A commercial nanosat called SpaceTy Beihangkongshi-1 – launched November 2020 – has successfully used an iodine thruster to change its orbit around Earth. This new thruster might help clear space junk by steering small satellites, at the end of their missions, back into Earth’s atmosphere where they’d burn up. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/iodine-thruster-might-help-clear-space-junk…
Tag: thruster
The first CubeSat with a Hall-effect thruster has gone to space
Student-led teams aren’t the only ones testing out novel electric propulsion techniques recently. Back in November, a company called Exotrail successfully tested a completely new kind of electric propulsion system in space—a small Hall-effect thruster. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-01-cubesat-hall-effect-thruster-space.html…
The Yarkovsky effect: Pushing asteroids around with sunlight
The Yarkovsky effect is a minuscule push on a small body in space, imparted by nothing more than sunlight. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/the-yarkovsky-effect-pushing-asteroids-around-with-sunlight…
Asteroid or space junk? Approaching object might become Earth’s mini-moon
A newly discovered “asteroid” may become a new mini-moon for Earth. Instead of an ordinary asteroid, it might be a lost rocket from the Surveyor 2 mission, launched from Earth more than 50 years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/2020-so-mini-moon-asteroid-or-space-junk…
Sticking the landing on Mars: High-powered computing aims to reduce guesswork
Future spacecrafts bound for the moon or beyond will benefit from high-powered computer simulations underway at the University of Michigan that model the particulate mayhem set in motion by rocket thruster-powered landings. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-mars-high-powered-aims-guesswork.html…
Image: Letting a satellite breathe
This air intake collector is designed to harvest sufficient air particles as it skims the top of the atmosphere to fuel an “air-breathing” electric thruster. The aim is to help satellites to overcome atmospheric drag to operate on an ongoing basis in orbits from as low as 180 km to a maximum 250 km altitude. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-07-image-satellite.html…
How better propulsion systems can improve space exploration
Aero/Astro engineer Ken Hara is developing computer models to help make a little-known, but widely-used thruster engine more suitable for long-distance missions. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-02-propulsion-space-exploration.html…
NASA Safety Panel Calls For Reviews After Second Starliner Software Problem
A second software problem during a CST-100 Starliner test flight is prompting a NASA safety panel to recommend a review of Boeing’s software verification processes. Space News reports: That new software problem, not previously discussed by NASA or Boeing, was discussed during a Feb. 6 meeting of NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel that examined the December uncrewed test flight of Starliner…
What Exactly Happened During Boeing’s Starliner Mission to the ISS?
Space News reports on Boeing’s Saturday update about the “Starliner” spacecraft which cut short a test flight last week: Boeing emphasized the good condition of the spacecraft, which showed “little scorching” from reentry and used only a fraction of its onboard propellant reserved for reentry, which the company said confirmed aerodynamic models of the spacecraft. The interior of the Starliner cabin…