NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day

October 14, 2024

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Over the Lincoln Memorial

Go outside at sunset tonight and see a comet! C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) has become visible in the early evening sky in northern locations to the unaided eye. To see the comet, look west through a sky with a low horizon. If the sky is clear and dark enough, you will not even need binoculars – the faint tail of the comet should be visible just above the horizon for about an hour. Pictured, Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was captured two nights ago over the Lincoln Memorial monument in Washington, DC, USA. With each passing day at sunset, the comet and its changing tail should be higher and higher in the sky, although exactly how bright and how long its tails will be can only be guessed.

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

SpaceX and NASA Europa Clipper Mission

October 14th 12:06 p.m. ET

SpaceX is targeting Monday, October 14 for launch of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to Jupiter’s icy moon Europa from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The instantaneous launch window opens at 12:06 p.m. ET. If needed, a backup opportunity is available on Tuesday, October 15 at 11:58 a.m. ET.

A live webcast of this mission will begin on NASA’s website around one hour prior to liftoff.

This is the sixth and final flight for the first stage side boosters supporting this mission, which previously launched USSF-44, USSF-67, USSF-52, Hughes JUPITER 3, and NASA’s Psyche mission exactly one year ago.

Europa Clipper is the largest spacecraft NASA has ever developed for a planetary mission with solar arrays spanning more than 100 feet (~30 meters) when deployed and weighing nearly 13,000 pounds (6,000 kilograms) at launch.

Powered by 24 engines, Europa Clipper will make nearly 50 flybys of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, surveying for conditions suitable to support life after scientists predicted that a salty ocean lies beneath Europa’s icy surface which has more water than Earth’s oceans combined.

It will take five years to reach Europa, with an anticipated arrival in 2030.

https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=europa-clipper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQToTWKwtuw

Big project, big width, big scale! Sany UAV landed in the reconstruction and expansion project of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway!

September 30, 2024

September 26-27，The Conference on Construction Management and Technological Innovation of Expressway Reconstruction and Expansion Project in 2024 was held in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

The meeting gathered nearly 700 experts from the highway industry.、Scholar，Relying on the reconstruction and expansion project of the section from Henan-Hubei boundary to Junshan in Hubei Province of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway，The total length of the project is about 157.79 kilometers，The whole line is adopted “Widening on both sides，Partially separate and widen new”Reconstruction and Expansion Scheme of Two-way Eight-lane Expressway，Promote innovation in construction technology and management，Promoting the Quality Development of Expressway.

Afternoon on the 27th，Experts attending the meeting went to the project site of the 4th bid section to observe.，Project owner: Hubei Jiaotong、The general conTractor of the project, China Railway 11th Bureau, and the construction unit, Liaoning Guotai Road and Bridge and Sany Heavy Industry, jointly completed the unmanned cluster intelligent paving and rolling operation of the large-width pavement.。

Witnessed by industry experts，The SANY UAV fleet has successfully completed the industry's first maximum width pavement.、The largest unmanned paving construction demonstration，It marks that the level of intelligent construction of highway construction in China has stepped up to a new level.。

High-speed surface construction，Extremely high requirements for rolling equipment and operation process。

This time, a number of Sany high-end unmanned pavement equipment were used.，Including a 20m wide Paver、Six sets of 13-ton double-drum Road Roller、Three 30t rubber-tired rollers，With 1+3+3+The line-ups has formed the huge construction machine group.，Based on the intelligent scheduling algorithm, the standardized operation of the cluster is realized.。

Beidou Centimeter Level High Precision Positioning System and Self-built Low Delay Communication Network，The real-time optimal path planning of the machine group is realized strictly according to the requirements of the rolling process.，Realized“Follow the slow pressure”，Avoid pressure leakage、Undervoltage，Ensure the rolling quality。

What is particularly striking is that，Sany is out this time.SAP200C-10 wide unmanned Paver，In the actual construction, 19.

The paving width of 25 meters realizes one-time paving formation.，This is the first time in the field of road construction at home and abroad.。

SAP200C-The 10 Paver is for high speed 2 lanes~Construction artifact created by 4-lane asphalt wide construction，In this project，SAP200C-The 10 large-width paver not only greatly improves the construction efficiency，Reduced number of seams，It also effectively improves the smoothness and durability of the road surface.，It has injected strong technical impetus into the reconstruction and expansion project of Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway, the main national traffic artery.。

This attempt，It is undoubtedly a major breakthrough in traditional paving technology.，It marks a double leap in the width and efficiency of China's road construction technology.。

Compaction accuracy of welt is an important assessment dimension of roller operation skill，Operators with rich driving experience may have the situation that the edge is leaked or the curb is damaged.。

The SANY UAV group applied in this project，Through high-precision path tracking algorithm and self-developed fusion high-precision self-sensing positioning system，The accurate identification and positioning of roadside stones are realized.，I really did it“0”Welt operation。

Trimming operation without small roller，Road surface one-step forming，It greatly improves the efficiency and quality of operation.。

Site safety is a top priority，Safety is more important for UAV fleet.。

The unmanned Compactor group obtains all the operation status and surrounding obstacle information of all the equipment in real time.，Cooperative security is set、Electronic fence、Emergency stop system、Multiple Redundancy Safety Protection Strategy of Perceptual Obstacle Avoidance System，Equipment deceleration can be realized in real time according to risk level、Pause、Emergency stop action，Ensure the safety of operation。

The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao Expressway is an important traffic trunk line connecting the north and south of China.，Its reconstruction and expansion project will alleviate traffic pressure.、It is of inestimable value to promote regional economic development.。

https://news.global-ce.com/n/202409/30/136546.html

https://x.com/ChenKojira/status/1844060860358037517

>>21762693

>>21762715

'World's Largest': Chinese Company Installs 15-MW Onshore Wind Turbine

October 9, 2024

A Chinese company has installed what it calls the world’s largest onshore wind turbine.

Sany Group, a multinational firm known for its manufacturing of heavy equipment, on October 9 announced a 15-MW wind turbine has been placed in service at a site in Tongyu, Jilin Province, in China.

Sany said the machine is a prototype and will be tested over the next year to “thoroughly verify” its reliability.

The company said the model SI-270150 is the largest onshore turbine in terms of single-unit capacity, and also has the largest rotor diameter—270 meters—of any onshore turbine installed worldwide to date.

Sany said the turbine has a design life of 25 to 30 years.

The turbine blade is 131 meters long. The company said the SI-270150 features “a lightweight design and intelligent load reduction technologies, which reduce the overall load and facilitate long-distance land transportation.”

The drivetrain includes a dual tapered roller bearing, or TRB, integrated main shaft support system, which helps ensure high load-bearing capacity and stability, according to the company.

The first 131-meter-long blade rolled off the production line at the Bayannur Intelligent Industrial Park in January of this year, Sany officials said.

The company has said that as the length of blade increases, “the requirements for stiffness and strength are also higher, otherwise issues such as stall and classical flutter might occur, resulting in increased vibration, even breaking of the blade.

To address such challenges, by adopting an optimized airfoil design featuring large thickness and blunt trailing edge, the overall absolute thickness of SANY RE’s SY1310A wind turbine blade is significantly improved.”

The company said it has introduced several new technologies in the manufacturing process of the blade.

Sany said those include “self-designed fiberglass pre-quilting technology, long-distance automatic infusion technology for large and composite blade, and three-dimensional design technology for trailing edge blind bonding insert, etc., transforming the traditional manual manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing and enhancing the lean production with digital intelligence.

In addition, recyclable polyurethane structural parts are also adopted to enhance the recyclability of ultra-long blades.”

Chinese companies already have deployed the world’s largest offshore wind turbines, as well as the largest floating offshore wind platform.

https://www.powermag.com/worlds-largest-chinese-company-installs-15-mw-onshore-wind-turbine/

Hera’s first images offer parting glimpse of Earth and Moon

14/10/2024

ESA’s Hera mission for planetary defence has taken its first images using three of the instruments that will be used to explore and study the asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos.

Following a successful launch on 7 October 2024, Hera’s instruments were switched on for the first time as part of the spacecraft’s ongoing Near-Earth Commissioning Phase.

On Thursday 10 October and Friday 11 October, Hera’s asteroid deck, which houses the spacecraft’s instruments, was pointed back towards our planet and three of its instruments captured their first images of Earth and the Moon from a distance of more than one million km.

Hera’s Asteroid Framing Camera (AFC) captured this farewell image of Earth (bottom left) and the Moon (centre) on 11 October from a distance of approximately 1.6 million km.

Earth is oriented with north pointing upwards, with the Pacific Ocean illuminated by the Sun.

Incorporating two baffle-protected cameras for redundancy, each of Hera’s two Asteroid Framing Cameras is a 1020x1020 monochrome visible light sensor.

The cameras are used both for navigation and for scientific investigation and were produced by Jena-Optronik in Germany, based on its ASTROhead design.

Hera’s Thermal Infrared Imager (TIRI) instrument captured this image of Earth and the Moon from a distance of approximately 1.4 million kilometres.

Earth is in the centre of the image and oriented with north pointing upwards, showing the East coast of the USA and the Atlantic Ocean.

The Moon is visible in the top right of the image.

TIRI will image the Dimorphos asteroid in the mid-infrared spectral region to chart the temperature on the asteroid’s surface. By charting the 'thermal inertia' of surface regions – or how rapidly their temperature changes – physical properties such as roughness, particle size distribution and porosity can be deduced.

TIRI was supplied by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, manufactured by Meisei Electric Co. Ltd. and inherited from the instrument onboard the agency’s Hayabusa2 asteroid mission, with contributions from The Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO).

Hera’s HyperScout H instrument captured this false-colour image of Earth and the Moon from a distance of approximately 1.6 million kilometres. Earth (bottom right) is oriented with north pointing upwards, with the Pacific Ocean illuminated by the Sun.

The Moon is visible in the top right of the image.

HyperScout H will observe the Dimorphos asteroid in a range of colours far beyond the limits of the human eye and help determine the asteroid’s mineral makeup.

The hyperspectral imager covers the 650–950 nm wavelength range, with colours coded so that blue represents the shortest wavelengths and red represents the longest.

The shoebox-sized imaging spectrometer was provided by cosine remote sensing in the Netherlands.

https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Hera/Hera_s_first_images_offer_parting_glimpse_of_Earth_and_Moon

>>21762782

China’s ball-shaped recon drone debuts in joint drill with Nepal

Sep 22, 2024 10:54 PM

On Sunday, China and Nepal kicked off an anti-terrorism joint army exercise, with a type of ball-shaped reconnaissance drone making its debut.

An opening ceremony was held for the Sagarmatha Friendship-2024 joint army drill at a training base in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on Sunday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

It is the fourth edition of the Sagarmatha Friendship series of exercises between the Chinese and Nepali militaries, with the previous drill held five years ago in 2019, Xinhua reported.

Under the theme of joint anti-terrorism operations in urban blocks, the joint training will include light arms shooting, anti-terrorism group tactics, drone operations, emergency rescues and a comprehensive anti-terrorism exercise, with the aim of boosting capabilities in fields such as multidimensional search, mobile infiltration and armed rescue in joint operations, according to Xinhua.

The exercise will last until October 1, the report said.

After the opening ceremony, the Chinese side displayed more than 20 pieces of equipment in three categories, namely light arms, reconnaissance gears for anti-terrorism missions and equipment, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

Intelligent reconnaissance equipment attracted particular attention, including a type of robot dog, a type of through-wall radar and a type of self-propelled ball-shaped reconnaissance drone, the report said.

The gear will provide extra combat capabilities in the joint exercise, CCTV said.

A CCTV clip showed that the ball-shaped reconnaissance drone, equipped with a camera and sensors, can be held with one hand.

After viewing the clip, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday that the mini ball-shaped drone can move through urban areas by rolling on the ground with little noise and avoid hostile detections.

The small drone is expected to cost little, but can significantly reduce the risk of personnel exposure under dangerous environments, the expert said.

During the exercise, the two sides will also conduct exchanges on disaster relief operations, tackling natural disasters such as earthquakes, snow damages and debris flow, in addition to a series of cultural exchanges to enhance mutual trust and understandings, Xinhua reported.

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202409/1320162.shtml

>>21762901

kek