Space Exploration Technologies Archives

February 11, 2020February 18, 2020 by Evan Gough

Astronomers Have Some Serious Concerns About Starlink and Other Satellite Constellations

till image from Hadley's simulation of the Starlink satellite constellation. Credit: Mark Hadley

Picture the space around Earth filled with tens of thousands of communications satellites. That scenario is slowly coming into being, and it has astronomers concerned. Now a group of astronomers have written a paper outlining their detailed concerns, and how all of these satellites could have a severe, negative impact on ground-based astronomy.

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 by Evan Gough

Underwater Robot Captures its First Sample 500 Meters Below the Surface of the Ocean

The underwater robot Nereid Under Ice (NUI) being lowered into the Aegean Sea. NUI became the first underwater vehicle to take an automated sample from the sea floor. Image Credit: Evan Lubofsky, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) says their underwater robot has just completed the first-ever automated underwater sampling operation. The robot is called Nereid Under Ice (NEI) and it collected the sample in Greece. WHOI is developing Nereid in association with NASA’s Planetary Science and Technology from Analog Research (PSTAR) program.

November 19, 2019November 19, 2019 by Evan Gough

If Astronauts Hibernated on Long Journeys, They’d Need Smaller Spacecraft

There’s a disturbing lack of hibernation in our space-faring plans. In movies and books, astronauts pop in and out of hibernation—or stasis, or cryogenic sleep, or suspended animation, or something like it—on a regular basis. If we ever figure out some kind of hibernation, can we take advantage of it to get by with smaller spacecraft?

The European Space Agency (ESA) is working to answer that question.

November 15, 2019November 17, 2019 by Matt Williams

Stingray Glider to Explore the Cloudtops of Venus

The spacecraft would circumnavigate Venus every four to six days, with solar panels charging every two to three days on the side of planet illuminated by the sun. Credit: CRASH Lab, University at Buffalo.

Venus is colloquially referred to as “Earth’s Twin”, owing to the similarities it has with our planet. Not surprisingly though, there is a great deal that scientists don’t know about Venus. Between the hot and hellish landscape, extremely thick atmosphere, and clouds of sulfuric rain, it is virtually impossible to explore the planet’s atmosphere and surface. What’s more, Venus’ slow rotation makes the study of its “dark side” all the more difficult.

However, these challenges have spawned a number of innovative concepts for exploration. One of these comes from the University of Buffalo’s Crashworthiness for Aerospace Structures and Hybrids (CRASH) Laboratory, where researchers are designing a unique concept known as the Bio-inspired Ray for Extreme Environments and Zonal Explorations (BREEZE).

October 26, 2019October 26, 2019 by Matt Williams

Skylon’s SABRE Engine Passes a Big Test

Artist's impression of a spaceplane that relies on the SABRE engine. Credit: Reaction Engines Ltd.

The UK aerospace company Reaction Engine Limited was founded in 1989 for the express purpose of creating engines that would lead to spaceplanes capable of horizontal take-off and landing (HOTOL). With support from the ESA, these efforts have resulted in the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE). Once complete, this system will combine elements of jet and rocket propulsion to achieve hypersonic speeds (Mach 5 to Mach 25).

Recently, Reaction Engines passed a major milestone with the development of their SABRE engine. As the company announced earlier this week (on Tues. Oct. 22nd), their engineers conducted a successful test of a vital component – the engine’s heat exchange element (aka. precooler). What’s more, the test involved airflow temperatures equivalent to speeds of Mach 5, which is in the hypersonic range.

October 23, 2019October 23, 2019 by Evan Gough

A Private Company in China Plans to Launch Reusable Rockets by 2021

Hyperbola-2 is Chinese company i-Space's second rocket design, and China's first reusable rocket. Image Credit: i-Space.

A Chinese company is planning to launch a rocket with a reusable booster in 2021. The company is called i-Space, and the rocket is called Hyperbola-2. They’ve already developed and launched another rocket, called Hyperbola.

October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 by Matt Williams

An Army of Tiny Robots Could Assemble Huge Structures in Space

Two prototype assembler robots at work putting together a series of small units, known as voxels, into a larger structure. Credit: MIT/CBA/Benjamin Jenett

We live in a world where multiple technological revolutions are taking place at the same time. While the leaps that are taking place in the fields of computing, robotics, and biotechnology are gaining a great deal of attention, less attention is being given to a field that is just as promising. This would be the field of manufacturing, where technologies like 3D printing and autonomous robots are proving to be a huge game-changer.

For example, there is the work being pursued by MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA). It is here that graduate student Benjamin Jenett and Professor Neil Gershenfeld (as part of Jenett’s doctoral thesis work) are working on tiny robots that are capable of assembling entire structures. This work could have implications for everything from aircraft and buildings to settlements in space.

October 17, 2019October 17, 2019 by Evan Gough

NASA’s New Lunar Spacesuit is Going to be a Lot More Comfortable for Astronauts

Artist's illustration of the new spacesuit NASA is designing for Artemis astronauts. It's called the xEMU,, or Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit. Image Credit: NASA

NASA is developing new spacesuits for their Artemis program. The new suits will give the astronauts greater mobility, will be safer, and will be designed from the ground up to fit women.

October 11, 2019October 11, 2019 by Evan Gough

A Satellite Just Launched Whose Job is to Extend the Life of Geosynchronous Satellites

MEV-1, Northrop-Grumman's Mission Extension Vehicle, can extend the life of geosynchronous orbit satellites. Image Credit: Northrop-Grumman, Space Logistics LLC.

Space Logistics LLC, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, has launched a satellite that can extend the life of other satellites. The satellite is called MEV-1, or Mission Extension Vehicle-1. MEV-1 is the first of its kind.

October 10, 2019October 10, 2019 by Evan Gough

This is What Moondust Looks Like When You Remove All the Oxygen. A Pile of Metal

On the left side of this before and after image is a pile of simulated lunar soil, or regolith; on the right is the same pile after essentially all the oxygen has been extracted from it, leaving a mixture of metal alloys. Both the oxygen and metal could be used in future by settlers on the Moon. Image Credit: Beth Lomax - University of Glasgow

The Moon has abundant oxygen and minerals, things that are indispensable to any space-faring civilization. The problem is they’re locked up together in the regolith. Separating the two will provide a wealth of critical resources, but separating them is a knotty problem.