Nibbles in Space

Lidar technology, which uses a laser to measure the distance to a target, was first developed to help track spacecraft, and to help them autonomously …

By the late 1970’s engineers were starting to grasp the risk of the ever-growing space debris population; we have best-practise guidance in place to …

Issues relating to the use of space have been dealt with through the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space; five UN Treaties …

Space sickness is experienced by as many as half of people as they adapt to weightlessness; just like on ground, exercise and health checks are vital; as water is the most heavily consumed item for life support it’s …

The only external source of energy available to a spacecraft with reasonable flight heritage is solar radiation; the use of unfolding solar arrays is …

The main way of changing the velocity of a spacecraft is to take part of the mass of the spacecraft, and eject it; anything but small plane changes require a lot of energy, which can make such manoeuvres prohibitive; …

Earth’s atmosphere has an effect on all spacecraft up to at least 500km, but on occasions to over 1000km; Electric and magnetic fields exist around most bodies in space, including the Earth and the Sun; Space also …

The most valuable service from space is communications; space enables reliable, and high-quality communications far from terrestrial infrastructure; it is estimated that over 13% of the non-financial business economy …

By studying the space environment around the Earth we can better understand how it effects our lives, and our planet. Spaceflight osteopenia causes astronauts to lose, on average, more than 1% of bone mass per month in …

Satellites monitor the Earth’s weather and are responsible for the vast majority of the accuracy of weather forecasts. A satellite-aided search and rescue system ensures immediate detection of an alert anywhere in the …

Space technology has probably contributed more to the pursuit of peace than just about any other technology. Locating all kinds of radio …

All orbits below 2000km altitude are termed low-Earth Orbits, or LEO. The duration, or period of an orbit increases as altitude increases. A geostationary spacecraft appears stationary in the sky. If you are north of …

A satellite is an object that orbits something else. An object in orbit is in continual freefall, moving forward so fast it never hits the ground. The closest point of an orbit to Earth is termed perigee, and the …

Space travel became a seriously considered engineering endeavour through the works of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. To access space a dedicated vehicle is …

As altitude increases the air gets thinner, that is, atmospheric density decreases. The nominal boundary to space as the von Kármán ellipsoid, a curve, above the surface of the Earth at 100km altitude. A spacecraft is a …

The basic unit of information is a bit. It has two possible values, “0” (zero) or “1” (one). Eight bits make up a byte. Each hexadecimal digit represents four binary digits, termed a nibble. A nibble is half a byte.

Nibbles in Space is a series of short podcasts, making space more accessible. A nibble is half a byte. A nibble is 4 bits of information, whether you listen to it as a podcast or if want a little more of a Nibble you …