The human race has seen drastic advancements in space exploration over the last five decades. However, humans missions still remain few and far between. The reason for that is considered to be the fuel used in the missions. Until now, most missions to space have used hydrazine, which is a dangerous and toxic chemical for humans to use and handle. Handling the colourless liquid requires some very strict safety precautions. Now, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the United States has announced that it is planning on testing a new fuel for spacecraft. Dubbed the Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) it uses a non-toxic, rose coloured solution that can be a [...]
The National Aeronautical Space Agency of the US has opened the door for business endeavours in the ISS. The American space agency made this decision with national interest in mind. “US industry innovation and ingenuity can accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-orbit,” as stated by NASA in a press release, will open the space station to private sectors
NASA executives announced today the commercial viability of opening up certain sections of the International Space Station. This will allow companies to work in space with the station’s facilities. The filming industry could greatly utilize the opportunity for filming commercials or movies in space. [...]
Space collisions are a very common occurrence, considering that 128 million pieces of debris is floating around in space. A small marble-sized piece of debris can deal a significant amount of damage to a spacecraft. Furthermore, while landing, a lot of force is exerted by reusable rockets on both the ends i.e. the landing pad and the rocket itself. In order to make space vehicles more durable to withstand such collisions, scientists are taking design ideas from the Japanese paper-folding art, also popularly known as Origami.
Researchers from the University of Washington have derived inspiration from Origami techniques and have developed a solution that can serve to keep [...]
Relativity Space, a three year old start up, that wishes to send 3D printed rockets to space have finally received a launchpad in Cape Canaveral. Cape Canaveral is America’s busiest spaceport. Relativity is reportedly taking over a site called LC-16. This pad was previously used by the US military to launch Titan and Pershing ballistic missiles at a point in time. The announcement was made by the company on Thursday. According to the company, they have a five-year agreement with US Air Force to operate out of the launchpad in Cape Canaveral.
Relativity will be the fourth company to gain access to the popular [...]
Researchers in a recent study have revealed that an observation was made of a mysterious bright object that lit up the night sky. This sudden glow spotted from Earth, 200 million light years away disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Scientists believe it may have been the exact moment that a star collapsed into a compact object. This might be the birth of a black hole or a neutron star.
The CowNicknamed ‘The Cow’, the formation of a blackhole is the direct result of a star’s death. The scientists also said that such a phenomenon, the birth of a black hole, has never been witnessed before. Raffaella Margutti, was [...]
SpaceX, short for Space Exploration Technologies Corp is a privately owned American company that manufactures aerospace vehicles and offers space transportation services. The company was founded in 2002 and has since developed two lineups of aerospace vehicles which are Falcon and Dragon. SpaceX has successfully developed orbital rockets that are capable of being reused. This feature allows SpaceX rockets to drastically reduce the costs of launching satellites in and around earth’s orbit. On 11 January 2019, the company successfully launched its first rocket of the year.
Falcon 9 Successfully Launches The Last Batch Of Iridium SatellitesSpaceX previously signed a [...]
Mars, for long has remained a planet which has captivated the imagination of the human race. For some reason, we have always maintained an obsession with the red planet making it become almost an enigma for us. Much of it is down to the fact that for all our technological advancements, we haven’t yet deciphered a fuel efficient and quick way to reach Mars, but all of it is about to change.
Russia is reportedly working on a super-fast spaceship which will take Astronauts to Mars in 45 days, as compared to what is 18 months using the current generation rocket propulsion technology. Talking about this, head of Russia’s state nuclear body Rosatom, [...]
What happens if you send something up in a weather balloon and instead of it coming back down like you expect it to, it gets lost somewhere in a desert 80 kilometers away from you?
This is exactly what happened to a group of Arizona-based students who wanted to see what their GoPro camera could capture when attached to a weather balloon and sent it high up to the edge of space. No doubt their intention was on seeing something spectacular when the camera returned back.
The preparation for it was all planned well as the video below shows. The team spent months testing parachutes, calculating wind trajectories, custom 3D printing their GoPro case, and a spacecraft. The [...]
