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MSG-4 is launched, last satellite of the second generation Meteosat. The Spanish industry contributes key technology


(Defensa.com) The MSG-4 fourth and final satellite in the Meteosat Second Generation mission will be launched into orbit at dawn today (between 23: 42h and 00: 19h) from the European spaceport in French Guiana aboard the Ariane 5 ECA launcher. The Spanish industry has played a major role in the design and construction of equipment and systems of the four MSG satellites are key to the success of the mission.

A total of seven domestic companies -Airbus DS, Alter Technology Tuv Nord, Crisa, GMV, Indra, SENER, Spain-Thales Alenia Space has provided systems and equipment to the MSG fleet, reaching the Spanish participation in the 7% of the total Meteosat Second Generation mission. Last of his generation, MSG-4, developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) and EUMETSAT (European Organisation for Meteorological Satellites) provide meteorological and climate monitoring data across Europe from its position in geostationary orbit at 36,000 kilometers above Ecuador, to 3,4º west longitude. MSG-4 is the fourth in a series of four second-generation satellites, and will join the MSG-1, MSG-2 and MSG-3 satellites successfully launched in August 2002, December 2005 and July 2012.

Meteosat satellites providing data lead to better weather forecasting since the late 1970s and the Second Generation have significantly improved analysis of the meteorological and climate data in Europe in the last 13 years. These stabilized by rotation (100 rpm), highly detailed images broadcast satellites in Europe, the North Atlantic and Africa for use by national meteorological services across Europe. They incorporate technological advances that have dramatically improved image quality due to the significant increase in the number of channels of observation, along with better radiometric performance, while enabling reduced cycle revisits half.

Meteosat Third Generation, under development
Meteosat Third Generation (MTG), currently under development to become operational between 2020 and 2030, will not only ensure continuity of service but will revolutionize the climate monitoring and weather forecasting. MTG Imager will have four satellites (MTG-I) to improve the performance of their predecessors. Furthermore, this first generation incorporate two satellites with sounders from geostationary orbit (MTG-S), which give information unprecedented structural water vapor content and temperature in the atmosphere.

The Spanish space industry is also playing a key role in the design and development of this new generation of Meteosat satellites, with a participation in the program around 12%.


Spanish contribution to program satellites Meteosat Second Generation (MSG)

Airbus Defence and Space
* Thermal protection of satellite systems active and passive electronic thermal control units and instrument.

* Wiring SEVIRI instrument.

Alter Technology TÜV Nord
* Selection of components, engineering, testing and procurement of electronic components of the satellite.

Crisa (Airbus DS)
* Functional Control Unit (FCU) of the main instrument SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager).

GMV
* Services AEMET for the generation and maintenance of a software package for data processing of MSG program, responsible for the engineering and system integration, as well as maintenance and support to end users (Satellite Application Facility nowcasting).

* Ongoing activities with the Meteorological Institute of Portugal for the SAF (Satellite Application Facility) LAND.

* Support the Flight Dynamics MSG LEOP from the ESOC control center.

Independent Verification and Validation of Data Handling Software.
* Contribution to the development of the subsystem MPEF (Meteorological Products Extraction Facility) in EUMETSAT

Indra
* Supply Station BRGS (Backup and Ranging Ground Station) control for satellite fleet and second generation of EUMETSAT owned by INTA. The station is located in Maspalomas, provided remotely accessible services from EUMETSAT headquarters in Darmstadt, Germany. The station performs various services, which include monitoring satellites, and controls sending commands to, and performing the location and precise satellite positioning.

SENER
* Design, manufacture, verification, testing and delivery of the following equipment of the camera (radiometer) called Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infra-red Imager (SEVIRI):

-The Unit calibration of infrared channels.

-the Cover ejector cooling system, consisting of a reinforced panel, to prevent ingress of contamination, and mechanisms that serve as anchors launch and in orbit the ejected by pyrotechnic means.

-the Optical visual field screen, which protects the field of view SEVIRI any residual beam light that can degrade the quality of the recorded image.

And the ejection cover of said optical display, also consisting of a panel that emerges strengthened by pyrotechnic means once in orbit.

* Design, analysis, verification and testing (with staff integrated into the Alcatel team) of the linear actuator or Drive Unit (DU), whose function is to position the optical guiding the visual field of the SEVIRI radiometer.

Thales Alenia Space Spain
* Raw Data Modulator RDM: data modulator for transmitting images.

* Image SCOE: bank chain simulation image of the instrument and real-time monitoring of data transmission.

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Here's how big Pluto is compared to the largest objects in the solar system

For 76 years, Pluto was our ninth, and farthest planet in the solar system. Today, it's still one of the farthest objects in our solar neighborhood, but it now goes by another title: dwarf planet.

In truth, dwarf planet is much more fitting title for this small, icy world. After all, it's the largest of all the dwarf planets whereas it was the smallest of all the planets, by far. You can fit about 10 Earths across the diameter of Jupiter — it would take six times as many Plutos to do the same!

To show just how tiny Pluto really is, we've made this graphic:





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This is the first high-resolution image of Pluto's surface

NASA just released the first frame of the high-resolution scans of Pluto. The new image is zoomed into less than one percent of Pluto's surface. It was published less than 24 hours after NASA received confirmation that the New Horizons spacecraft . More of these scans will be released on Friday.

The high-resolution image of Pluto's surface shows us a fraction of the lower left portion of . John Spencer, a New Horizons science team member, said that the team has yet to find an impact crater in any of the scans, which means Pluto is very young relative to the rest of the solar system. Spencer also said that the mountains seen in the image stretch to over 11,000 feet (about 3,350 meters) high, and are likely made of a type of water-ice bedrock.



The mountains probably formed less than 100 million years ago, according to NASA. They might also still be growing. That's counterintuitive to the way we've previously viewed icy worlds, which are typically only geologically active if they're orbiting much larger bodies. (Take Saturn's moon Titan, for example, which has visibly active cryovolcanoes that are aided by Saturn's massive gravitational pull.) While there are no immediate signs of cryovolcanoes, the New Horizons team will be looking for them when they get more high-resolution scans. They might also be visible in the images taken from the backside of Pluto, when the dwarf planet is back-lit by the Sun.

Spencer said that this one image is already making the team rethink how the geological activity on these worlds is powered. Alan Stern, New Horizons' principal investigator, agreed. "The one thing we can say for sure is that tidal energy is not at play here," he said. "[Now] we have to get a little more clever."

The team also announced that the "heart" feature of Pluto will now be known as the Tombaugh Regio, after Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto.

The images that NASA released over the last few weeks were interesting because it was the first time we had seen Pluto in any real detail. But now, New Horizons has made its observations and is safely beyond Pluto. NASA will spend the next 16 months analyzing that data, releasing both images and scientific observations along the way


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One of the photos taken by Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft of a region near Pluto’s equator. The image shows a range of youthful mountains rising as high as 11,000 feet (3,500 meters) above the surface of the icy body.
Picture: REUTERS/NASA New Horizons



Pluto and its large moon Charon in false colour image obtained using three of the color filters of the 'Ralph' instrument aboard Nasa's New Horizons spacecraft. The new color images reveal that the 'heart' of Pluto actually consists of two remarkably different-colored regions. In the false-color image, the heart consists of a western lobe shaped like an ice cream cone that appears peach color in this image. A mottled area (right) (east) side looks bluish. A mid-latitude band appears in shades ranging from pale blue through red. Even within the northern polar cap, in the upper part of the image, various shades of yellow-orange indicate subtle compositional differences.
Picture: Nasa via EPA


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The Spanish Elecnor closed the export operation of its two satellites of Earth observation to the Canadian UrtheCast by 76.4 million euros


(Defensa.com) Elecnor, through its technology division Elecnor Deimos, has closed the export operation to Canadian Urthecast its two satellites observing the Earth, Deimos-1 Deimos-2, for 76.4 million euros. The sale of both satellites was signed on 22 June as part of a strategic alliance with the Canadian company UrtheCast for joint projects in the aerospace sector. The agreement envisaged achieving the effective closure of the operation before next August 21, term has been substantially shortened.


The operation drives the success of Elecnor Deimos in aerospace, with consolidated throughout the value chain presence of space missions: design, integration, validation, launch, operation and commercial exploitation of own satellite Earth observation and development of space systems for third parties. The operation, detailing the company successfully completed the journey begun 10 years ago by both satellites with its first engineering studies, making this innovative business model unique in the Spanish aerospace industry. In fact, it is the first operation of its kind in a Spanish company in an industry dominated so far by French, Italian, English and Korean corporations. Following the momentum achieved with this agreement, the Group is working also for introduction into new markets in the space sector.


With regard to the overall scope of the alliance signed between the two companies involves a joint search for opportunities of mutual interest. So, Elecnor becomes strategic partner of UrtheCast within the "Constellation" international program aimed at developing the first fully integrated satellite observation optical and radar Earth constellation. Specifically, the Spanish company will collaborate in the areas of mission control, to command earth stations and receiving data, mission analysis and flight dynamics, as well as the integration of the payload of the radar satellite in the clean room Integration and Operations Center Satellite Elecnor in Puertollano




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An image of the sun taken by Nasa's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager onboard the Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft

Picture: REUTERS/NASA


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Pedal to the Metal – RS-25 Engine Revs Up Again

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In auto racing parlance, NASA engineers put the “pedal to the metal” during a July 17 test of its Space Launch System (SLS) RS-25 rocket engine at Stennis Space Center. During a 535-second test, operators ran the RS-25 through a series of power levels, including a period of firing at 109 percent of the engine’s rated power. Data collected on performance of the engine at the various power levels will aid in adapting the former space shuttle engines to the new SLS vehicle mission requirements, including development of an all-new engine controller and software. Four RS-25 engines will use the added performance to help power the SLS core stage during launch. The SLS is being developed to carry humans deeper into space than ever before, to such destinations as an asteroid and Mars. When fully developed, the heavy-lift version of the spacecraft will be the largest, most powerful rocket ever built. Prior to the first launch – Exploration Mission-1, the SLS first stage will be tested on the B-2 Test Stand at Stennis, which will involve simultaneously firing its four RS-25 engines just as they would during an actual launch. Modifications are continuing to prepare the B-2 stand for the test series. Meanwhile, during the July 17 development engine test on the nearby A-1 Test Stand, operators continued to collect data on engine performance under various conditions. They also collected data on performance of the new controller, which monitors and controls engine performance. Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, is the prime contractor for the RS-25 engine work. Two additional tests of the RS-25 engine are planned before the current test series concludes by early September and a new test series begins on four engines for a future flight.

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Image of impact crater located SW of Huygens crater, taken by Mars Color Camera (MCC) on 04-05-2015 at a spatial resolution of 30 m from an altitude of 576 km. Complex impact crater, superimposed over pre-existing crater is clearly seen in this image. This impact crater is having average diameter of 35 km. Terraces of complex impact crater and craters of small diameter distributed in this image are also seen.

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New Sino-Argentine radio telescope


(Defensa.com) With 40 meters in diameter, it will be located in the El Leoncito National Park, located in the Department of Calingasta, in the mountainous area of the province of San Juan, on the border with Chile, where he conducted research in the field of geodesy and geo-referencing for additional astrophysical projects. The draft CONICET of Argentina, the National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) and the National University of San Juan participating.

The agreement, signed by the Rector of the National University of San Juan, states that the CART conduct studies in the field of geodesy and geo-referencing for the improvement of the techniques of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), along with similar antennas located Worldwide. It is a new step in the controversial agreement with Beijing on space activities, allowing the Asian giant to improve and expand its influence in this area in the Southern Hemisphere.

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YES, this is awesome!

LONDON (AP) — Renowned physicist Stephen Hawking and Russian-born billionaire Yuri Milner on Monday announced an ambitious bid to combine vast computing capacity with the world's most powerful telescopes to intensify the so far fruitless search for extraterrestrial life.


Hawking, who speaks using a computer-generated voice due to the effects of motor neuron disease, explained the reason for the $100 million project: "We are alive. We are intelligent. We must know."

Milner, who made a fortune through investments in companies like Facebook, said the power of Silicon Valley technology and innovation would be used.

"The scope of our search will be unprecedented: a million nearby stars, the galactic center, the entire plane of the Milky Way and 100 nearby galaxies," Milner told a packed press conference at the Royal Society in London.

Organizers say the "Breakthrough Initiatives" project, also endorsed by other prominent British scientists, is the biggest ever scientific search for alien life. It includes a "listening" program — the effort to analyze vast amounts of radio signals in search of signs of life — and a "messaging" program that will include $1 million in prizes for digital messages that best represent the planet Earth.

The messages will not be sent, however, in part because some scientists — including Hawking — fear messages sent into space could possibly spur aggressive actions by alien races.


It will be supported by the 100-meter Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia in the United States and the 64-meter Parkes Telescope in New South Wales, Australia.

In addition, the Lick Observatory in California will conduct a deeper-than-ever search for optical laser transmissions.

The project will be 50 times more sensitive than earlier searches, and will cover 10 times more of the sky, organizers say.

It will also make use of SETI@home, a University of California, Berkeley project that uses some 9 million volunteers throughout the world who donate computer power to search astronomical data for signs of life.

Milner said the search will be entirely transparent and will rely on open-source software so findings can be shared throughout the world.

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"Our approach to data will be open and taking advantage of the problem-solving power of social networks," he said.

The researchers say the focused computing power and the use of some of the world's most powerful telescopes will allow them to collect in one day the same amount of data that would have taken one year to collect before the program began.

Milner plans to back the program for at least 10 years although scientists agree it may take longer to find proof that alien life exists.

Hawking said the new program should succeed because it has ample resources: access to time on major telescopes, a huge data capacity, and a long-term financial commitment that will not be withdrawn.

"If a search of this sophistication finds no proof, that is an interesting result," he said. "It will not prove that we are alone but it will narrow the possibilities and it is likely to produce data that is fascinating in its own right."

Based on new information about the number of other worlds where life could have taken hold it is "quite likely" humans are not alone, he said.

"There is no bigger question," Hawking said. "It is time to commit to finding the answer to search for life beyond Earth."

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