July 2016
France, Europe and Russia - two decades of space launch cooperation
...found its respective position in this cooperation with relative ease, while still maintaining mutual independence for ...has found its respective position in this cooperation with relative ease, while still maintaining mutual independence for space ...
October 2016
Unlocking the potential of annular ion engines
...mechanism associated with gridded ion thrusters ensures electrical efficiencies in excess of 90 per cent; an important consideration relative to thruster and system thermal management when processing high power. Also as the power-to-mass ratio of SEP...
November 2016
Rosetta - an eventful cruise phase
...5 September 2008, at a distance of 800 km and a relative velocity of 8.6 km/s. Again we had to design completely new ...tool, to reduce the inaccuracy of our knowledge of the relative position between Rosetta and the asteroid: by taking pictures ...
January 2017
Elon Musk and Mars - looking for a snowball effect
.... The disadvantage with this approach, of course, is the relatively long timescale, and the greater risk of an economic downturn...The disadvantage with this approach, of course, is the relatively long timescale, and the greater risk of an economic ...
January 2017
Blueprint for NASA’s journey to Mars
... orbit. A HEO orbit is chosen based on its relatively low departure delta velocity and the ability to support crew...vehicles. The mission is designed to limit the return velocity relative to Earth’s atmosphere to be consistent with Orion’s capabilities...
February 2017
Protecting our space interests
...outer space. Objects orbiting in LEO travel at 7-8 km/second and two such objects would present a very high relative velocity, in the order of 10-16 km/s, which means any spacecraft with some degree of manoeuvrability could be used as a weapon simply...
