Tuesday, August 5, 2014

NASA Is Building a Robotic Service Station for Earth-Orbiting Satellites

http://ift.tt/1nnR7sj // Landsat-nasa

NASA wants to create a robotic gas station in space.


While that might call to mind visions of interstellar starships, the unmanned depot won't actually be used to refuel rockets leading to the outer solar system or other worlds. Instead, it will service satellites orbiting Earth.


Thousands of satellites currently circle the Earth, transmitting everything from GPS navigation signals to weather forecasts to television shows, and all of them need fuel to maneuver in orbit. Without a way to refuel these aging machines, many satellites that could otherwise provide many more years of service break down and are retired. Read more...


More about Nasa, Fuel, Robotics, Us World, and Space



from MashableSpace.com
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