longevity of onboard equipment. Traditional thermal control methods often fall short in addressing these challenges. Based on these challenges, there is a need to conduct in-depth research on advanced thermal management technologies to ensure the stability and efficiency of space missions.

Jul 2, 2024

Volunteer Crew to Exit NASA’s Simulated Mars Habitat After 378 Days

Posted by in categories: habitats, health, space travel

The four volunteers who have been living and working inside NASA’s first simulated yearlong Mars habitat mission are set to exit their ground-based home on Saturday, July 6. NASA will provide live coverage of the crew’s exit from the habitat at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston at 5 p.m. EDT.

NASA will stream the activity, which will include a short welcome ceremony, on NASA+, NASA Television, the NASA app, the agency’s website, and NASA Johnson’s X and Facebook accounts. Learn how to stream NASA TV through a variety of platforms, including social media.

The first Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) mission began in the 3D printed habitat on June 25, 2023, with crew members Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu, Ross Brockwell, and Nathan Jones. For more than a year, the crew simulated Mars mission operations, including “Marswalks,” grew and harvested several vegetables to supplement their shelf-stable food, maintained their equipment and habitat, and operated under additional stressors a Mars crew will experience, including communication delays with Earth, resource limitations, and isolation.

Jul 2, 2024

How NASA and SpaceX get spacecraft safely back on Earth

Posted by in category: space travel

Water has a relatively low viscosity – that is, it deforms fast under stress – and it has a density much lower than hard rock. These two qualities make it ideal for landing spacecraft. But the other main reason water works so well is because it covers 70% of the planet’s surface, so the chances of hitting it are high when you’re falling from space.

The science behind splashdown is complex, as a long history proves.

In 1961, the U.S. conducted the first crewed splashdowns in history. These used Mercury reentry capsules.

Jul 2, 2024

This 20,000HP AI-generated rocket engine took just two weeks to design and looks like HR Giger’s first attempt at designing a trumpet

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space travel

Or maybe just something Wallace and Gromit might jam onto a rocket for a second Grand Day Out.

Jul 1, 2024

Modi in Space! PM can fly to space via Gaganyaan mission, says ISRO Chairman Somnath

Posted by in category: space travel

ISRO Chairman S Somanath stressed on commercial viability in space activities, emphasized the need for enhanced industrial capacity to produce launchers, and announced GSAT-20’s mid-August launch on Falcon 9.

Jul 1, 2024

Extreme Dormancy as a Way to Survive on Earth and (Possibly) on Alien Planets

Posted by in category: space travel

Extreme Dormancy as a Way to Survive on Earth and Possibly also on Alien Planets (and May also be a Solution to Long-Term Space Travel) Posted on BigThink, with link at https://www.searchforlifeintheuniverse.com/post/extreme-dorm…en-planets

Jun 30, 2024

Video: SpaceX testing chopsticks to catch Super Heavy rocket falling from space

Posted by in categories: innovation, space travel

The ambitious plan involves catching the falling Super Heavy boosters using the launch tower’s “chopstick” arms. This innovative approach aims to revolutionise rocket recovery and enhance the reusability of the company’s Starship system.

Recent footage shared by SpaceX showcases tests of the chopstick mechanism at their Starbase facility in Texas. The company has been observed clamping the tower arms around a portion of a Super Heavy booster to evaluate the system’s parameters.

This testing is crucial for verifying the forces the chopsticks will need to withstand during an actual catch attempt.

Jun 30, 2024

The 5th Industrial Revolution

Posted by in categories: biological, existential risks, space travel, sustainability

In this episode of the 5th Industrial Revolution VODcast we sit down with Dr. Jordan Okie of Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration to discuss a key relevancy to the next industrial revolution, sustainability, through the lens of Dr. Okie’s area of expertise: Ecology and Biology. Our key takeaways: We are in a race against time and extinction. We will need to find a way to evolve through technology to survive, be it here on Earth or in our exploration of Space.

Jun 28, 2024

Quantum effects forbid the formation of black holes from high concentrations of intense light, say physicists

Posted by in categories: cosmology, quantum physics, space travel

For the last seven decades, astrophysicists have theorized the existence of “kugelblitze,” black holes caused by extremely high concentrations of light.

These special black holes, they speculated, might be linked to astronomical phenomena such as , and have even been suggested as the power source of hypothetical spaceship engines in the far future.

However, new research by a team of researchers at the University of Waterloo and Universidad Complutense de Madrid demonstrates that kugelblitze are impossible in our current universe. Their research, titled “No black holes from ,” is published on the arXiv preprint server and is forthcoming in Physical Review Letters.

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