In a recent paper published in EPJ Special Topics, Jhonathan O. Murcia Piñeros, a post-doctoral researcher at Space Electronics Division, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, São José dos Campos, Brazil, and his co-authors, map the energy variations of the spacecraft orbits during ‘aerogravity assisted’ (AGA) maneuvers. A technique in which energy gains are granted to a spacecraft by a close encounter…
Tag: close encounter
See the bright ‘evening star’ Venus swing by the crescent moon tonight
After a close encounter with the moon on Sunday (April 26), Venus will be at its greatest brightness of the year on Tuesday (April 28). Source: https://www.livescience.com/watch-bright-venus-moon-conjunction-april-2020.html
Is ‘Oumuamua a fragment of a shattered super-Earth?
Computer simulations confirm that ‘Oumuamua – an object from another star system that sped near our sun in 2017 – likely formed via a close encounter with its star. ‘Oumuamua may have originated in a debris disk, they said, or even a shattered super-Earth. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/new-formation-theory-interstellar-object-oumuamua…
Parker Solar Probe Reports Successful Record-Setting Fourth Close Encounter of the Sun
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is healthy and operating as designed following its fourth close approach to the Sun, called perihelion, on Jan. 29. From a report: Mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, received a “status A” beacon from the spacecraft at 5:20 a.m. EST on Feb. 1. Status A is the best of four possible…