OrbitalHub

Planetary Resources dixit:

“We are underway with the development of Planetary Resources’ next spacecraft platform – the Arkyd-301. Our latest completed spacecraft, the Arkyd-6, has helped create the technical framework for Arkyd-301. We expect to learn more once our Arkyd-6 spacecraft launches and enters into operation in early 2018.

After Arkyd-6 launches, we enter our initial operations phase in which we will access all of its critical functions such as power generation, power storage, two-way communication, attitude determination, attitude control, and instrument operation. The continued operation of Arkyd-6 will include comparing its on-orbit performance with predicted behaviors and will further validate and inform our company’s design philosophies for Arkyd-301.

One of the things that we are most excited about is our onboard mid-wave infrared imager, which will not only be able to produce interesting images of our planet but also generate valuable scientific data. Enormous effort and careful radiometric calibration will allow us to assign a physical value to each and every pixel. We are maturing this remote sensing capability for use on the Arkyd-301 platform with a more advanced scientific imager that will enable the collection of calibrated spectral data for use in detecting water signatures on other planetary bodies.

The lessons that we continue to learn from the development and operation of Arkyd-6 will help us move closer to our goal of providing in-space resources to fuel industry and sustain life beyond Earth.”

Video credit: Planetary Resources

NASA dixit:

“This week we’ll see the 53rd set of crew members return to Earth from the International Space Station, but we’ll only “see” it from the outside. What will the astronauts and cosmonauts see as they depart their home in space and return to the planet from whence they came? If you’ve got 60 seconds to spare, here’s the insider’s view of what a return to Earth on a Soyuz spacecraft looks like to the people on board.”

Video credit: NASA

NASA dixit:

“The SpaceX CRS-13 mission begins with an on-time liftoff of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Launch occurred on December 15 at 10:36 a.m. EST. The Dragon is carrying equipment, science and supplies to the International Space Station on SpaceX’s 13th commercial cargo resupply mission.”

Video credit: NASA Kennedy Space Center

NASA dixit:

“Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star, with the recent discovery of an eighth planet circling Kepler-90, a Sun-like star 2,545 light years from Earth. The planet was discovered in data from NASA’s Kepler space telescope.

The newly-discovered Kepler-90i — a sizzling hot, rocky planet that orbits its star once every 14.4 days — was found by researchers from Google and The University of Texas at Austin using machine learning. Machine learning is an approach to artificial intelligence in which computers “learn.” In this case, computers learned to identify planets by finding in Kepler data instances where the telescope recorded signals from planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets.”

Video credit: NASA Ames Research Center

Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system performed a giant leap nearer completion on Tuesday 12 December, as four more Galileo satellites were launched into orbit by Ariane 5.

Liftoff from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana took place at 18:36 UTC (19:36 CET, 15:36 local time), carrying Galileo satellites 19–22. Separation of the upper stage occurred about nine minutes after liftoff, followed by the first firing of the upper stage. The upper stage – carrying four 715-kg Galileo satellites – flew in ballistic configuration for three hours and eight minutes, after which a second upper stage firing placed it into circular separation orbit. Once stabilised at 3h 35 min after liftoff, the Galileo dispenser released the first two satellites, followed by the second pair 20 minutes later.

At orbital injection the launcher attained an altitude of 22 925 km, approximately 300 km below the Galileo satellites’ operational altitude. The four satellites manoeuvred themselves up to this height, leaving the passivated upper stage safely in a ‘graveyard orbit’.

Video credit: ESA

Planetary Resources dixit:

“The Arkyd-6 spacecraft not only tests our core technologies, but also tests how we work together as a team. In this video, our Director of Systems Engineering Brian Douglas describes the design and engineering philosophies that worked really well for us when building Arkyd-6.

Using components that were not originally designed for space, innovating where it makes sense, and having a single owner from a hardware’s inception to its operation are some philosophies that we will continue to build upon as we design the Arkyd-301 spacecraft. ​”

Video credit: Planetary Resources