Month: October 2023

OPS-SAT: breaking the flight heritage paradox
7Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Space

OPS-SAT: breaking the flight heritage paradox

How the first ESA CubeSat enables in-orbit demonstration of spacecraft software Author: Tuomas Simula, Leonardo Times Editor An artist’s impression of OPS-SAT in orbit OPS-SAT, the first CubeSat mission of the European Space Agency, was designed to break the “has not flown, will never fly” cycle that often obstructs advances in space technology. It is a powerful orbital laboratory that allows experimentation of spacecraft control systems. We interviewed members of the OPS-SAT team to learn about the possibilities it creates for the in-flight testing of space software. Space technology is often considered  the cutting edge of technology, but, in reality, it tends to advance slowly. Especially the larger and more complicated space missions often rely on technology that is d...
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Stairway to Heaven
7Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Aviation

Stairway to Heaven

Interview with Sean Fisher on his ladder plane Author: Roosa Joensuu, Leonardo Times Editor Sean Fisher is an artist with a background in engineering and recently graduated from Design Academy Eindhoven with a Master of Arts. Sean started building airplane parts out of molten ladders for his graduation project and is now slowly collecting material and casting parts with the support of the community he has built around ladders - “The Ladder Research Observatory”. The project entitled ‘My Second Plane’ dives into pataphysics – the science of imaginary solutions. Q: What exactly is pataphysical engineering? SF: I came up with the term pataphysical engineering when I did some research for my thesis. I discovered James Donohue, who attached an iMac G3 as a fairing to his bike t...
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Per Severance ad Astra
7Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Space

Per Severance ad Astra

NASA’s Perseverance mission reaches adolescence on the red planet Authors: Juan Pablo Avila, Leonardo Times Editor, and Topias Pulkkinen, Editor-in-chief The Perseverance Rover enjoys taking the occasional selfie Since the project’s announcement, NASA’s Perseverance mission has long intrigued Mars enthusiasts around the world. The mission certainly hasn’t been cheap on both the minds of the scientists and engineers or the US taxpayers. Yet, the mission is on course to demonstrate feats of engineering critical for planetary exploration.  NASA’S LATEST MISSION TO MARS As you may recall, Perseverance launched on July 30, 2020, and landed on Mars on February 18, 2021, as part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. Perseverance comes as the successor to Curiosity, a rover that landed on M...
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Heroes of the Sky
6Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Aviation

Heroes of the Sky

Shedding some light on the stories of extraordinary individuals Authors: Muhammad Arham Elahi, James Perry, Leonardo Times Editors Few have the nerves to stay composed in such life-threatening situations as some pilots encounter. Here we explore a few cases of exceptional individuals who demonstrated incredible skill under immense pressure. Gimli Glider BACKGROUND Air Canada Flight 143, a brand new Boeing 767 was flying from Montreal to Edmonton on 23, July, 1983 with 69 people on board. The brand-new plane was in tip-top condition except for a small error in the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS). The pilots received instructions to ensure sufficient fuel board by performing a dripstick test. They took a reading from a tube installed in the wing (given in centimete...
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Wake Up, Little Susie
6Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Space

Wake Up, Little Susie

ArianeGroup’s ambitious new spacecraft proposal reawakens Europe’s vision of independent human spaceflight. Author: Danny Tjokrosetio, Leonardo Times Editor Concept art of Susie performing a soft landing. The year is 2031. Looming above the palm trees of Kourou, a gleaming Ariane 6 stands poised and ready for liftoff. The scene is familiar to the Guiana Space Center, save for an unusual vehicle mounted on top of the rocket. A new dawn in space exploration is about to begin. It is clear that the world is seeing a revolution in innovation like never before - rapid technological changes are also reiterated in the activities of spacefaring nations. Europe’s response to adapt to these changes in the space sector is the proposal of a new kind of spacecraft whose essence lies in reus...
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ResAErch #3
6Oct By LeonardoTimesNo Comments
Space

ResAErch #3

Space Guidance in the Age of Need Author: Topias Pulkkinen, Editor-in-Chief Dr. Jian Guo is a long-time associate professor and researcher at the Faculty’s Space Department Space systems engineering is a broad field with many of its uses expecting a sharp increase in demand over the coming decades. The risks posed by space debris are being re-evaluated, and resources are targeted to aid the field’s development at an accelerating rate. In this 3rd ‘ResAErch’ article, we interviewed Jian Guo, an associate professor in the space department, working in space systems engineering with a specialization in Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) and autonomy. He has worked on numerous research papers in space systems engineering, collaborating with a broad range of scientists and engin...
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