Space Daily 30 10 2018

October 30, 2018

Sci-Fi inspired tractor beam helps researchers boldly go where none have gone before  Adelaide, Australia (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - A light driven energy trap similar to tractor beams used to capture spaceships in science fiction movies such as Star Trek and Star Wars has been developed by researchers in South Australia. The discovery is opening the way for new quantum experiments that may lead to new secure communications or advanced sensing technologies. University of Adelaide researchers have created the infra ... more

Russia tests nuclear propulsion spacecraft's key element  Moscow (Sputnik) Oct 30, 2018 - The cooling system, which is the most important element of the Russian space transport and energy unit developed on the basis of megawatt-class nuclear electric propulsion, has been successfully tested in Russia, materials published on the government procurement website on Monday stated. "The works have been fully completed. The results meet the requirements of the technical specifications ... more

Thrusters with additively manufactured components qualified to fly humans on Orion spacecraft  Redmond WA (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed qualification testing for the enhanced reaction control thruster system for NASA's Orion crew vehicle, helping to clear the way for the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft's second test flight, and first mission to cislunar space, called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1). The reaction control system, or RCS, is the only means of guiding the Orion crew module a ... more

Astronomers witness slow death of nearby galaxy  Canberra, Australia (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Astronomers from The Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO have witnessed, in the finest detail ever, the slow death of a neighbouring dwarf galaxy, which is gradually losing its power to form stars. The new peer-reviewed study of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), which is a tiny fraction of the size and mass of the Milky Way galaxy, uses images taken with CSIRO's powerful Austral ... more

SpaceFund launches the world's first space security token to fund the opening of the high frontier  Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - The world's first space security token was announced Monday at the Zurich Crypto Summit, by SpaceFund Inc., a Texas based venture capital firm focused on using new blockchain technology to fund 'frontier enabling' space startups. "SpaceFund's goal is to support the development and profitability of amazing new space startups around the world," said Rick Tumlinson, founding partner of SpaceF ... more

Parker Solar Probe breaks record, becomes closest spacecraft to Sun  Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Parker Solar Probe now holds the record for closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object. The spacecraft passed the current record of 26.55 million miles from the Sun's surface on Oct. 29, 2018, at about 1:04 p.m. EDT, as calculated by the Parker Solar Probe team. The previous record for closest solar approach was set by the German-American Helios 2 spacecraft in April 1976. As the P ... more

Synchronized telescope dance puts limits on mysterious flashes in the sky  Perth, Australia (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Two outback radio telescopes synchronised to observe the same point of sky have discovered more about one of the Universe's most mysterious events in new research published this week. The Curtin University-led Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) and CSIRO's Australian SKA Pathfinder (ASKAP) telescopes were searching the sky for fast radio bursts, which are exceptionally bright flashes of energ ... more

OSIRIS-REx executes third asteroid approach maneuver  Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has executed its third Asteroid Approach Maneuver (AAM-3). The trajectory correction maneuver (TCM) thrusters fired in a series of two braking maneuvers designed to slow the spacecraft's speed relative to Bennu from approximately 11.7 mph (5.2 m/sec) to .24 mph (.11 m/sec). Due to constraints that science instruments not be pointed too closely to the Sun, this ... more

Large millimeter telescope observes powerful molecular wind in an active spiral galaxy  Amherst MA (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - An international team of astrophysicists using the Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT) in central Mexico has detected an unexpected and powerful outflow of molecular gas in a distant active galaxy similar to the Milky Way. The galaxy is 800 million light years from Earth. The findings are published in the current edition of Astrophysical Journal Letters. The research team includes Min S. Yun, ... more  Scientists refine the search for dark matter  Lund, Sweden (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Researchers from Lund University in Sweden, among others, have developed a more effective technique in the search for clues about dark matter in the universe. They can now analyse much larger amounts of the data generated at CERN. At the CERN research facility, a long series of experiments is underway on protons colliding in the LHC accelerator at almost the speed of light. The amount of d ... more  FEFU astrophysicists studied asteroid 3200 Phaeton  Vladivostok, Russia (SPX) Oct 30, 2018 - Polarimetric investigation of a near-Earth asteroid Phaethon was carried out in December 2017 on its closest approach to the Earth. The study was conducted in collaboration with scientists from the Ussuriysk Astrophysical Observatory and the Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The article reporting the results of the observational campaign have been submitted to the s ... more  Armed drones, iris scanners: China's high-tech security gadgets  Beijing (AFP) Oct 26, 2018 - From virtual reality police training programmes to gun-toting drones and iris scanners, a public security expo in China showed the range of increasingly high-tech tools available to the country's police. The exhibition, which ran Tuesday to Friday in Beijing, emphasised surveillance and monitoring technology just as the Communist government's domestic security spending has skyrocketed. F ... more  Aegis Combat System Demonstrates Success During At-Sea Test Against Medium Range Ballistic Missile  Bethesda MD (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - The latest evolution of the Aegis Combat System, Baseline 9.C2 (BMD5.1) successfully supported an MDA-led at-sea Ballistic Missile Defense System test event. During the test, the Lockheed Martin-built Aegis Weapon System detected, tracked, engaged and launched a missile to intercept a Medium Range Ballistic Missile (MRBM) target. The test, called Flight Test Standard Missile-45, demonstrat ... more  Location of large mystery source of banned ozone depleting substance uncovered  Bristol UK (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - The compound, carbon tetrachloride, contributes to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation. As a result, the production of carbon tetrachloride has been banned throughout the world since 2010 for uses that will result in its release to the atmosphere. However, recent studies have shown that global emissions have not declined as expec ... more  Tracing the evolutionary origins of fish to shallow ocean waters  Philadelphia PA (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 - The first vertebrates on Earth were fish, and scientists believe they first appeared around 480 million years ago. But fossil records from this time are spotty, with only small fragments identified. By 420 million years ago, however, the fossil record blossoms, with a huge variety of fish species present en masse. "It's been this ongoing question of, well, where were they?" says Lauren Sal ... more  Shielded quantum bits  Konstanz, Germany (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - The researchers have found ways to shield electric and magnetic noise for a short time. This will make it possible to use spins as memory for quantum computers, as the coherence time is extended and many thousand computer operations can be performed during this interval. The study was published in the current issue of the journal Physical Review Letters. The technological vision of buildin ... more  New composite material that can cool itself down under extreme temperatures  Nottingham UK (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - A cutting-edge material, inspired by nature, that can regulate its own temperature and could equally be used to treat burns and help space capsules withstand atmospheric forces is under development at the University of Nottingham. The research paper, Temperature - dependent polymer absorber as a switchable state NIR reactor, is published in the journal Scientific Reports Friday 26 October. ... more  Humans help robots learn tasks  Stanford CA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 - In the basement of the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University, a screen attached to a red robotic arm lights up. A pair of cartoon eyes blinks. "Meet Bender," says Ajay Mandlekar, PhD student in electrical engineering. Bender is one of the robot arms that a team of Stanford researchers is using to test two frameworks that, together, could make it faster and easier to teach ... more