The nominal peak of the North Taurid meteor shower is on the night of November 11-12, 2020. Source: https://earthsky.org/sky-archive/peak-night-for-n-taurid-meteor-shower-on-november-1112…
Tag: debris
New research on imposter stars may improve astronomical data
Quick flashes of light in the night sky have been linked to the growing mass of satellites and debris zipping around Earth’s orbit. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-11-imposter-stars-astronomical.html…
SpaceX Starship as a trash collector in Earth orbit?
SpaceX Starship’s many tasks may include launching humans into space, carrying satellites into orbit and — perhaps — removing troublesome pieces of space debris. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spacex-starship-clean-up-space-junk…
Mars plays shepherd to our moon’s long-lost twin, scientists find
An international team of planetary scientists led by astronomers at AOP have found an asteroid trailing behind Mars with a composition very similar to the moon’s. The asteroid could be an ancient piece of debris, dating back to the gigantic impacts that formed the moon and the other rocky planets in our solar system like Mars and the Earth. The research,…
Deep-learning algorithms helping to clear space junk from our skies
How do you measure the pose—that is the 3-D rotation and 3-D translation—of a piece of space junk so that a grasping satellite can capture it in real time in order to successfully remove it from Earth’s orbit? What role will deep learning algorithms play? And, what is real time in space? These are some of the questions being tackled in…
NASA’s Probe Sampled Too Much From Asteroid Bennu and Now It’s Leaking
Iwastheone shares some space news from OPB: A NASA spacecraft sent out to collect a sample of rock and dust from an asteroid has nabbed so much that it’s created an unexpected problem. Rocks are jammed in the device in a way that’s keeping a Mylar flap open, creating a gap that’s letting some of the collected pebbles and dust drift…
‘How 30 Lines of Code Blew Up a 27-Ton Generator’
After the U.S. unveiled charges against six members of the Sandworm unit in Russia’s military intelligence agency, Wired re-visited “a secret experiment in 2007 proved that hackers could devastate power grid equipment beyond repair — with a file no bigger than a gif.” It’s an excerpt from the new book SANDWORM: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the…
Top 10 things to know about asteroid Bennu
Take a video tour of asteroid Bennu’s remarkable terrain and read a list of 10 cool things scientists know about this pristine remnant from the early days of our solar system. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/top-10-things-to-know-about-asteroid-bennu-video-tour…
A Dead Soviet Satellite and An Old Rocket Booster Could Collide In Space Tonight
Space traffic experts are tracking two pieces of orbital garbage that appear to be careening toward each other: A defunct Soviet satellite and a discarded Chinese rocket booster that are expected to nearly miss each other — with a slight chance of colliding — Thursday evening. CNN reports: No one knows for sure if the objects will collide, and near-misses happen…
Earth’s space junk problem is getting worse. And there’s an explosive component.
We really need to stop leaving trash everywhere we go. Source: https://www.livescience.com/space-debris-problem-getting-worse.html