Space and astronomy news
The Near Earth Asteroid (NEO) Apophis is expected to flyby the Earth in 2029. However, this flyby will be more of a “fly-very-close” as the lump of rock will miss the Earth by only a few thousand kilometers. This near-miss isn’t worrying scientists too much, but should the asteroid tumble through a 400 meter gravitational …
Continue reading ““Foresight” Wins First Prize in Apophis Asteroid Tagging Competition”
The zero-gravity of Earth orbit is a massive attraction to developers of new technologies. This highly controlled environment removes one of the key forces acting on experiments here on Earth, therefore allowing new techniques to be tried out. Although it can be great to get a highly sensitive experiment to test new technologies into orbit, …
Kessler Syndrome could be a frightening situation for space travel. No, it’s not a health risk to the human body in zero-G and it’s not a psychological disorder for astronauts spending too much time from home. Kessler Syndrome is the point at which space travel becomes impossible without hitting into a piece of space junk, …
A British engineering company has stepped into the commercial spaceflight arena with an ambitious and inspiring design of a possible airliner of the future. The A2, the design behind the Long-Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies (LAPCAT) project, will carry 300 passengers, will have a range of 20,000 km and will be capable of travelling …
Continue reading “British Engineers Design Hypersonic Passenger Jet”
Ever wondered what one of our robotic explorers can see right now? What can Cassini see as it orbits Saturn, continuing to explore the ringed gas giant? Now, in 3D, you can explore the probe yourself, seeing what Cassini sees with a neat 3D interactive viewer, imaging Saturn and her moons, accurately calculating where the …
Continue reading “Get a Better View of Saturn from Cassini, in 3D”
British scientists are working to build an invisible magnetic “Ion Shield” to be used during missions in space. A minature solar wind has been created in an Oxfordshire laboratory to simulate the highly charged particles emitted from the Sun and a magnetic “bubble” is being conceived to surround future spaceships. The magnetic field should have …
Continue reading “Scientists Designing “Ion Shield” To Protect Astronauts From Solar Wind”
Things are moving quickly for Virgin Galactic. The world’s first commercial space tourism company has gone from strength to strength since developing Scaled Composite’s X-Prize-winning space ship design into Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. Now, as Virgin Galactic is well on its way to building the world’s first space port in the New Mexico desert, Richard Branson …
Continue reading “Branson Outlines His Vision For Virgin Galactic, Video Interview”
Safety inspectors in California have cited Scaled Composites for being at fault for the explosion that killed three employees at their Mojave Air and Space Port. The explosion occurred in July 2007 and stunned the X-Prize winning company. They now face a maximum fine of $25,310. Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composite company has been going from …
Continue reading “Scaled Composites at Fault for Fatal Explosion”
British scientists have been given the green light to begin the development of the most advanced ion engines ever to be used in space travel history. Set for launch in 2013, the European/Japanese BepiColombo mission to Mercury will be propelled to the Solar System’s innermost planet by advanced ion engines, with an efficiency equivalent to …
Continue reading “Most Advanced Ion Engines For 2013 BepiColombo Mission to Mercury”
For his next big plan for the private space industry, Richard Branson is thinking up new ways to excite affluent space tourists: flying them into the biggest lightshow on Earth, the Aurora Borealis. Although the New Mexico Virgin Galactic Spaceport isn’t scheduled for completion until 2010, the British entrepreneur is already planning his next project …
Continue reading “Branson Wants to Fly Space Tourists into the Northern Lights”