NASAジェット推進研究所（JPL）のエンジニアは、音速を超えて回転しても破損しない大型ローターブレードの試験に成功した。木曜日に発表されたこの成果は、将来の火星探査ミッションにおいて揚力を30％向上させるものとなる。
試験は火星の希薄な大気を再現したチャンバー内で行われ、ローターの先端速度はマッハ1.08に達した。JPLとAeroVironmentのエンジニアは3枚翼と2枚翼の両方の設計を使用し、後者はSkyFallミッションで計画されている構成と一致している。チャンバー内部のファンが速度上昇に伴う向かい風を再現し、チームは隣接するコントロールルームから結果を観測した。
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Orion spacecraft from Artemis 2 mission has completed its final maneuver before atmospheric reentry, the most critical phase of the journey. Astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen face a 13-minute descent at over 40,000 km/h and temperatures above 2,500 degrees, with splashdown planned off San Diego.
NASA announced on Tuesday that it will pause development of the Gateway lunar space station and repurpose its Power and Propulsion Element for SR-1 Freedom, a nuclear-electric propulsion demonstration mission to Mars launching before the end of 2028. The spacecraft will carry Skyfall helicopters to scout subsurface water ice and landing sites. Officials described the move as leveraging existing hardware to prove nuclear power in deep space.
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Chinese scientists have developed revolutionary software capable of fully simulating the extreme physics of supersonic fuel combustion in just one week. Previously, the same task could take a supercomputer years to complete. It modelled internal dynamics across hundreds of millions of computational cells, more than 20 times the resolution typical of current global research.
Blue Origin achieved a milestone by successfully landing and reusing the first stage of its New Glenn rocket for the third flight, but the upper stage failed to place its payload into the correct orbit. The launch occurred Sunday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The booster, named Never Tell Me The Odds, touched down on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean after its second flight.
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NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight of the Orion spacecraft around the Moon since 1972, has encountered a helium leak in its service module but officials say it poses no threat to the crew's return. The spacecraft, carrying astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen, launched on April 1 and is set for splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening. Ground teams adjusted the flight plan to study the leak while maintaining nominal performance.
NASA's Van Allen Probe A satellite, launched in 2012 to study Earth's radiation belts, is set to reenter the atmosphere early this week after running out of fuel in 2019. The agency has approved a safety waiver due to the reentry's risk exceeding government standards, though the chance of harm remains low at 1 in 4,200. Most of the 1,323-pound spacecraft will burn up, with some debris potentially reaching the surface.
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A 14-year-old boy from China's Hainan Island has drawn public attention for reportedly handcrafting a turbojet engine in his family's living room. State media outlets have portrayed Che Jingang as a self-taught engineer, with his mother's social media account boasting 30,000 followers. The teenager, who calls himself 'rocket boy,' dismisses skepticism about his skills.