Nebula Public Library

The objective of this activity was to develop a novel type of X-ray detector that combines two of the most important detector parameters: a large active area and a good energy resolution. This new 'GDD' detector is of gas-filled type, but its internal structure is similar to the widely-used Silicon Drift Detector.

The Huygens mission was the first, and currently the only, successful ESA mission to land a probe on another planet or moon. It was the most distant planetary landing to date by any space agency and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
An industrial team comprising Vorticity Ltd, Fluid Gravity Engineering and the Von Karman Institute has carried out a study to examine aspects of the Huygens probe performance which were not as expected and to compile the lessons learned from the mission.

The scope of the project was to investigate and develop suitable strategies for the development of nano-enabled fibre reinforced plastics (neFRP) in order to produce materials tailored to the customer's needs and requirements. Within the scope of the work was also to establish a quality control system to assure that the produced products are of acceptable quality and can be integrated in functional parts for space applications.

Thousands of man-made objects are currently in orbit around the Earth. These range from active satellites to flecks of paint, via spent rocket stages and fragments of satellite debris. Due to the drag of the very thin high altitude atmosphere, these objects have slowly decaying orbits, and will eventually re-enter the Earth's thicker, lower atmosphere. Most will be destroyed on entry due to the aerothermal heating experienced at hypersonic velocities at altitudes between 40 and 80km. However, some objects reach the ground.