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...
December 2014
Skolkovo and a new breed of Russian space startups
... satellite, TabletSat-Aurora. Weighing in at only 26 kg, the satellite nonetheless boasts a good power supply capacity due to a solar panel system (a strict launch deadline set by Kosmotras forced the developers to forego the original plan to build...
March 2015
JAXA’s challenge to climate change
... 17 years. Nobody believed at that time that observations of TRMM would overlap with the follow-on GPM mission. Solar panel on the Ibuki satellite. ‘Ibuki’ means breath in Japanese Why do we measure rainfall with radar? Rain is a critically important...
March 2015
Sky links: from multi-satellite systems to nano-launchers
... the specific impulse of 3000 seconds. Despite the fact that the engine needs high voltage, a few solar panels with low wattage are enough to power it. SSC can also be removed from orbit using external impact...
May 2017
Recipe for success on flights to Mars
... to Mars. Living off-grid on renewable energy, however, we did have to deal with power shortages when the solar panels weren’t generating enough electricity to allow for cooking. We used to joke that when it’s cold and dark out...
December 2017
Dressing up for space
... be used and stored in a simple and fast way by the crew. The project looked at satellites and their solar panel deployments, and combined Origami techniques to create a foldable clothing system. The system should be capable of changing shape...
