OrbitalHub

Planetary Resources dixit:

“Built in compliance with the 6U CubeSat standard, the Arkyd-6 (A6) includes the core technology that will be used in the company’s asteroid exploration program including a mid-wave infrared sensor, second-generation avionics, power systems, communications, and attitude determination and control systems.

The A6 instrument is a broadband imager spanning 3 to 5 microns within the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. This region is sensitive to the presence of water – including that in hydrated minerals – and thermal energy, allowing it to be used as a tool to search for water on Earth and beyond. In support of our deep space exploration efforts, A6 is a part of Planetary Resources’ research and development work to create an instrument capable of detecting water on near-Earth asteroids.”

Video credit: Planetary Resources

ESA dixit:

“The teams involved in ESA’s Herschel space observatory reflect on the mission and its legacy. Herschel launched in May 2009 and studied the cool Universe in infrared and sub-millimetre wavelengths for nearly four years.

Highlights included surveying the glow of cold cosmic dust embedded in interstellar clouds of gas to unlock the secrets of star formation, and peering back in time to when the Universe was less than one billion years old to study galaxy evolution. The observatory also traced out the presence of water in star-forming clouds, detected it for the first time in the seeds of future stars and planets, and identified the delivery of water from interplanetary debris to planets in our Solar System.

Although the Herschel mission has now reached retirement, its legacy continues and it will remain a primary reference for astronomers for many years to come. “

Video credit: ESA

ESA dixit:

“ESA and European industry are currently developing a new-generation launcher: Ariane 6. This follows the decision taken at the ESA Council meeting at Ministerial level in December 2014, to maintain Europe’s leadership in the fast-changing commercial launch service market while responding to the needs of European institutional missions. This move is associated with a change in the governance of the European launcher sector, based on a sharing of responsibility, cost and risk by ESA and industry.

The participating states are: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The overarching aim of Ariane 6 is to provide guaranteed access to space for Europe at a competitive price without requiring public sector support for exploitation. Different concepts have been examined for Ariane 6 such as single- and dual-payloads, solid or cryogenic propulsion for the main stage, and the number of stages (three or more), all to cover a wide range of missions: GEO, either directly or through intermediate orbits, in particular GTO and LEO; Polar/SSO; MEO or MTO.

The targeted payload performance of Ariane 6 is over 4.5 t for polar/Sun-synchronous orbit missions at 800 km altitude and the injection of two first-generation Galileo satellites. Ariane 6 can loft a payload mass of 4.5–10.5 tonnes in equivalent geostationary transfer orbit.

The exploitation cost of the Ariane 6 launch system is its key driver. Launch service costs will be halved, while maintaining reliability by reusing the trusted engines of Ariane 5. The first flight is scheduled for 2020.”

Video credit: ESA

On November 28, 2017, 08:41 Moscow time, a space vehicle Soyuz-2.1b lifted off from Vostochny Cosmodrome. The upper stage Fregat successfully placed into orbit a Meteor-M spacecraft.

~ dj.

Video credit: Roscosmos

NASA dixit:

“NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik captured this footage with a GoPro camera on October 20, 2017 during a spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Bresnik reflected on this quiet moment, ‘Sometimes on a #spacewalk, you just have to take a moment to enjoy the beauty of our planet Earth. This Go-Pro footage is from our spacewalk where Joe Acaba and I refurbished the Canadarm2 robotic arm and the Dextre robotic arm extension.'”

Video credit: NASA

Planetary Resources dixit:

“Asteroid mining is the key to our future expansion into space.

Planetary Resources is conducting the first commercial exploration of resources on near Earth asteroids.

The first resource that we’re interested in is water. Water, when you break it down into the elements Hydrogen and Oxygen, is rocket fuel – currently the best way to get around the Solar System.

In much the same way that the economic activity on Earth is enabled by fossil fuels, in space, we will have a water-based economy. The Earth’s gravity well is so deep that the cost of bringing propellant from Earth to fuel that economy in space will be prohibitive.”

Read more about how asteroid mining is the key to our future expansion into space.

Video credit: Planetary Resources