Category: Space
Nissan unveils lunar rover prototype
Nissan unveils lunar rover prototype jointly developed with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Nissan has unveiled a lunar rover prototype jointly developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) at its Nissan Futures event. The JAXA Space Exploration Innovation Hub Center is conducting research on lunar rovers which must be able to…
Sir Richard Branson becomes first billionaire in space
Sir Richard Branson has reached space, according to his company, Virgin Galactic. After releasing from the mothership - at approximately 4.25pm UK time - the VSS Unity spaceplane quickly reached its maximum altitude at 55 miles (88km) which is below the Karman Line, internationally recognised as the edge of space. The British billionaire took the…
Virgin Galactic confirms VSS Unity test flights
Virgin Galactic has confirmed that the next rocket-powered test flight of SpaceShipTwo Unity will be conducted on May 22, pending weather and technical checks. This follows the completion of a maintenance review of VMS Eve, the mothership jet aircraft which is designed to carry SpaceShipTwo to an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet. “Following a detailed…
Virgin Galactic unveils mirrored space craft, VSS Imagine
Virgin Galactic has unveiled its third-generation spacecraft, the VSS Imagine. Finished in an entirely mirror-like material, the craft is designed to reflect the surrounding environment, allowing it to change colour and appearance as it travels from Earth to space. Virgin Galactic said the third generation of spaceships was “built to enable improved performance in terms…
Tech Digest daily round up: Space debris satellite launched
A UK-led mission to show how space debris can be removed has blasted into space. Two spacecraft – a servicer satellite to collect the debris and a client satellite to act as the debris – launched from Kazakhstan on a Soyuz rocket operated by GK Launch Services. The End-of-Life Services by Astroscale demonstration (ELSA-d)…
British spaceflight takes one step closer
Spaceflight from the UK? Helen Sharman became the UK's first astronaut when she went to the Mir space station on a joint British-Soviet Union mission The Government has published its commercial spaceflight consultation, paving the way for future space launches from UK soil. Over the past few months, it has been…
NASA Mars Rover: Your questions answered
The NASA Perseverance Rover landed at Mars’ Jezero Crater yesterday (February 18). But what has it been sent to do and how many rovers have explored Mars so far? In this article, Chris Price answers all these questions and more... How many Rovers have been sent to Mars so far? NASA has sent five robotic…
World’s first bio-derived fuel powered rocket launched
A company that hopes to become the “Uber for space” has launched the world’s first rocket powered by bio-derived fuel. Strapped to a trailer and pulled by a pick-up truck along a runway in Maine once used by B-52 bombers in the Cold War, bluShift Aerospace’s 20ft unmanned prototype hit an altitude of around 4,000ft…
Hybrid energy could fuel the future of space exploration
Space travel is heading in an exciting direction, especially with the development of hybrid energy technology. Here in this article, we take you through this technology and explain why it will be the future for space exploration... If you haven’t heard of graphene before, it’s an allotrope of carbon, shaped in a 2D lattice with…
Virgin Galactic unveils Under Armour spacesuits
Virgin Galactic has unveiled the spacesuits its pilots will wear as they fly private astronauts into space and we can't help feeling a little, well, disappointed. We were perhaps expecting something a little more glamorous than what look essentially like blue boilersuits. Designed in collaboration with the company’s Technical Spacewear Partner, Under Armour, the Virgin…
