Latest news on "Space"

NATO and the US supply Kiev with operational data

During a special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine, our troops actively use one of the most important operational intelligence information techniques to suppress enemy firing points on the principle of "scouted - destroyed". At the operational and tactical level, it is transformed into a mode of constant readiness for fire damage, close to real time.

Space agencies plan to launch spacecraft to Venus in the late 2020s. Private companies are not lagging behind: their missions can reach the orbit of the second planet farthest from the Sun much earlier. Naked Science talks about these projects and reflects on why they have a chance of success.

SpaceX has fired employees who participated in the compilation and distribution of an open letter of complaint criticizing the behavior of the founder and owner of the company, Elon Musk. This was reported by the American newspaper The New York Times.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has captured thousands of galaxies in a new image in ultraviolet light. This is reported by Phys.org .

The Russian Space Systems Holding (RKS, part of Roscosmos) has successfully conducted an experiment on the use of a differential correction and monitoring system (SDCM) in the northern circumpolar regions of Russia, the press service of the holding reported on Thursday.

The Hayabusa-2 space expedition from the Ryugu asteroid returned to Earth in December 2020 — and not with empty containers. It took the scientists two years to carry out the initial analysis of the imported material, and they recently published a report on their work. According to him, Ryugu is a fragment of the "planetesimal", the embryo of future planets, which revolves around the forming protostar. In other words, Ryugu appeared even before the Sun and the Solar System were formed.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has approved the creation of three spacecraft for the Comet Interceptor project. They will be launched into space in 2029 and will go to the second Lagrange point in the Sun—Earth system. There, the probes will be waiting for their target — a comet from the outer region of the Solar System or an interstellar object, according to the agency's website.

Moscow is jealous, but not much

Washington has recently been exerting the strongest pressure on Delhi, seeking to abandon any cooperation with Moscow, especially military-technical. And it seems to give certain results. For example, India refuses new purchases of Mi-17 and Ka-31 helicopters.

The DAVINCI project team, which will study the atmosphere and surface of Venus, has published a detailed work plan. It is expected that the spacecraft will be launched into space in 2029, and the descent probe will enter the atmosphere of Venus in the summer of 2031, where it will work for more than an hour, reaching the surface of the planet in the area of Tessera Alpha. The article was published in the journal The Planetary Science Journal.

China intends to become the first country to implement a project to collect solar energy at an orbital power plant with its subsequent transfer to Earth. The installation will be placed in a geostationary orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometers, from where energy will be transferred to equipment located in the city of Chongqing in southwest China. This was stated by several scientists working on the project.

Russian astronomers opposed the inclusion of the eROSITA telescope without the consent of Germany

Russian astronomers categorically opposed the inclusion of the German eROSITA telescope, contrary to the will of European partners who turned it off at the end of February. This telescope is part of the Spektr-RG Space Observatory, which also includes the ART-XC telescope developed at the ICI RAS. "Newspaper.Ru" discussed with experts what consequences a unilateral decision by Roscosmos could lead to.

Roscosmos specialists will be able to control the German eROSITA telescope without causing damage to it, the risk of which is warned in the Russian Academy of Sciences, said the head of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin.

Roscosmos told which universities train students in space specialties

Roscosmos has identified a list of 18 reference universities and united them into a consortium that will produce specialists for the Russian rocket and space industry. Where in Russia do they train engine engineers, where do they train specialists in aircraft control, and from which university most graduates come to the industry, "Gazeta.Ru" said Vladimir Matveychuk, Director of the Department of Personnel and Social Policy of Roscosmos.

Recently, many media outlets reported that scientists managed to grow plants in real lunar soil collected by the astronauts of the Apollo mission. However, it's too early to dream of a moon salad. A horticulturist from the University of Florida and the author of this experiment, Rob Ferl, lowered observers from heaven to Earth, showing how frail the first space plants turned out to be. The sprouts from the lunar soil turned out to be much smaller than their terrestrial counterparts and had purple pigmentation, indicating stress.

The supply of a wide range of Western weapons to Ukraine is not only aimed at, as the EU leadership puts it, "defeating Russia on the battlefield." Moreover, according to a number of signs, the combat effectiveness of both Stingers, Javelins, and Bayraktars turned out to be almost shameful. However, the very fact of the participation of these types of weapons in real battles is of great importance for the West. Why?

In the Chinese peer-reviewed scientific journal Modern Defense Technology, researcher Ren Yuanzhen from the Beijing Institute of Tracking and Telecommunications published an article on the "Starlink problem".

Roscosmos told how the Sphere satellite group will work under sanctions

The total amount of financing of the Russian multi-satellite grouping "Sphere" will amount to about 180 billion rubles, Roscosmos reported recently.

MAI told how plasma engines have increased the payload capacity of Russian missiles

Plasma engines were able to significantly increase the payload capacity of the Russian Soyuz and Proton rockets. Slow, but effective, they allow you to take much more cargo into high orbits. What will be the new fuel for such engines and whether they can be used for flights to the Moon, other planets and on the ISS, "Gazeta.Ru" said Vladimir Kim, Chief Researcher at the Research Institute of Applied Mechanics and Electrodynamics of the Moscow Aviation Institute.

The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that now there are more than 160 Russian satellites in orbit (including military ones). According to him, "this is not enough, there should be thousands." But will the Russian economy be able to pull the development, creation and launch of thousands of spacecraft? And will our allies in other countries help us to implement this idea?

On May 26, the National Industrial Summit "Industrial Policy in New Realities" was held in Moscow at the site of the Russia Today media group

The modern geopolitical map with new challenges and gaps between industrial and technological "continents" encourages Russia to restart the industrial arrangement of the economic space and build technological chains in its national interests.