April 2021
Satellite servicing comes of age
...see a communications satellite decades after launch. Would the solar panels have suffered damage? Would the insulation blankets be torn...MEV-1 and IS-901 cast shadows on each other’s solar arrays, which is not encountered in standard operations outside...
26 August 2020
LEO constellations will "fundamentally change" astronomy, warns new report
... searches for near-Earth objects (NEOs), distant Solar System objects, rare transients, exoplanet transits in ...painted a small number of satellites black twisted the position of their solar panels to make them less visible. But, says the report, if ...
10 February 2021
Success for China as Tianwen-1 enters Mars' orbit
... Weighing about 240 kilograms, the rover has six wheels and four solar panels and is able to move 200 metres per hour on Mars. ... the Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons of the Solar System, stretching a vast 4000 kilometres (2500 miles) long....
14 May 2021
China is about to land its Zhurong rover on Mars
... NASA’s Curiosity rover but slightly larger than the now-defunct Spirit and Opportunity rovers. It is powered by solar panels and is designed to study Mars’ climate, magnetic field, geological structure, and surface composition. Providing the landing...
21 July 2021
New balloon-borne astronomical telescope to rival Hubble
... it will image the sky all night, then use solar panels to recharge its batteries during the day. SuperBIT has already...Although SuperBIT is well suited for experiments relating to solar planet spectroscopy and exoplanet studies, when launched next ...
13 January 2021
The UK Space Agency and Rolls-Royce launch study into nuclear-powered space exploration
... power in space becomes increasingly precious with distance from the Sun. In the outer Solar System, sunlight gets too dim for solar panels, and other technologies like fuel cells are often too patchy as a source of energy...
