Lifeboat Foundation

Navigating and mapping rivers has long been a central component in human exploration. Whether it was Powell exploring the Colorado’s canyons or Pizarro using the Amazon to try to find El Dorado, rivers, and our exploration of them, have been extremely important. Now, scientists have mapped out an entirely new, unique river basin. This one happens to be on an entirely different planet, and dried up billions of years ago.

Three to four billion years ago, Mars did in fact have running rivers of water. Evidence for these rivers has shown up in satellite imagery and rover samples for almost as long as we have been exploring the red planet. Since Mars has little tectonics or erosion, that evidence has remained somewhat intact until the present day.

Recently, a team of scientists developed a tool to better examine those features. They managed to stitch together an 8-trillion pixel image of the entire Martian surface. Each pixel in this incredibly detailed image represents about a 5–6 square meter area. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t seem to available to the general public just year. Whether it is or not it is sure to prove useful for a variety of research projects regarding the environment of Mars. One of the first ones, which was recently published a paper in Geology was a map of the red planet’s river “ridges”.

The Gaia space telescope has measured the acceleration of the Solar System when it orbits the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The Solar System motion relative to the stars agrees with the results by Finnish astronomers in the 19th century. Moreover, the observational data by Gaia improves satellite navigation.

Earlier this month, the European Space Agency (ESA) released observational data from the Gaia telescope (Gaia Early Data Release 3 or EDR3), in continuation to the DR1 and DR2 releases of the years 2016 and 2018. Gaia accrues accurate knowledge about, for example, the Milky Way stars, distant extragalactic quasars, and the asteroids of our Solar System.

Continue reading “Acceleration of the Solar System Measured by the Gaia Space Telescope” »

Japanese company Sumitomo Forestry has announced a joint development project with Kyoto University to test the idea of using wood as a component in satellite construction. As part of the announcement, officials with Sumitomo Forestry told reporters that work on the project will begin with experiments designed to test different types of wood in extreme environments.

Some of the major components in most satellites include aluminum, Kevlar and aluminum alloys, which are able to withstand both temperature extremes and constant bombardment by radiation—all in a vacuum. Unfortunately, these characteristics also allow satellites to remain in orbit long after their usefulness has ended, resulting in constant additions to the space junk orbiting the planet. According to the World Economic Forum, there are currently approximately 6000 satellites circling the Earth but only 60% of them are still in use. Some in the field have predicted that nearly 1000 satellites will be launched into space each year over the coming decade. Considering their lifespan, this suggests there could be thousands more dead satellites orbiting the planet in the coming years. This space debris poses a significant threat to other satellites (they all travel thousands of miles per hour) and also to manned space missions.

Eco-friendly even in outer space. 🛰️

A Japanese forestry firm has partnered with Kyoto University in what would be a world first.

In the past twenty years, one of the biggest developments to take place in the realm of space exploration has been the growth of the commercial space industry (aka. NewSpace). As a result of growing demand and declining costs, more companies are coming to the fore to offer launch services that are making space more accessible and cost-effective.

One such company is the space delivery services company Aevum, an Alabama-based startup specializing in Autonomous Launch Vehicles (AuLVs). On Dec. 3rd, 2020, Aevum unveiled their prototype vehicle, the RAVN-X. Once operational, this autonomous suborbital spaceplane will be able to send satellites and other small payloads to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) in just three hours.

The term Aevum (derived from the Latin word for age) comes from the Scholastic philosophy of the Middle Ages. Basically, it refers to the state of existence experienced by the angles, between the temporal realm (where the mortals live) and eternity (God in heaven). In the context of aerospace, it refers to LEO, the region that lies between Earth and outer space.

Updated Dec. 17 with State Department statement

WASHINGTON — Russia on Dec. 15 conducted a ballistic missile test that U.S. Space Command condemned as a threat to satellites in orbit.

“The nation must do something about this,” said Lt. Gen. Nina Armagno, director of staff of the Office of the Chief of Space Operations of the U.S. Space Force.

To provide internet to the one million people the firm will send to colonize the Red Planet…

SpaceX recently shared an ambitious plan to build a Starlink satellite constellation around Mars. The devices would allow the human who move to the Red Planet communicate.

Continue reading “SpaceX aims to build a Starlink mega constellation around MARS” »

Go big or go home. This Alabama-based start-up just unveiled the biggest drone in the world — and it looks sublime. The massive drone, called the Ravn X, is designed to launch small satellites into orbit while airborne.

Aevum — the space startup — has worked mainly in the background, until yesterday when they unveiled their gigantic autonomous drone.

They built the high-altitude aircraft and launch vehicle to ferry satellites to orbit and improve space access — similar goals to space-tech leaders like Virgin Orbit, Rocket Lab, and SpaceX. But if you want to get ahead of the competition and can’t be the first, why not be the biggest?

This missile system is designed to reach up and smash enemy satellites in orbit.

Russia has carried out another test of its new PL19 Nudol anti-satellite weapon system, a ground-launched missile designed to destroy satellites stationed in low-Earth orbit in order to deny their use by Russia’s enemies.

Continue reading “It Sure Looks Like Russia Just Tested a Space Weapon” »