Caltech: Caltech to Launch Space Solar Power Technology Demo into Orbit in January. “In January 2023, the Caltech Space Solar Power Project (SSPP) is poised to launch into orbit a prototype, dubbed the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), which will test several key components of an ambitious plan to harvest solar power in space and beam the energy back to Earth.”
Center for European Policy Analysis: The Sky’s Not the Limit: Space Aid to Ukraine. “Despite the signal sent by Russia’s blunt-force space weapons test in November — signaling at the very least its keen interest in the military aspects of space — it is the West that has employed a wide array of government and private sector space technology to aid Ukraine, including satellite platforms providing vital open-source intelligence (OSINT), diplomatic, and humanitarian support.”
New-to-me, and now updated, from the Union of Concerned Scientists: UCS Satellite Database Update: More than 2,200 Active Satellites. “We have updated the UCS Satellite Database, including launches through September 30, 2019. Lots of movement this time, with 209 satellites added and 53 removed for a total of 2,218 actively working satellites. Much of the growth is being driven by the deployment of large commercial satellite systems.”
CNBC: There’s a new database of thousands of jobs at space companies, including SpaceX, Blue Origin and more. “Called ‘Space Talent,’ the database features over 2,900 open jobs listed across 140 companies in the space industry, from engineering to design to administration. Listings include rocket companies like SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic; satellite operators such as SES and Maxar’s Digital Globe, Planet Labs and ICEYE; as well as lunar robotics company Astrobotic.”
New Atlas: Track spacecraft as they talk to Earth in real time with new ESA tool. “The European Space Agency has released a new tool that allows space enthusiasts to track their favorite missions in real time as they communicate with ground stations back on Earth. The service provides a range of information on spacecraft and antennae, including how long it takes for a signal to travel between the two, and the distance that separates them.”
MakeUseOf: 5 Sites for Space Geek to Celebrate and Relive the First Moon Landing. “July 20, 2019, marks the 50th anniversary of the day man first stepped on the moon. Relieve this historical moment through live recreations, virtual museums, documentaries, and other cool web tools.”
Futurism: A New Website Tracks The Just-Launched Solar Sail Spaceship . “Last month, a spacecraft called LightSail 2 — which uses a solar sail to propel itself using sunlight — was sent into space. Now a new website run by The Planetary Society, the space research organization that developed the solar sail, publishes every update it sends down.”
CNET: NASA teams with Google to create huge, stunning visual universe. “The NASA visual universe was created via machine learning, which analysed the space agency’s extensive archives to present its images in an awe-inspiring constellation. Drilling down into the extensive archives allows you to see over 150,000 images all clustered into individual categories from ‘astronauts’ to ‘hubble’ to ‘Discovery’ and ‘Independence Day’. “
Australian Defence Magazine: New website to explain space law. “The space industry is set to benefit from expert guidance from University of Adelaide lawyers on Australian and international laws that regulate their activities. The Australian Navigational Guide Explaining Laws for Space (ANGELS) website will be created in a project of the same name, by the University’s Adelaide Law School and law firm International Aerospace Law and Policy Group (IALPG). A grant of nearly $100,000 from the Law Foundation of SA has financed the project.”
Sky & Telescope: Amateur Planet Hunters Have a New Online Resource. “Searching for planets outside our solar system might seem like a task best left to the pros. But amateurs have quite a bit to contribute as well. That’s the impetus for a new online database for collecting and archiving amateur exoplanet observations. The database, managed by the non-profit American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), will provide a central hub for the long-term monitoring that is essential for refining the orbits and properties of known exoplanets as well as looking for hints of worlds that have yet to be discovered.”
Phys .org: Jodrell Bank Observatory release 50 year-old audio archive of Soviet Zond 6 lunar mission. “Jodrell Bank is releasing audio recordings of a Soviet space mission from fifty years ago, just as the race to the moon was approaching the finish line. On November 10th 1968, the Soviet Union launched Zond 6. Its mission was to loop around the moon and return to Earth safely. Although there was nobody on board, it was planned as a precursor to a crewed flight around the moon, racing to beat the American’s Apollo 8 whose launch was scheduled for December 1968.”
Ubergizmo: SpaceX’s Moon Mission Will Be Live Streamed In VR. “SpaceX recently confirmed more details about its Moon mission that’s planned for 2023. It also revealed the identity of the company’s first paying passenger for the trip around the moon who will be accompanied by eight artists on the trip as well. If you’re not one of those people, don’t worry, you will be able to experience the entire mission in virtual reality.”
Google Blog: Step aboard Discovery with virtual reality. “Today, on the 34th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Discovery’s maiden voyage, the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and Google Arts & Culture have teamed up to bring visitors into the orbiter like never before. Two of the astronauts who helped deliver Hubble to orbit as part of STS-31—Maj Gen Charlie Bolden and Dr. Kathy Sullivan—take us on a 360 journey inside Discovery at the Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.”
NASA: NASA, University of Texas at Dallas Reveal Apollo 11 Behind-the-Scenes Audio. “NASA’s Johnson Space Center has the only functional remaining tape recorder capable of playing those approximately 170 remaining tapes. But the time and effort of converting them to current digital formats was daunting, and required the tape deck to be modified from being able to handle two-channels at a time to handle the 30 channels on the historic tapes. But through a collaborative effort with The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), the conversion finally has been completed, and the unique perspective of those at the core of supporting humankind’s ‘giant leap’ is available to download and listen to all 19,000 hours of audio recordings.” This is an incredible achievement. I posted in December about what it took behind the scenes to get this digitizing done.
Emory University: Preserving the Apollo 15 Flight Data Logs. “In 2017, Emory University took the unique opportunity to create a digital learning hub centering around the Apollo Space Program. Emory Library and Information Technology Services borrowed materials from the 1971 Apollo 15 mission (NASA’s fourth manned mission to the moon) to use in creating an interactive website featuring the digital archives from the mission.”
The ResearchBuzz Firehose is regular RB content presented as individual posts.
For digest-type posts a couple of times a day, please visit ResearchBuzz.
Want to know how to best use the Firehose for content discovery?
Check out this handy article.