Daniel Patrascu

A Japanese spacecraft that departed Earth more than a decade ago managed to do something no other spacecraft before it did: perform laser ranging during an asteroid flyby. And this could have major implications for our species’ planetary defense efforts. Laser ranging is a method used to measure the distance to a target with a high degree of accuracy. This is done by sending laser pulses at a target to see how long it takes before they bounce back and return to the source.

Not long ago, American space agency NASA completely shifted the focus of the Artemis program and all other Moon missions by moving from simple exploration to the creation of humanity’s first base on another world. Naturally, that announcement had everybody in the space industry scrambling to get the work on the base started.

It's been a long time since I’ve last reported on the Leonardo AW09 helicopter, and I kind of almost forgot it even existed. Yet, the design, meant to play the game in the 2.5 metric ton class, just popped back onto my radar after the engine it uses got cleared to fly in European airspace. The new helo, which was briefly referred to as the Kopter AW09, has been in the works for quite some time now.