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It’s great to see so many private organisations entering the space sector. Space Perspective are another and they have just completed a successful uncrewed capsule ascent to an altitude of 30km. Their Neptune-Excelsior capsule was carried by a balloon and landed in the ocean 6 hours later. It was able to maintain its cabin pressure and stability throughout the flight proving that it met the requirements for future passenger flights starting in 2025.  Space Perspective was founded in 2019 by Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum. Their focus in the sector is space tourism and they aim to provide an accessible way for people to experience space without the need for rockets. The concept is to provide trips on board their pressurised capsules which are lifted gently to the upper atmosphere by large hydrogen filled balloons. The gentle journey is a far cry from the adrenalin fuelled rocket launches we are accustomed to seeing but still allows passengers to take in the view of the Earth from an altitude of 100,000 feet (30km.) The experience should be a comfortable and luxurious one with large windows, spacious interior and a smooth, calm experience.  A view of Earth’s atmosphere from space. Credit: NASA The concept is a fabulous one allowing access to space by anyone and especially those less inclined to attach themselves to a controlled explosion. It’s a carbon-neutral spaceflight experience and this latest test of the Neptune-Excelsior capsule is a positive step forward. The ascent began at the Marine Spaceport from the deck of MS Voyager off the coast of St Petersburg in Florida on 15 September 2024.  Apollo 11 launch using the Saturn V rocket The whole journey lasted 6 hours, and reaching an altitude of 100,000 feet took the capsule above 99% of the Earth’s atmosphere. Enroute the Neptune-Excelsior travelled high above the ocean and on completion of the ascent the module completed a controlled descent and completed a splashdown landing. The flight marks a significant milestone in space tourism opening up a space experience to all and bringing with it innovations in spaceport technology, spacecraft design and flight safety.  Enabling the flight are a number of technological advances; launch and ascent systems, environment management and thermal management. The launch system employed a new four-roller system to raise the balloon and get it airborne. It’s an approach that significantly reduces the cost of launch to high altitude, reduces the risk and the carbon footprint.  Unlike other capsules designed for space, the Neptune module has been designed for comfort and enjoyment with the largest windows ever flown.  The Development Test Flight has enabled the collection of data to inform the next phase in the programme. Teams of engineers will analyse the results and the capsule to see how the pressurisation, structure and thermal systems have handled the flight setting the stage for the first crewed flight.  Is this for everyone? Space Perspective have sold at least 1,800 tickets at a cost of $125,000 that’s compared to more conventional rocket based journeys costing anything from $250,000 and above. Alas for now, the price point still puts space travel outside the financial capability of most but it’s a great step toward driving down the cost and opening up the amazing wonders of space to everyone.  Source : Space Perspective Successfully Completes Development Flight 2 The post Space Perspective Completes a Test Flight, Sending a Balloon to 30 km appeared first on Universe Today.

The Milky Way is special because it is our home. No matter where we are on Earth we can see its arc of light overhead if the night is dark enough. But how similar is our galaxy to others? Is it an unusual spiral galaxy, or is it rather typical in the cosmos? Before we had discovered exoplanets, astronomers generally thought our solar system was rather typical. Sure, there would be differences, but the general arrangement of rocky worlds close to the Sun and cold gas giants in the outer system made sense. However when we studied planetary systems we found ours was rather unusual. Most planets orbit red dwarfs, not sun-like stars, and large gas giants often orbit close to their star. Now that we have sky surveys of galaxies throughout the Universe, we can answer the same question of the Milky way, as a recent study shows. The study is based on the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) Survey, which began collecting data in 2013. The goal of SAGA is to look at the small galaxies which orbit large galaxies. The team looked at 101 galaxies with masses similar to the Milky Way and found 378 satellite galaxies for them. Because of observational limits, this only covers satellites with a mass of about a million Suns or more. In this range our galaxy has four satellites. We know of many more, but most of them are below the mass cutoff. This would seem to indicate that the Milky Way is rather typical. But then the team looked at those galaxies with a large companion, like the Large Magellanic Cloud we see in the southern hemisphere. For those galaxies the number of satellites is typically much larger than four. The Milky Way has an unusually low number of satellites. One reason for this may be that the Large Magellanic Cloud entered our sphere of influence rather recently on the cosmic timeline. A second study based on the SAGA data looked at star formation in the satellite galaxies. It found that the closer a satellite is to the main galaxy the more likely it is to still be producing stars. This is similar to what we see among the Milky Way satellites. So it seems that while the Milky Way is a little unusual, it isn’t unique among galaxies of similar mass. But it will always be our special spiral galaxy. Reference: Mao, Yao-Yuan, et al. “The SAGA Survey. III. A Census of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14498 (2024). Reference: Geha, Marla, et al. “The SAGA Survey. IV. The Star Formation Properties of 101 Satellite Systems around Milky Way-mass Galaxies.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.14499 (2024). The post How Does the Milky Way Compare to Other Galaxies? appeared first on Universe Today.

I don’t think it’s something I have ever really thought of! Robotic explorers can travel around the Solar System visiting our neighbouring planets but when they arrive, sometimes a scientific package must be deployed to the surface. Never occurred to me just how that’s achieved! With a number of landers scheduled to visit the Moon, NASA are testing a new robotic arm called the Lightweight Surface Manipulation System AutoNomy capabilities Development for Surface Operations or LANDO for short! It will lift payloads off the lander and pop them down gently on the surface of the Moon.  The Moon has always held a special place in our hearts. Since the first humans saw it as they gazed up at the sky, their descendents continued the fascination with our nearest neighbour. Artists, musicians, poets and writers are among just a few of the members of our society that have reflected on its beauty. It was only natural that it would be the first target for human exploration at the dawn of space flight. The Apollo missions saw the first human visitors to the Moon and now we wait with bated breath as Artemis looks set to take us back again very soon.  Aldrin on the Moon. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle during the Apollo 11 mission. Mission commander Neil Armstrong took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin explored the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins remained with the command and service modules in lunar orbit. Image Credit: NASA Even with human explorers it’s likely only to be a few at a time so mission planners are turning to robotic helpers for the more mundane work. A team of researchers at the Langley Research Centre in Virginia have been working upon a piece of robotic hardware with new software that can operate autonomously to move objects around on the surface! The team, led by Dr Julia Cline from NASA demonstrated the LANDO system and it performed perfectly. Looking like a movie set, the team established the arena to look like the Moon, complete with boulders that Hollywood would be proud of. The team undertook their first demo by lifting a payload off a tall black pedestal and onto the floor. They then upped the challenge and tried the same manouver but with a small rover instead. Both tests were succesful. Closeup of lunar surface (Credit NASA) Pivotal to the system is a series of sensors on the camera and encoders affixed to the side of the package. Once the system was ready the camera scanned the area looking for the payload which was outlined with the encoders (somewhat like a QR code.) Once it identified the item the robotic arm gently swung over the object and carefully manoeuvred its hook to snare the package. With a destination already defined using a graphical interface of the scene, the robotic arm moved around and dropped the placed the package just where the team commanded it too.  After a succesful delivery the hook slowly disengaged, returned to its home position and paused, ready for the next command. The testing nicely demonstrated the reliability of the system setting the scene for further more advanced tests. Now the team are looking to develop a larger more robust version that can be tested ahead of its first lunar mission. The use of robotic arms like LANDO are of immense benefit, helping us to explore the Moon. Not only will they help with repetitive tasks but they can perform more precise scientific studies even in the relatively hostile environment of the lunar surface. Their high levels of dexterity and reliability mean they are an ideal tool for further development with lunar ready versions already being worked upon. Source : Robotic Moving ‘Crew’ Preps for Work on Moon The post Unloading Cargo on the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.