A mission is underway to retrieve a defunct rocket from Earth's orbit. The first-of-its-kind initiative employs the ADRAS-J satellite (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) to address the growing problem of space debris. Get the full story by reading today’s Must Read.

We've tweaked the Blueprint's design — please share your feedback! Expect bigger, better, and more exciting news delivered to your inbox six days a week from various news outlets beyond IE. New to the BP? Don't miss out – sign up now.

👀 Have you subscribed to one of our latest newsletters — IE Originals? For our weekly pick of the best science, tech, and engineering videos delivered every Friday, sign up for free now.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Project Engineer

Reading Time: 4 mins

Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? Subscribe here.

MUST READ

🛰️ First-ever attempt to remove dead rocket from Earth’s orbit kicks off

A mission to retrieve a dormant rocket from Earth's orbit has commenced, addressing the escalating issue of space debris. Launched on February 18 from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site, the ADRAS-J satellite (Active Debris Removal by Astroscale-Japan) is pioneering this first-of-its-kind effort.

Its primary goal is to examine a defunct Japanese H-IIA rocket stage in low Earth orbit, marking the world's first technical demonstration for eliminating large-scale space junk. Notably, the Japanese H-IIA rocket was used to deploy the GOSAT Earth observation satellite in 2009.

This bus-sized space debris, weighing three tons, orbits Earth at a height of 600 kilometers (373 miles). If left unattended, this dead rocket might stay in orbit for decades, posing a risk to satellites and spacecraft.

💨 ‘Air-breathing’ propulsion tech could unlock unlimited propellant for satellites

A team of scientists from the George Washington University (GWU) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have teamed up to develop a proof of concept for an air-breathing satellite.

A satellite that uses air as a propellant could utilize charged particles of air-breathing plasma – also known as the fourth state of matter – to propel its thrusters.

Traditional satellites in LEO and higher orbits have limited lifespans because they use a limited amount of propellant to generate plasma. The thruster proposed by the GWU and PPPL team would avoid this problem by using the surrounding air to generate plasma. In other words, any satellite using this system would essentially have free, unlimited propellant.

🖥️ Researchers deploy supercomputer Hawk to feed on solar cell flaws

Researchers at the Paderborn University in Germany have spotted some unique defects in the atomic structure of silicon and plan to use them to improve solar cell efficiency. The defects were spotted using the Hawk supercomputer at High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS).

With decreasing production costs, solar cells are widely used to help countries move away from fossil fuels. Most solar cells are made from silicon, an abundantly available material.

While efforts have recently been made to improve their energy conversion efficiency, most commercial solar cells continue to deliver around 22 percent efficiency. This leaves huge scope for improvement in solar cell technology.

IE+ Love what you're reading? Join our vibrant online community, explore fascinating scientific breakthroughs, get special discounts and stay in the know with our exclusive weekly premium newsletter. Upgrade to IE+ for quality reporting beyond the headlines – plus, enjoy an Ad-Free experience. Try IE+ today for just $1 in the first month. Subscribe here

A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR

What you need for better GenAI applications

Learn more from Pinecone Research on how Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) using Pinecone serverless increases relevant answers from GPT-4 by 50%.

- The larger the search data, the more “faithful” the results.

- RAG with massive on-demand data outperforms GPT-4 (without RAG) by 50%, even with the data it was explicitly trained on.

- RAG, with a lot of data, ensures state of the art performance no matter the LLM you choose, encouraging the use of different LLMs (e.g., open-source or private LLMs).

HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> Millions of supermarket chickens show skin burns from living in their own waste, a BBC investigation has found. "Hock burn" is caused by ammonia from excrement. (More)

> Archaeologists in Italy have unearthed a Copper Age necropolis that contains nearly two dozen tombs and a collection of weapons. The discovery was made during the construction of a community garden. (More)

> A genetic parasite may have robbed humans and other apes of their tails. Around 25 million years ago, this parasite, a small stretch of repetitive DNA called an Alu element, ended up in a gene important for tail development. (More)

ENERGY

> The decommissioning of a "world-leading" nuclear fusion reactor has begun after 40 years of operation. In its last test, the reactor produced a record amount of energy. (More)

> A huge solar farm in the Staffordshire countryside that could produce enough electricity for 11,500 homes is set to win planning permission - despite more than 100 objections. (More)

> GA Drilling and ZeroGeo Energy join forces for Projekt THERMO, which will see the development of a 12-megawatt (MW) hot dry rock geothermal power plant in Lower Saxony, Germany. (More)

INNOVATION

> Elon Musk boldly claims on X, formerly Twitter, that Tesla’s Roadster will hit 0-60 miles per hour (mph) in less than one second. “There will never be another car like this if you could even call it a car,” the CEO tweeted. (More)

> Alef Aeronautics unveiled its flying car to the public for the first time. The car was showcased at the Mobile World Congress (WMC) in Barcelona and was certainly one of the most popular displays this year. (More)

> Prefabrication speeds construction of a viaduct in the UK. The benefits associated with the entirely modular design could influence the way future rail viaducts are constructed. (More)

VIDEO

> In our latest video, we delve into the captivating realm of biomimicry, exploring how it revolutionizes design by emulating nature’s perfect solutions. (More)

> Join us as we take a look at the M1 Abrams tank, born to dominate Soviet armor. Learn how it has solidified its formidable reputation through stellar performances in numerous conflicts. (More)

> Do you know how the U.S. defense ministry created the internet? In this video, IE journeys from the 1960s when a computer network was proposed to connect scientists nationwide. (More)

FROM THE WEB

> Adobe’s new prototype generative AI tool is the ‘Photoshop’ of music-making and editing

> Why leap years exist, explained in one simple animation

> AI technique 'decodes' microscope images, overcoming fundamental limit

his hidden ice base is mining the Antarctic for ghostly cosmic particles

> Researchers develop world-leading microwave photonics chip for high-speed signal processing

> Dehydrate the stratosphere to curb global warming? Scientists float risky new strategy

> Why are all proteins ‘left-handed’? New theory could solve origin of life mystery

> Russia acknowledges continuing air leak from its segment of space station

> Visitors Line up to See and Smell a Corpse Flower's Stinking Bloom in San Francisco

Need help with advertising? Reach 150,000 engineering and tech professionals. Contact us