söndag 24 april 2016
lördag 23 april 2016
Support the Mayak project.
Depending on where you are in the world and when, the brightest star in the night sky is likely to be the binary star Sirius, also known as Alpha Canis Majoris. But that could soon be about to change, if an amateur Russian satellite is launched mid-2016 as planned.
The satellite is called Mayak, or "beacon" in English, and it's designed to orbit opposite the Sun and reflect its light using giant sails, making it appear brighter to us than any other stars in the night sky - and, according to some reports, potentially even brighter than the Moon.
he satellite itself won't actually be doing any observations or scientific work, the goal of the project is quite simply to inspire humanity by creating an artificial 'star' that we can look up to, and the engineers behind it have already raised more than US$22,000 (1.7 million rubles) on Russian crowd-funding site, Boomstarter.
"We are sending a spacecraft into orbit that will be the brightest star in the sky, visible from any point on our planet," project leader Alexander Shaenko, head of the Contemporary Cosmonautics program at Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University, told Sputnik News.
"We want to show that space exploration is something exciting and interesting, but most importantly that today it is accessible to everybody who is interested."
Even though Shaenko is employed as an engineer, he's working on the Mayak project on the side, and the whole thing is essentially being run by enthusiasts, which will make it Russia's first amateur satellite to enter space if all goes to plan.
Mayak itself is only roughly the size of a loaf of bread, but it's designed to unfurl a 16-square-metre, triangular sail once it gets into orbit 600 km above the Earth, turning the whole thing into a giant, reflective pyramid.
According to the Boomstarter page, the sail is made of a thin polymer material, and the engineers are now working on an aerodynamic braking system for the satellite, which will allow it to move into lower orbit without using its engine, and help it to avoid space junk.
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, has now agreed to launch Mayak into space on board its Soyuz-2 rocket as early as July this year.
"Attracting young people to the field of cosmonautics is one of our priorities," a Roscosmos spokesperson told Sputnik News. "Roscosmos works seriously with universities and by supporting projects like Mayak we boost the motivation of students to work for Russian space rocket enterprises in the future."
There's still a lot of work to do before launch though - the team has to finish all the testing, and the engineers also want to build a model of the satellite to go on display in Moscow's Museum of Cosmonautics, so students can be inspired by it during the daytime as well.
But the delay might not be a bad thing, because there are concerns that this artificial star could get in the way for stargazers who want to see the real things, or even worse, scientists who need to filter out light in order to study the skies.
It's not yet clear how much of an issue this will be, but it's something that will hopefully be considered before the satellite is sent into Earth's orbit indefinitely. Because we all love to look at new objects in the night sky, but not if it interferes with all the natural beauty of space.
ESA Euronews.EGNOS - navigation and security.
At the Danish Air Ambulance base in Billund, satellite navigation is a true lifesaver in the sky.
Space Station Astronaut Answers Questions from Space.
Space to Ground.
torsdag 21 april 2016
16th annual Student Launch competition in Huntsville, Alabama.
Space Station 360.
The laboratory is renowned for its volume and extra features such as its external robotic arm, an airlock to send experiments outside, and an external facility to expose experiments to space. Nanosats can be launched from Kibo through the airlock, making the Station a base for deploying satellites as well as a weightless research centre for biology, physics and medicine.
lördag 16 april 2016
Support the Mayak project.
Depending on where you are in the world and when, the brightest star in the night sky is likely to be the binary star Sirius, also known as Alpha Canis Majoris. But that could soon be about to change, if an amateur Russian satellite is launched mid-2016 as planned.
The satellite is called Mayak, or "beacon" in English, and it's designed to orbit opposite the Sun and reflect its light using giant sails, making it appear brighter to us than any other stars in the night sky - and, according to some reports, potentially even brighter than the Moon.
he satellite itself won't actually be doing any observations or scientific work, the goal of the project is quite simply to inspire humanity by creating an artificial 'star' that we can look up to, and the engineers behind it have already raised more than US$22,000 (1.7 million rubles) on Russian crowd-funding site, Boomstarter.
"We are sending a spacecraft into orbit that will be the brightest star in the sky, visible from any point on our planet," project leader Alexander Shaenko, head of the Contemporary Cosmonautics program at Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University, told Sputnik News.
"We want to show that space exploration is something exciting and interesting, but most importantly that today it is accessible to everybody who is interested."
Even though Shaenko is employed as an engineer, he's working on the Mayak project on the side, and the whole thing is essentially being run by enthusiasts, which will make it Russia's first amateur satellite to enter space if all goes to plan.
Mayak itself is only roughly the size of a loaf of bread, but it's designed to unfurl a 16-square-metre, triangular sail once it gets into orbit 600 km above the Earth, turning the whole thing into a giant, reflective pyramid.
According to the Boomstarter page, the sail is made of a thin polymer material, and the engineers are now working on an aerodynamic braking system for the satellite, which will allow it to move into lower orbit without using its engine, and help it to avoid space junk.
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, has now agreed to launch Mayak into space on board its Soyuz-2 rocket as early as July this year.
"Attracting young people to the field of cosmonautics is one of our priorities," a Roscosmos spokesperson told Sputnik News. "Roscosmos works seriously with universities and by supporting projects like Mayak we boost the motivation of students to work for Russian space rocket enterprises in the future."
There's still a lot of work to do before launch though - the team has to finish all the testing, and the engineers also want to build a model of the satellite to go on display in Moscow's Museum of Cosmonautics, so students can be inspired by it during the daytime as well.
But the delay might not be a bad thing, because there are concerns that this artificial star could get in the way for stargazers who want to see the real things, or even worse, scientists who need to filter out light in order to study the skies.
It's not yet clear how much of an issue this will be, but it's something that will hopefully be considered before the satellite is sent into Earth's orbit indefinitely. Because we all love to look at new objects in the night sky, but not if it interferes with all the natural beauty of space.
Space Station 360: Columbus.
The state-of-the-art facility offers 75 cubic metres of workspace and contains a suite of research equipment. External platforms support experiments and applications in space science, Earth observation and technology.
Columbus offers European scientists full access to a weightless environment that cannot be duplicated on Earth.
Explore Columbus in Flickr, Facebook or YouTube format with your mobile phone and virtual-reality headset, or take the full tour including all Space Station modules with videos and extra information below. We will release a new Space Station module in 360° every week on Thursday.
fredag 15 april 2016
fredag 8 april 2016
Support the Mayak project.
Depending on where you are in the world and when, the brightest star in the night sky is likely to be the binary star Sirius, also known as Alpha Canis Majoris. But that could soon be about to change, if an amateur Russian satellite is launched mid-2016 as planned.
The satellite is called Mayak, or "beacon" in English, and it's designed to orbit opposite the Sun and reflect its light using giant sails, making it appear brighter to us than any other stars in the night sky - and, according to some reports, potentially even brighter than the Moon.
he satellite itself won't actually be doing any observations or scientific work, the goal of the project is quite simply to inspire humanity by creating an artificial 'star' that we can look up to, and the engineers behind it have already raised more than US$22,000 (1.7 million rubles) on Russian crowd-funding site, Boomstarter.
"We are sending a spacecraft into orbit that will be the brightest star in the sky, visible from any point on our planet," project leader Alexander Shaenko, head of the Contemporary Cosmonautics program at Moscow State Mechanical Engineering University, told Sputnik News.
"We want to show that space exploration is something exciting and interesting, but most importantly that today it is accessible to everybody who is interested."
Even though Shaenko is employed as an engineer, he's working on the Mayak project on the side, and the whole thing is essentially being run by enthusiasts, which will make it Russia's first amateur satellite to enter space if all goes to plan.
Mayak itself is only roughly the size of a loaf of bread, but it's designed to unfurl a 16-square-metre, triangular sail once it gets into orbit 600 km above the Earth, turning the whole thing into a giant, reflective pyramid.
According to the Boomstarter page, the sail is made of a thin polymer material, and the engineers are now working on an aerodynamic braking system for the satellite, which will allow it to move into lower orbit without using its engine, and help it to avoid space junk.
The Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, has now agreed to launch Mayak into space on board its Soyuz-2 rocket as early as July this year.
"Attracting young people to the field of cosmonautics is one of our priorities," a Roscosmos spokesperson told Sputnik News. "Roscosmos works seriously with universities and by supporting projects like Mayak we boost the motivation of students to work for Russian space rocket enterprises in the future."
There's still a lot of work to do before launch though - the team has to finish all the testing, and the engineers also want to build a model of the satellite to go on display in Moscow's Museum of Cosmonautics, so students can be inspired by it during the daytime as well.
But the delay might not be a bad thing, because there are concerns that this artificial star could get in the way for stargazers who want to see the real things, or even worse, scientists who need to filter out light in order to study the skies.
It's not yet clear how much of an issue this will be, but it's something that will hopefully be considered before the satellite is sent into Earth's orbit indefinitely. Because we all love to look at new objects in the night sky, but not if it interferes with all the natural beauty of space.
Next ISS Supply Mission Previewed.
The Dragon will carry science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the Expedition 47 and 48 crews. This launch is the eighth contracted mission by SpaceX under NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services contract.
The Science and Tech on the Next ISS Supply Mission.
torsdag 7 april 2016
Space Station 360: Harmony (Node 2)
Harmony was developed for NASA under an ESA contract with European industry. Its structure is based on that of the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules and the Europe’s Columbus.
måndag 4 april 2016
Earth Expeditions: Oceans Melting Greenland.
söndag 3 april 2016
Earth from Space: Sentinel-3: better than good.
lördag 2 april 2016
Orion Backstage: Chris Cassidy and Heather Paul.
StationLIFE: Observing the Earth – April 2016.
The International Space Station is part of a fleet of Earth remote-sensing platforms to develop a scientific understanding of Earth’s systems and its response to natural or human-induced changes and to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards. Unlike automated remote-sensing platforms, the station has a human crew, a low-orbit altitude, and orbital parameters that provide variable views and lighting. It also has an inclined, sun-asynchronous orbit that carries it over 90 percent of the inhabited surface of the Earth and allows for the ISS to pass over ground locations at different times of the day and night. This is different and complimentary to other orbiting satellites.
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