September 2017
Australia’s unique space history
... (140 km from Perth), the Western Australia Space Centre (a commercial satellite tracking facility) and NASA’s Mobile Laser Observatory, both located at Dongara, about 400 km from Perth. None of these sites, however, are open to visitors...
July 2018
The rise of interplanetary CubeSats
... and Marshall, is another mission slated to explore the lunar south pole for ice deposits. It will use laser spectroscopy to identify the presence of water ice. The spacecraft will be fitted with a green-monopropellant propulsion system...
August 2018
Monitoring marine litter by satellite
... light) in the visible and infrared spectrum, while active sensors acquire the backscattered light generated by an onboard laser - generally called a LIDAR (LIght Detection and Ranging). Some of these sensors can offer the capability to resolve...
August 2018
AI offers new approach to space situational awareness
... within an area. Concept for ESA’s future space debris surveillance system employing groundbased optical, radar and laser technology as well as in-orbit survey instruments. Transfer learning The space domain is rich with physical models and...
November 2018
BepiColombo – a mission to explore Mercury
... of the radiator. Some of ESA’s MPO instruments are BELA, ISA, MORE, MERTIS and SERENA. BELA (BepiColombo Laser Altimeter) will characterise and measure the topography and surface morphology of Mercury to create digital terrain models...
January 2019
Visiting an asteroid to find out how life began
... infrared spectrometer (NIRS3) that can identify different molecules by looking at the wavelengths of reflected light, and a laser altimeter for precise distance measurements. Hayabusa2 took images of the Earth using its onboard Optical Navigation...
