Spaaaaace (Part 1)

OSIRIS-REx probe sucked up more asteroid crumbs than hoped

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft snagged 121.6 grams of material from asteroid Bennu – the largest quantity ever retrieved by such a mission.

NASA’s goal was to collect at least 60 grams from Bennu. It had deemed that amount sufficient for the needs of its own scientists with some left over to share with others.

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Cutting-edge robot space surgeon makes first incision in Zero-G

The world’s first remote-operated robot space surgeon has been successfully tested, the team behind the device said this week.

The miniaturized in vivo robotic assistant (spaceMIRA) wasn’t operating on an astronaut, but on rubber bands designed to mimic elastic tissues like tendons and blood vessels. A total of 10 rubber bands were strung up inside a microwave-sized experiment locker, which were cut by surgeons remotely connected to the International Space Station from Lincoln, Nebraska, at the headquarters of Virtual Incision, which partnered with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to create spaceMIRA.

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Job posting

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seems like the pentagon is preparing to exit starlink for good;

The PWSA constellation will eventually feature as many as four tranches and hundreds of satellites, which will add progressively more capabilities to build a space-based communications network for US military. Along with missile tracking, PWSA satellites will provide targeting of objects beyond line-of-site, low-latency data links, improved positioning and navigation services, and encrypted communications.

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Fun fact: the Ranger Moon probes in the early 1960ies used balsa wood for parts of their camera mounts, and early Chinese spy satellites had an ablative heat shield made out of oak on their reentry buckets.

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Bob and Ray (Bob Elliot, father of Chris Elliot & Ray Goulding were 2 old time radio comedians) once launched their own satelite that would orbit the earth at a height of 20 feet so they could sell advertising space on it.

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Drugs falling from the sky, you say?

Move over, Cocaine Bear. It’s time for Cocailien.

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" If you’re American – let’s say, someone trying to get a big aid package through to Ukraine – you might hope it scares some of the people who are trying to stop that happening. And if you’re a news outlet, you’ll just appreciate the traffic that big headlines about space nukes can bring"

yeah, this is what i assumed since the information was leaked

but it was actually a republican trying to make biden look bad

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/us-intel-chair-defends-sounding-alarms-on-russia-s-reported-space-nukes-sleepwalking-into-crisis/ar-BB1itv6M

Panel Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) said he first raised concerns about a “serious national security threat” because he was afraid the Biden administration is “sleepwalking into an international crisis

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Square Kilometre Array precursor looks to filter out satellite interference

The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder (ASKAP) – a precursor project for the full Square Kilometre Array – has started work on techniques to help it cope with increased satellite traffic.

The 36-telescope array is already operating in a remote area of Australia that has been designated a radio quiet zone – no television broadcasts or mobile phone signals trouble the dishes. But as the 'scope’s purpose is gazing at the heavens, it still must contend with orbiting sources of signal.

ASKAP head of data operations Dr Matthew Whiting told the Supercomputing Asia 2024 conference in Sydney today that increasing numbers of satellites are concerning.

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good thing all those costs are getting paid for by the for profit companies causing the problems… /s :cry:

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