NASA destroyed a full-sized, inflatable Orbital Reef commercial space station prototype, under development by Blue Origin and Sierra Space, in the name of science. This inflatable habitat is constructed of high-strength webbings and fabric that form a solid structure once pressurized.
There’s the mosquito-zapping laser weapon, and then NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD), an orbiting experimental platform, that successfully helped stream 4K video from an aircraft to the ISS and then back.
NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory captured this stunning image of spiral galaxy NGC 6872, better known as the peacock galaxy located 212 million light-years from Earth in the Pavo constellation.
Rolls-Royce announced this week that they have been awarded $6-million by the UK’s National Space Innovation Program (NSIP) to further develop their micro nuclear space reactor. Put simply, the Micro-Reactor can generate between 1-10 MW and is compact enough to be transported on the back of a truck, making it ideal for Moon bases, rovers, etc.
NASA / ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope captures an image of a cosmic island known as spiral galaxy NGC 3430, which is located 100 million light-years away in the constellation Leo Minor. You can clearly see multiple galaxies relatively nearby to this one, just out of frame, with one being close enough that gravitational interaction is driving some star formation in NGC 3430.
Kanglab unveils Marsbee, a bioinspired robot bee designed to create a 3D topographic map of Mars. Its flexible flapping wings benefit from the dynamically scaled up animal flight mechanisms that enable the robot to carry a payload of a stereo color camera with a sensor suite (a navigation camera, an inclinometer, a lidar sensor, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU)) as well as a communication module.
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover drove over a rock in the Gediz Vallis channel on May 30 and discovered yellow sulfur crystals inside. This odorless elemental sulfur only forms in a narrow range of conditions that scientists haven’t associated with the history of this location.
NASA’s Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle touched down on July 20, 1969 and commander Neil Armstrong became the first person to step onto the Moon’s surface 6 hours and 39 minutes later. The astronauts actually separated the spacecraft from the Saturn V’s third stage and traveled for three days before entering lunar orbit.
