Cozy Dark emerging technology began work in 2010 as a skunkworks-style engineering firm and is registered with CCR and NSPIRES.
Our early engineering & design efforts have focused on orbital debris solutions and electrodynamic tether technology.
Zach Urbina founded Cozy Dark with the cooperation of technical, research, and academic colleagues in the Southern California AeroAstro community.
We also have a growing library of space science talks featuring Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin, astrophysicist Sean Carroll and more.
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33 posts tagged technology
Station partners assess impacts after cargo launch failure |
It was the second failure in a row for the Russian space program after the Breeze-M upper stage of a more powerful Proton rocket malfunctioned last Thursday, stranding a communications satellite in the wrong orbit. The Breeze-M is not related to the Soyuz-U’s upper stage.
The Progress M-12M/44P spacecraft was loaded with 2,050 pounds of propellant, 110 pounds of oxygen, 926 pounds of water and 2,777 pounds of U.S. and Russian dry cargo. While the supply train to the space station is critical for supporting a full-time crew of six, the lab complex currently is in good shape, flush with supplies and equipment delivered to the outpost aboard the shuttle Atlantis in July.
But engineers want to find out what went wrong with the Soyuz-U upper stage as soon as possible because it is virtually identical to the third stage used by Russia’s manned Soyuz spacecraft. Launch of the next manned Soyuz mission is targeted for Sept. 22.continue reading
Robotic Refueling Module, Soon to Be Relocated to Permanent Space Station Position |
NASA’s groundbreaking Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) will reach a key milestone in September when the International Space Station (ISS) robots transfer the module to its permanent home on space station’s ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-4. Robotic operations for the technology demonstration are currently slated to begin soon afterwards.
A joint effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency, RRM is designed to demonstrate the technologies, tools, and techniques needed to robotically service satellites, especially those not built with servicing in mind.
The results of this two-year technology test bed are expected to the reduce risks associated with satellite servicing as well as lay the foundation and encourage future robotic servicing missions. Such future missions could include the repair and repositioning of orbiting satellites.
President Obama called the RRM demonstration “innovative” during a July 15 phone call to STS-135 astronauts onboard the ISS noting its potential future benefits to the commercial satellite industry. “It’s a good reminder of how NASA technology and research often times has huge spillover effects into the commercial sector, and makes it all that much more important in terms of peoples’ day to day lives.” continue reading
Daily chart: two decades of satellite launches |
Last year 13 out of 26 satellite launches were Russian; in 2010 China launched more satellites than America, for the first time ever.
via theeconomist
World’s First Commercial Space Station Planned in Russia |
Called the Commercial Space Station, the orbiting space laboratory and hotel will be able to host up to seven people at a time. It is being planned under a partnership between the Russian companies Orbital Technologies and RSC Energia.
The space station is expected to launch sometime between 2015 and 2016. The cost of individual trips may vary based on launch vehicle, duration and purpose of missions.
F9/DRAGON: PREPARING FOR ISS |
This next mission represents a huge milestone not only for SpaceX, but also for NASA and the US space program. When the astronauts stationed on the ISS open the hatch and enter the Dragon spacecraft for the first time, it will mark the beginning of a new era in space travel.
NASA launches Juno robot to explore Jupiter’s birth |
* Juno to spend a year in polar orbit around Jupiter
* Journey to Jupiter will take 5 years
An unmanned Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Friday, sending a robotic scout on its way to Jupiter to sniff out details about how the solar system formed.
The rocket carrying NASA’s Juno spacecraft lifted off at 12:25 p.m. (1625 GMT), the first step in a five-year, 445-million mile (716-million km) journey to the largest planet in the solar system.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Aug 5 Reuters | Irene Klotz
SpaceX CEO talks about mission to Mars |
SpaceX is currently focusing efforts on a mission to the International Space Station, with current test flights leading up to a planned docking with the ISS in December this year.
During the AIAA Propulsion conference this week, CEO Elon Musk spoke about his plans for other places like the Moon or Mars. “Ultimately, the thing that is super important in the grand scale of history is—are we on a path to becoming a multi-planet species or not? If we’re not, that’s not a very bright future. We’ll just be hanging out on Earth until some eventual calamity claims us,” Musk said.
First on the list would be a vehicle that’s capable of delivering substantial mass to Mars and then returning to Earth. The company’s planned Falcon Heavy rocket, the plans for which were unveiled in April, could conceivably carry 12 to 15 metric tons, but “I think you’ll probably want a vehicle that can deliver something on the order of 50 metric tons … in a fully reusable manner,” Musk said.
The Falcon Heavy, which will be the world’s largest rocket, will have its inaugural flight in late 2012.
(via 8bitfuture)
(via liber-eclectica)
