NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Post

In humanity's pursuit of progress, one thing often lingers in our wake: debris. Just like Earth, space is littered with the remnants of past missions—from rocket bodies to tool bags hurtling through our orbits at 17,000 mph. What happens when all this space junk poses a serious threat to active satellites, spacecraft, or even the ISS? Michael Lundy answers this complex, urgent, and daily challenge for space operators in our latest KMI column. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/gvB6_P6Q

The main asteroid belt appears to be mostly empty space We’re aware of the presence of hundreds of thousands of asteroids, and the total number may be approaching a million. Approximately 200 objects in diameter cover 100 km, and the infrared survey showed 0.7-1.7 million asteroids with a length of 1 km or more. At the same time, the asteroids are so strongly scattered in this region of space that none of more than 30 spacecraft flying through this area has been damaged by them.

Nice explanation of the complexities of aerospace. Science spacecraft are particularily complicated because we often have instruments with very specific requirements that are not in play with commercial spacecraft. I once worked on the proposal for Gravity Probe B. That mission demanded that the spacecraft remain completely balanced mass wise throughout the mission. The center of mass had to be stable - even though cryogen in the large dewar was boiling off and it might slosh. Other spacecraft have super contamination sensitive optics exposed to the launch envirornment like the James Webb Space Telescope. James Webb also operated at just a few degrees C above absolute zero (-273 degrees C). It took a lot of work to qualify adhesives, coatings, and other polymers to work at those temperatures. Worse water condenses at -110 degrees C in vacuum and evaporates above that temperature (liquid state only happens in certain conditions in space). There is a lot of water on the surfaces of materials and trapped in many plastics and other electronic polymers in a spacecraft. It was quite an effort to figure out how to cool down the optics during ground testing and on orbit. It was another huge effort to deal with the coefficient of expansion. Many materials shink and expand with temperature. We've all run hot water over a metal lid to get a glass jar open. Imagine what might happen to optics that are bonded into a metal mount. The adhesive could have so much stress it cracks and the optic comes loose. In our Far Ultraviolet Light systems, the optics could distort just enought to ruin the science even through the bond stays fine.

12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen.This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity. #InternationalDayOfHumanSpaceFlight #DayOfHumanSpaceFlight #HumanSpaceFlightDay #HumanSpace #event #April #WorldDay #InternationalDay #Information #LinkedinNewsletter #CelebrationDay...

On December 15, 1965, the Gemini 6 mission captured a clear image of the Gemini 7 spacecraft through its hatch window during their rendezvous at around 160 miles altitude. This historic achievement marked the first-ever space rendezvous, demonstrating the possibility of spacecraft docking for future lunar missions. The Gemini 7 mission, launched earlier on December 4, focused on studying long-duration spaceflight and spacecraft systems. These missions provided critical data on human endurance in space, laying the groundwork for subsequent Apollo missions.

Did you know there are 1,602 asteroids near Earth that could pose a future threat? ☄️🌌 🛰️ We’re participating in European Space Agency - ESA's space mission, which tests asteroid reactions to collisions and how their paths can be changed. A hyperspectral camera developed by VTT is onboard to study the Dimorphos asteroid’s mineral composition. 🪨 “Just as in war, it is extremely important for planetary defence to know your enemy. Before we can reliably safeguard Earth from threatening asteroids, we need to understand both how asteroids respond to collision and how efficiently their orbits are altered,” says Tomas Kohout, the Science Principal Investigator of the ASPECT hyperspectral camera project. Read more ➡️ https://hubs.ly/Q02SvZP-0 #VTTBeyondTheObvious #heramission #dartmission #hyperspectralcamera

Proba-3 successfully lifted off from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on @isro's PSLV-XL on 5 December 2024. The double-satellite is the most ambitious member yet of our Proba family of experimental missions. Two spacecraft will fly together as one, maintaining precise formation down to a single millimetre. One will block out the fiery disc of the Sun for the other, to enable prolonged observations of the Sun’s surrounding atmosphere, or ‘corona’, the source of the solar wind and space weather

Be sure to read the SatMagazine article: "The burgeoning need for reliable WiFi for space missions" As the commercialization of space advances and more spacecraft, people, and things are operating in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and beyond, Wi-Fi in space is becoming crucial to support momentous space missions. Get the full story https://lnkd.in/gHkw9xAt

In the Guidance of Prince Kumar and association with Brillica service and with help of Ajay Kumar Das and Arpit Gautam I'm like to Shere my analytics of space data. Titled "Space Mission" that provides various statistics and information on space exploration from 1957 to 2022. It includes details on the top countries and companies in space missions, the number of countries and companies involved, the total number of rockets, year-on-year launch data, success rate of rocket launches, and the top successful satellite launches by countries like the USA, USSR/Russia, China, Japan, and France. The infographic is visually dynamic with a space theme, showcasing a rocket or spacecraft in the center and using a color scheme of dark blue and golden yellow.