The era of satellite servicing is upon us

The era of satellite servicing is upon us

From Space News: “The robotic Mission Extension Vehicle-1 (MEV-1) launched atop a Russian Proton rocket today (Oct. 9) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:17 a.m. EDT (1017 GMT, 4:17 p.m. local Kazakhstan time). MEV-1, which was built by Virginia-based...

Robots: change agents for space

The online space journal Filling Space recently interviewed me to get my views on how robots might bring new capabilities to the space economy. Bottom line: this is going to happen, and the opportunities are nearly boundless. How will robots advance the space...
Space robotics are happening

Space robotics are happening

A great summary of the current projects: https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/how-nasa-will-grapple-and-refuel-a-satellite-in-low-earth-orbit It looks like DARPA’s RSGS and NASA’s Restore-L will both get to orbit in 2022. RSGS is headed...
Using the stuff on the Moon

Using the stuff on the Moon

In late July, over 200 researchers, engineers and managers gathered in Laurel, Maryland, for the 2019 Lunar ISRU Workshop. ISRU stands for In-Situ Resource Utilization. In other words, the meeting was all about using what can be found on the Moon–to support...
Crater analysis suggests more water on the Moon

Crater analysis suggests more water on the Moon

Some of the craters at the Moon’s poles are shallower than typical impact craters. It has just been suggested that the “fill” material could be largely water ice, as is true at Mercury: https://phys.org/news/2019-07-moon-thought.html Of course, the...