6 minute read - Thinking about distances in space on a grand cosmological scale involves nearly incomprehensible distances that are extremely difficult for the human mind to truly fathom. This is the concept that Austin Morris, KMI Director of Engineering, tackles in this week's KMI Column about Traveling to Another Star.
5 minute read - One of the most common questions that we at KMI get when people are first introduced to our business of orbital debris remediation is what do we plan to do once we have captured a piece of debris. The answer is that there are several possibilities, some more likely than others and some more exciting than others. The goal of this column is to explain some of the potential solutions to this problem and why each one is or is not viable.
5-minute read - A previous KMI column discussed various methods of propulsion and the respective “oomph” that each one has. Austin Morris, Director of Engineering, continues this topic by reviewing how spacecraft need to generate their own power in order to keep running and a few of the different ways to do that.
5 minute read - Modern space technology comes with many obstacles, the most difficult of which to overcome is gravity. Fortunately, our knight in shining armor is the humble rocket, which rides upon a steed of fire and smoke to defeat the gravitational tyrant. In today’s column, KMI Director of Engineering Austin Morris explains a bit about the concepts that lie beneath the Tyranny of the Rocket Equation.
6 minute read - In previous columns, we have discussed some common misconceptions regarding orbit, notably the concept that achieving orbit is difficult not because it involves a lot of vertical velocity, but because it involves a lot of horizontal velocity. Specifically, achieving orbit typically takes something like 30 times more energy applied horizontally than vertically. This is an important dichotomy to realize for numerous reasons.
4 minute read - In my previous column, The Sky is Falling and That’s Okay, I discussed the fact that there is an average of one orbital object that reenters Earth’s atmosphere every day. I also described why it is typically better for these objects to reenter than to stay in orbit, to ensure that they burn away into nothingness and cause no risk of damage to other objects. This is because the enormous amount of air friction that is encountered when entering the atmosphere at orbital speeds creates such an unbearable amount of heat that very few objects can survive it long enough to slow down and descend to the surface.
3 minute read - There has been a lot of attention recently on objects in space returning to the Earth, especially with several noteworthy reentries in the last few months. Yet what hasn’t been discussed much recently is the fact that orbital reentries are much more common than you probably think. Though it may sound like cause for fright, there is an average of one tracked orbital object that reenters the Earth’s atmosphere every single day. The reality is that, more often than not, an object reentering the atmosphere is a good thing because it is one fewer object in space.
7 minute read - Today we begin our journey on what is currently the last planned installment in the Space Terms series. In this entry we will look at how objects in space move through their orbits and how those orbits can be changed by executing different spacecraft maneuvers. We will also get into some of the specific terms that cross my mind and desk daily as we theorize and work with others in planning the future of humanity in space.
7 minute read - In previous installments of this series, I have briefly touched on Keplerian elements such as inclination and eccentricity of orbits, but have avoided diving deep into them. The time has now come to rectify that, as we try to begin comprehending the six Keplerian elements (named after Johannes Kepler) and how they define an orbit.
5 minute read - Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to lay to rest any and all ignorance you may have ever had regarding jargon terms and acronyms used in the aerospace industry. Jokes aside, I intend for this installment to be a bit shorter than the previous, in the futile hope that it will make this one easier to digest. For those who read the entirety of the first two installments in the Space Terms series, I salute you. For those who finished those columns, saw this column, and then had the audacity to open it up and give it a read, I thank you. Today we take another step on our journey of understanding the complex terms that define science and technology in the aerospace industry.
6 minute read - Space is big. As Douglas Adams put it so eloquently in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, space is really, really big. So let’s not talk about all of space right now, let’s just talk about the orbit of the Earth, which is still big. Let’s break it down and try to understand the different sections of Earth orbit and how they all play into the way that a satellite orbits.
6 minute read - If you’re reading this, you should know that I am going to miss something. This article is going to cover a lot, but it is pretty unlikely that it’ll cover everything. However, I’m hoping that this guide will be a good starting point for anyone who is trying to understand the concept of space and orbit but is getting buried in the specialized terms and acronyms and needs a little bit of help wading through the weeds.
