Phys.org December 6, 2022 Inspired by the dynamic soaring maneuvers performed by sea birds and gliders in which differences in wind speed are exploited to gain velocity, an international team of researchers (Canada, USA – industry) proposed a technique in which a lift-generating spacecraft circles between regions of the heliosphere that have different wind speeds, gaining energy in the process without the use of propellant and only modest onboard power requirements. Detailed models of the spacecraft trajectory were developed to predict the potential velocity gains and the maximum velocity that might be achieved in terms of the lift-to-drag ratio of […]
Tag Archives: Space science
Satellite mission finds that Tonga volcanic eruption effects reached space
Phys.org May 10, 2022 Analyzing data from NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission and ESA’s Swarm satellites, an international team of researchers (USA – UC Berkeley, University of Colorado, Germany) found that in the hours after the eruption, hurricane-speed winds and unusual electric currents formed in the ionosphere. Upon reaching the ionosphere and the edge of space, ICON clocked the windspeeds at up to 450 mph. After the eruption, the equatorial electrojet surged to five times its normal peak power and dramatically flipped direction, flowing westward for a short period. According to the researchers this is something we’ve only previously […]
Success in visualizing the propagation path of electromagnetic waves from space to ground
Science Daily December 9, 2021 Electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves (EMIC waves) are an important class of EM wave in Geospace that control variations in the Geospace plasma environment. The EMIC waves are considered to propagate north to south along the geomagnetic field lines. The specific spatial size of the EMIC wave source region and the 3D aspect of how the propagation path is formed from space to ground are yet to be elucidated. An international team of researchers (Japan, USA – University of Colorado, University of Minnesota, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Canada) investigated the growth and propagation of fine-structured EMIC […]