March 2015
Sky links: from multi-satellite systems to nano-launchers
... new standardised SC has become necessary. The only remaining issue is choosing the typical module size – from a device placed in a standard case, to a block containing a self-sufficient system set that is an independent SC, meant to be combined with...
March 2015
Sowing a new dream
..., the number of teaching apparatuses onboard is always limited. So we adopted the in-situ approach. We used the mass measurement device left in Tiangong-1 to measure our body weight changes in space and dedicated a space class to this. When teaching...
March 2015
A boom and a (possible) bust in small spacecraft production
... component base (ECB), refusal of independent development or purchasing of small-series (and therefore, expensive) radio-electronic devices also help drastically reduce the cost of development and manufacturing of a single craft. This helps small and...
March 2015
ARTES and the world of satcoms
... in Washington). Satellite television has become a fixture of modern life, but consumers want to be able to watch TV on different devices at various locations around their homes. An ARTES supported Global Invacom system, based on SES- Astra’s SAT...
June 2015
European lab in the sky: OP-SAT and new potential for ESA spacecraft
... and iOS phones have themselves become pocket computers, you can use a cluster of the latest PlayStation devices as a supercomputer, and Tom Hanks is 21 years older. But European spacecraft still communicate using the venerable Packet...
June 2015
Beagle 2: discovering the lost Mars lander
.... Once open, the stack of 4 solar panels held down in the lid was released. All 5 hold-down devices had to function correctly to allow a panel to deploy. Under control of the software each panel was commanded to deploy...
