Important Innovations

Twin Spacecrafts Working Together Source:  NASA Powered by Old Fashioned Steam The maneuvers of two cubesats in space today is a big success for NASA.  The twin, small satellites are powered by steam. Their fuel tanks are filled with water, converted into steam by thrusters to enable flight. One of the satellites, with some help from NASA on the ground, commanded the other satellite to close the 5.5 mile gap between them.  It did so successfully.  NASA says this demonstrates that cubesats can work together and even swarm on missions in deep space.  For a great news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: Steam Powered Twin Spacecrafts : Cubesats in Command Source:   NASA Cubesat High Theater in Low Earth Orbit Two cubesats (small satellites) powered by steam performe...

Trash Collector for Space Source:  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Tiny, Semi-Autonomous CubeSats Scientists at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing tiny, inexpensive CubeSats to capture and destroy debris in space.  There are more than 129 million pieces of space debris.  And they pose a danger to space vehicles because they travel at such high velocities.  For a news blog on the satellite system, go to Important Innovations Collection: CubeSats Catch Space Debris : Tiny, Semi-Autonomous, Cheap Source:  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New Invention:  Trash Collector for Space Researchers at Re...