August 2018
AI offers new approach to space situational awareness
... within an area. Concept for ESA’s future space debris surveillance system employing groundbased optical, radar and laser technology as well as in-orbit survey instruments. Transfer learning The space domain is rich with physical models and...
November 2018
BepiColombo – a mission to explore Mercury
... of the radiator. Some of ESA’s MPO instruments are BELA, ISA, MORE, MERTIS and SERENA. BELA (BepiColombo Laser Altimeter) will characterise and measure the topography and surface morphology of Mercury to create digital terrain models...
January 2019
Visiting an asteroid to find out how life began
... infrared spectrometer (NIRS3) that can identify different molecules by looking at the wavelengths of reflected light, and a laser altimeter for precise distance measurements. Hayabusa2 took images of the Earth using its onboard Optical Navigation...
April 2019
Is a military space force justified?
...’, where competing forces deployed from the cargo bays of space shuttles to participate in hand-to-hand combat by firing laser weapons at each other. As a practical matter, a combat troop force in orbit would be relatively useless but they could...
June 2020
Saving Earth – time for a new cooperative framework
... energy beams, missile systems armed with nuclear weapons and even more exotic approaches, such as so-called ‘laser bees’, to divert or break apart threatening asteroids or comets. The UN General Assembly has not only endorsed the...
November 2020
Walking on the Moon
... hopes this notional target will be exceeded. The rover’s payload includes a high-definition camera and a LIDAR (laser-based measuring device). An additional aspect of this first mission – especially important in this age of social media...
