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The Big Picture: building a 3D-printed moon base
Did the European Space Agency's concept of a 3D-printed moon base seem too outlandish? Don't worry -- the institution has just posted a video (below) that sheds more light on the subject. The colonization mission would revolve around a robotic rover that converts moon dust into a 3D-printed protective layer for an inflatable habitat; after three months, the living space would be safe enough for human settlers. It'd even have windows to provide some natural lighting. This is just a research exercise at present -- it'll likely be years before the ESA can put a base like this on lunar soil. Still, it's clear that the agency's vision of extraterrestrial colonization is more than just a passing fancy.
The Big Picture: Philae lander snaps a selfie as it passes by comet
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Philae lander has a knack for taking selfies. Last month, it passed by Comet 67P/C-G at a distance of 50 km (31 miles) attached to the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft. This time around, Philae got even closer before snapping the picture -- coming within 16 km (10 miles). In the image above, you'll notice one of Philae's 14-meter (46-foot) long solar arrays in a snapshot that combines two images with different exposures for a proper visual. An on-board CIVA (Comet Infrared and Visible Analyser) employs a collection of micro-cameras to capture panoramas used to study the surface. The Philae lander is set to depart Rosetta next month to get an even closer look when it'll land on the comet's surface for further research. [Photo credit: ESA/Rosetta/Philae/CIVA]
Sound system simulates a rocket blast, would kill you just as dead
Sure, your stereo may go up to 11 and beyond, but you probably couldn't murder your listeners with it. The European Space Agency has a bigger budget, however, and its Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF) has a 36-foot wide by 54-foot high wall of sound designed to simulate the level of noise during a rocket launch. To be exact, it can produce more than 154 decibels by shooting nitrogen into the horns, which the agency says is the same as standing right next to multiple jets taking off at the same time. It added that "no human being could survive hearing it at maximum output" (presumably because of the overall power), so the walls are epoxy-coated, reinforced concrete. The giant system is designed to stress-test pricey satellites before attaching them to actual rockets, and hopefully avoiding some of the many, many things that can go wrong.
3D printing gets metal with European Space Agency's AMAZE project
If you're invested in the future of 3D printing, the London Science Museum was the place to be today, as the European Space Agency and its partners hosted a consortium to celebrate the launch of the AMAZE project. AMAZE, which stands for Additive Manufacturing Aiming Towards Zero Waste & Efficient Production of High-Tech Metal Products (we guess AMATZWEPHMP just didn't have the same ring to it), is a joint effort to take the next logical step in the evolution of 3D printing: manufacturing metal parts. At today's event, components made of tungsten alloy were a particular highlight, as the extremely high temperatures such material can withstand (up to 3,000 degrees Celsius) would make them ideal for use in spacecraft and nuclear fusion environments. The process of 3D printing metal would also allow engineers to design beyond the limits of traditional metal casting, as seen in the Airbus hinges above. If your consortium invitation got lost in the mail, fear not. The museum's exhibit will be open to the public until July of next year.
Britain throws another £60 million at the Skylon spaceplane, hopes mid-life crisis is over soon
After a series of successful tests on the Skylon spaceplane's SABRE engine, the UK government has decided to invest another £60 million to continue developing it. The scramjet-based tech could pave the way for cheaper space travel, since it carries little oxygen on board and can maneuver like an airplane before rockets kick it into orbit. Earlier, a key component that chills air from 1,830 to minus 302 degrees Fahrenheit in 1/100th of a second passed its trials with flying colors. That means the project team can move to the next phase: building and ground testing a prototype SABRE engine. Though billions of pounds more would be needed to eventually develop a Skylon vehicle, a European Space Agency spokesman thinks it would be worth it, saying "we have something here that is really unique." Let's hope they can match recent scramjet success stateside and avoid the whole crashing part.
Planck satellite creates most detailed map ever of cosmic microwave background radiation
The European Space Agency's Planck satellite has been gathering data since its launch in 2009, slowly building up a map of the cosmic microwave background radiation -- a distant remnant of the Big Bang. The resulting image, seen above, is the most detailed ever put together of the cold glow that uniformly covers the universe, taking us all the way back to just a 380,000 years after the explosive inflation that gave birth to all matter, energy and time. There were some surprises, including more extreme temperature fluctuations between hemispheres than predicted by the standard model and confirmation of a pronounced cold spot that can no longer be dismissed as an artifact of previous satellite instruments. For more about just what Planck has taught us, along with a few more visualizations, check out the source link.
ESA tests prospect of 3D printing Moon bases with lunar soil
Building a base on the Moon poses a rather large logistics problem when all the construction material has to make a 238,900-mile journey. The European Space Agency has proposed packing light: it's teaming with Foster + Partners to test the possibility of 3D printing not just the tools, but whole lunar buildings. The current method would bind powder in layers to create hollow, cellular building blocks that are both sturdy and relatively light. With an improved D-Shape printer from Monolite, the ESA believes it could finish a whole structure inside of a week -- if only we could finish most Earth-bound homes so quickly. There's no word on the likelihood of any spacefarers using the technique, but it's easy to see the value of leaving more room for the supplies that really matter.
Alt-week 27.10.12: ancient texts, super-Earths and special-ops mice
Alt-week peels back the covers on some of the more curious sci-tech stories from the last seven days. If, like us, you struggle to read the front of the Corn Flakes box of a morning, you likely gave up any hope of cracking ancient codes long ago. If you didn't, however, then your time might be now -- as one of the oldest scripts know to man is still up for grabs. Prefer just to observe? No problem, as we've got super-Earth-searching satellites, military mice and vertical farms, all for your viewing reading pleasure. If you hadn't guessed already, this is alt-week
ESA team builds self-piloting rover in six months, tests it in Chilean desert
Chile's Atacama Desert might not be true Martian territory, but it's close enough for the European Space Agency's new rover. Built by a crack engineering team in just six months, the Seeker rover was created to autonomously roam 6 km of Mars-like terrain and trace its way back. The Seeker just wrapped up a two week gauntlet in the Chilean wasteland using ol' fashioned dead reckoning and stereoscopic vision to find its way, compiling a 3D map of its surroundings as it puttered along. The full-scale rover wandered the arid terrain on its lonesome until temperatures forced it to stop after trekking 5.1 km. The red planet won't welcome an ESA rover until 2018, but those jonesin' for news from Martian soil should keep their eyes peeled for Curiosity's August touchdown.
Space travel coming to an airport near you? Maybe, if Skylon keeps its cool
Want to get from New York to Perth in under 4 hours, or maybe just head to outer space on a lark? Reaction Engines' "Skylon" mach 5 spaceplane might be your chariot -- or not. Its scheme of ingesting oxygen from the atmosphere instead of stowing it like a 50-year old modern multi-stage rocket sounds good, but the project's fate may hang on critical new tests. Failure is still a possibility, but if the high-speed, superhot gases can be cooled enough for the hybrid Sabre engines to work, and if Reaction Engines Limited can secure another round of funding, punching your space-ticket could soon be a very real possibility.
ESA's Vega rocket takes flight, delivers low-tonnage objects to high places
On Monday, the European Space Agency (ESA) conducted a successful test of its newest projectile, the Vega rocket. Designed to carry up to nine objects totaling less than 2.5 metric tons ("tonnes," for those in the know) into orbit, the four-stage vehicle stands 30 meters tall and weighs in at just under 140 metric tons when fully loaded. The rocket aims to solve a key -- if slightly humdrum -- problem: at present, European researchers send their instrumentation into space on retrofitted Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM). The Vega platform should provide greater launch flexibility and reduce the delay (which can be months) scientists experience while waiting to hitch a ride on an ICBM. Although still in the testing stage, Monday's maiden voyage was a promising first step for the new spacecraft. Hit the source for more rocket-related excitement.
ESA abandons Russian space probe, hopes it doesn't plummet to earth
Things have gone from bad to worse for the orbit locked Phobos-Grunt space probe, having lost contact with the European Space Agency, the probe faces abandonment and disaster. The soviet star-gazer got stuck in Earth's orbit shortly after launch, stunting its two and a half year jaunt to the Martian moon Phobos. Attempts to send commands that would break the craft loose of the Earth's grip have failed, and the ESA has since given up hope of contacting the probe. The Russians will continue to try and reestablish contact with the probe, hopefully avoiding an expensive disaster. Weighing 13.2 metric tons, most of which is fuel, the probe threatens to return to Earth with a bang, crashing down to terra firma with a toxic payload. It's certainly not been a good couple of months for Euro based space travel. In the meantime let's just hope it doesn't bump into anything else while it's up there, or you might miss the big game.
Russian and Chinese satellites going to Martian moon, plan to bring back some of the Red Planet (update: stranded in Earth orbit)
Russia just finished its Mars500 simulation, proving that man can handle the arduous task of traveling to and from the Red Planet -- or at least it proved man can live in a confined space for 520 days with dodgy internet. However, Moscow needs to know a bit more about Mars itself before shooting citizens to our planetary neighbor, so it's sending a satellite to collect soil samples from one of its moons. The Russian satellite, named Phobos-Grunt, launched earlier today with the Chinese satellite Yinghuo-1 onboard as well. Both are bound for the Martian moon Phobos and are scheduled to arrive in September of 2012, whereupon Yinghuo-1 will be dispatched into orbit around Mars and Phobos-Grunt will begin maneuvering for its final descent onto the moon's surface. After landing, a robotic arm will examine some extra-terrestrial soil on site and gather 200 grams more to fire back to terra, where it's scheduled to touch down in Kazakhstan by August of 2014. If humans can get some Martian dirt back to Earth without incident, shouldn't be hard to do the same thing with a man, right? Update: Well, that was quick. It looks like Phobos-Grunt may not be bringing back soil samples from Mars, folks. Apparently, the launch went off without a hitch, but after achieving Earth orbit, the engine needed to get it into deep space failed to fire. Right now the Russians are working on a fix, but Phobos-Grunt has just two weeks of juice in its batteries before it becomes space junk. Good luck, fellas, you're going to need it.
EU to launch first two Galileo satellites today, as sat-nav system lurches forward
The EU's Galileo satellite navigation system has been beset by delays and budget overruns in recent months, but its future is looking slightly brighter, now that its first two satellites are primed for launch. The European Space Agency is expected to send the satellites into space today, as part of a long-term project that will cost an estimated €7 billion (around $9.6 billion). Slated to take off from Kourou, French Guiana, the pair of satellites will ride on the back of a Russian rocket to an altitude of nearly 15,000 miles, where they'll test system functions both in space and on Earth. If all goes according to plan, they'll also become Galileo's first operational satellites, paving the way, officials hope, for many more to follow. In fact, the European Commission is looking to complete the 30-satellite constellation by the year 2019, with two scheduled to launch during every quarter, beginning in 2012. The idea, of course, is to offer Europeans an alternative to US-operated GPS, with a free consumer service scheduled to launch in 2014, followed by a more precise, paid service in 2020. Nevertheless, budgetary concerns loom large over the project, which, according to the EC, has already racked up a development and deployment bill of over €5 billion ($6.8 billion), since 2003. The commission will present a finalized proposal to EU member governments by the end of the year, in the hopes of obtaining that extra €7 billion, though it may face more acute criticism, considering today's dour economic climate. It remains unlikely, however, that Galileo will be totally shut down, as the EU says it could bring in an extra €90 billion over the next 20 years.
Help for the lost: a fabric antenna to keep you from being a castaway
Doesn't look like much, does it? But the next time you're lost at sea, you just might be thankful you've got it. That little square of fabric is actually a flexible antenna designed for the Cospas-Sarsat distress signal network, a Cold War-era system built to help pinpoint missing ships, planes and people. Designed to be sewn into a life vest, the antenna broadcasts an emergency beacon at a low frequency for greater range; in field tests, that helped rescuers find it within minutes. It's also tear- and water-resistant, which you'll be grateful for when you're being tossed around like a ragdoll in a sea of whitecaps. The technology was developed by the European Space Agency in partnership with a Finnish company. Next on their agenda? A round, floating companion for the marooned, codenamed Wilson.
Herschel telescope finds first evidence of oxygen molecules in space
It's not every day that scientists get to say they've found something in space for the first time ever, but astronomers working with the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory announced just such a discovery today, and it's a big one. They've made the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space (found hiding in the Orion nebula), and suggest that the oxygen is likely released when the water ice surrounding dust grains is melted by the heat from nearby stars forming. Of course, one discovery only leads to more questions, and the scientists note that they still haven't found large amounts of oxygen, and "still don't understand what is so special about the spots where we find it."
European Space Agency creates one billion pixel camera, calls her GAIA
When we hear the name GAIA, our memory automatically zooms back to the Whoopi Goldberg-voiced Mother Earth from Captain Planet. This isn't that GAIA, but it does have to do with planets. Back at the turn of the millennium, the European Space Agency devised an ambitious mission to map one billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy -- in 3D (insert Joey Lawrence 'whoa!'). To do this, it enlisted UK-based e2v Technologies and built an immense digital camera comprised of 106 snugly-fit charge coupled devices -- the largest ever for a space program. These credit card-shaped, human hair-thick slabs of silicon carbide act like tiny galactic eyes, each storing incoming light as a single pixel. Not sufficiently impressed? Then consider this: the stellar cam is so all-seeing, "it could measure the thumbnails of a person on the Moon" -- from Earth. Yeah. Set to launch on the Soyuz-Fregat sometime this year, the celestial surveyor will make its five-year home in the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point, beaming its outerspace discoveries to radio dishes in Spain and Australia -- and occasionally peeping in your neighbor's window.
Mars Express captures Phobos in orbit, has bad video to prove it
Alright stargazers, listen up! You know that video you just watched above? Yeah, well that's not terrible 1995-era CGI, it's actually mind-blowing footage of the Martian moon, Phobos, passing by Jupiter in the distance. Credit goes to the insanely brainy folks over at the European Space Agency who captured 104 images of this special alignment on June 1st over a measly 68 seconds using their Mars Express probe. True, it does take a little bit of imagination to get the full sense of just how awe-inspiring this is, but consider this -- the distance between Mars Express and Jupiter at the time of alignment comes in at 529 million kilometers. That's about 329 million miles for those of you still not sufficiently impressed. Try doing that with your high-end DSLR.
Simulated Mars mission simulating return to Earth as we speak, astronauts genuinely overjoyed
We thought the Hundred Year Starship initiative to strand aged astronauts on Mars by 2030 was depressing, and in comparison the European Space Agency's Mars-500 project is little more than a walk in the park (a very small, confined, and extremely monotonous park). Essentially Bio-Dome re-written to simulate travel to Mars and back (without that lovable scamp Pauly Shore), the project bills itself as "the first full duration simulation of a manned flight to Mars," with astronauts conducting a 640-day voyage to the red planet and back -- all without leaving the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP). Members of the crew "landed" on Mars on February 12th of this year, returning to the craft on February 24th. As we speak, they should be entering into a spiral orbit away from Mars, and with any luck they'll be back just in time for their ticker-tape parade on November 5th (hopefully that part isn't a simulation). A joint experiment by the European Space Agency, Russia, and China, the $15 million project studies the complex psychological and technical challenges encountered on long spaceflights.
Hylas 1 satellite blasting off today, will rain down broadband from above
Europe's about to catapult a new satellite up into orbit today, this one with the stated goal of providing broadband internet access to people in the areas hardest to reach by terrestrial connectivity means. UK startup Avanti Communications is the official name responsible for the Hylas 1, which is a funny mix of private and public investment: it's a commercial venture, yet the British state has contributed £40 million ($63m) to its development and European Space Agency tech will be used to get that 2.6-ton antenna up beyond the planet's atmosphere. Ultimately, though, the goal's a good one -- up to 10Mbps connections will be on offer, with plans for further satellites already on the books, which should serve to expand internet accessibility in parts of Africa and Asia as well. The next Hylas tin can will be leaving terra firma in 15 months, provided there no unknown unknowns pop up during that time to get in its way.
