Mars News, Science, Technology at MarsDaily.com

September 17, 2019

3D models of Mars to aid ESA Rover in quest for ancient life

Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 17, 2019
Scientists at TU Dortmund University have generated high-accuracy 3D models of terrain within the landing ellipse of the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars rover, Rosalind Franklin. The Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) have a resolution of about 25 cm per pixel and will help scientists to understand the geography and geological characteristics of the region and to plan the path of the rover around the site. To increase the accuracy of the models, the team has developed an innovative technique that integrates atmo ... read more

Mars 2020 Spacecraft Comes Full Circle
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 13, 2019
Engineers took NASA's Mars 2020 for a spin on Aug. 29, 2019. The 2,300-pound (1,040-kilogram) Martian vehicle was rotated clockwise and counterclockwise at about 1 revolution per minute on what is c ... more

NASA Research Gives New Insight into How Much Atmosphere Mars Lost
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 06, 2019
A key tracer used to estimate how much atmosphere Mars lost can change depending on the time of day and the surface temperature on the Red Planet, according to new observations by NASA-funded scient ... more

'Martian CSI' Sheds Light on How Asteroid Impacts Generated Running Water Under Red Planet
Swindon UK (Sputnik) Sep 09, 2019
Volcanic Martian meteorites known as "nakhlites owe their name to El Nakhla in Egypt, where they first landed on Earth in 1911. Although they hold traces of impact of liquid water on the Martian sur ... more

NASA engineers attach Mars Helicopter to Mars 2020 rover
Washington (UPI) Aug 29, 2019
NASA engineers have installed the miniature helicopter on the space agency's Mars 2020 rover. The Mars Helicopter, nicknamed Scout, will be the first aircraft to fly on another planet. ... more

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ESA Chief says discussed ExoMars 2020 launch with Roscosmos
Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 30, 2019
The 2020 mission of the ExoMars programme is expected to deliver a European rover and a Russian surface platform to the surface of Mars. The rover is expected to spend one year exploring the surface ... more

NASA's Mars Helicopter Attached to Mars 2020 Rover
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 29, 2019
Engineers attached NASA's Mars Helicopter, which will be the first aircraft to fly on another planet, to the belly of the Mars 2020 rover in the High Bay 1 clean room at the Jet Propulsion Laborator ... more

NASA Invites Students to Name Next Mars Rover
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 29, 2019
Red rover, red rover, send a name for Mars 2020 right over! NASA is recruiting help from students nationwide to find a name for its next Mars rover mission. Starting Tuesday, K-12 students in ... more

ExoMars rover ready for environment testing
Paris (ESA) Aug 28, 2019
The Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover has completed its construction activities in the UK and will now depart to France for testing under the conditions of the Red Planet's environment. The fina ... more

'Game-Changer' for Cosmic Research: NASA Chief Touts Nuclear Powered Spacecraft
Washington DC (Sputnik) Aug 23, 2019
Earlier this month, NASA's Future In-Space Operations working group said that its portable nuclear powered reactor will be ready to fly to Mars by 2022. Speaking at a National Space Council (N ... more

Scientists Explore Outback as Testbed for Mars
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 27, 2019
This week, scientists from NASA's upcoming Mars 2020 mission joined their counterparts from the joint European-Russian ExoMars mission in an expedition to the Australian Outback, one of the most rem ... more

Atacama Desert microbes may hold clues to life on Mars
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 23, 2019
Microbial life on Mars may potentially be transported across the planet on dust particles carried by wind, according to a study conducted in the Atacama Desert in North Chile, a well-known Mars anal ... more

A step closer to solving the methane mystery on Mars
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Aug 22, 2019
Scientists have taken an important step towards revealing the mysterious source of methane on Mars, by refining estimates of the gas in the planet's atmosphere. The methane puffing from a huge ... more

Roscosmos postpones joint ESA ExoMars mission after failed parachute tests
Moscow (Sputnik) Aug 16, 2019
Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a statement on Thursday that the launch of the joint Russian-European ExoMars-2020 astrobiology mission, aimed at searching for evidence of life on ... more

NASA's portable trash bin-sized nuclear power module to be ready by 2022
Washington DC (Sputnik) Aug 14, 2019
The reactor is expected to fulfil a variety of tasks on the red planet, ranging from supplying astronauts with heat and air, to powering 3D printers that will be used for constructing buildings. ... more

All instruments onboard Rosalind Franklin rover

Robotic toolkit added to NASA's Mars 2020 Rover
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 16, 2019
The bit carousel - a mechanism that will play a key role in the acquisition, containment and eventual return to Earth of humanity's first samples from another planet - has been incorporated into NAS ... more

Ancient Mars was warm with occasional rain, turning cold
Barcelona, Spain (SPX) Aug 20, 2019
Scientists have long known that water was abundant on ancient Mars, but there has been no consensus on whether liquid water was common, or whether it was largely frozen in ice. Was the temperature h ... more

Methane not released by wind on Mars, experts find
Newcastle UK (SPX) Aug 13, 2019
Wind erosion has been ruled out as the primary cause of methane gas release on Mars, Newcastle University academics have shown. Methane can be produced over time through both geological and bi ... more

NASA descends on Icelandic lava field to prepare for Mars
The Lambahraun Lava Field, Islande (AFP) Aug 14, 2019
To prepare for the next mission to Mars in 2020, NASA has taken to the lava fields of Iceland to get its new robotic space explorer ready for the job. ... more

Optometrists verify Mars 2020 rover's perfect vision
Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 07, 2019
Equipped with visionary science instruments, the Mars 2020 rover (https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020) underwent an "eye" exam after several cameras were installed on it. The rover contains an armada of ... more

Dark meets light on Mars
Paris (ESA) Aug 09, 2019
ESA's Mars Express has captured the cosmic contrast of Terra Cimmeria, a region in the southern highlands of Mars marked by impact craters, water-carved valleys, and sand and dust in numerous chocol ... more

Are we prepared for a new era of field geology on the moon and beyond?
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 12, 2019

Space agencies must invest more resources on field geology training of astronauts to take full advantage of scientific opportunities on the Moon and other planetary bodies, Kip Hodges and Harrison Schmitt urge, in an Editorial. The Moon represents a pristine archive of the early history of the Solar System, making it an ideal research target for scientists seeking a window into planetary formati ... more

+ NASA Funds CubeSat Pathfinder Mission to Unique Lunar Orbit

+ NASA Goddard Creates CGI Moon Kit as a Form of Visual Storytelling

+ India locates missing Moon lander

+ Ttiny satellites that will pave the way to Luna

+ China's lunar rover travels over 284 meters on moon's far side

+ India to launch another Lunar probe to in early 2020s with Japan

+ Chandrayaan-2 Completes Second De-Orbiting Manoeuvre Ahead of Historic Landing: ISRO

China's KZ-1A rocket launches two satellites
Jiuquan, China (XNA) Sep 02, 2019

Two satellites for technological experiments were sent into space by a Kuaizhou-1A, or KZ-1A, carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Saturday. The rocket blasted off at 7:41 a.m. and sent the two satellites into their planned orbit. Kuaizhou-1A, meaning speedy vessel, is a low-cost solid-fuel carrier rocket with high reliability and a short prep ... more

+ China's newly launched communication satellite suffers abnormality

+ China launches first private rocket capable of carrying satellites

+ Chinese scientists say goodbye to Tiangong-2

+ China's space lab Tiangong 2 destroyed in controlled fall to earth

+ From Moon to Mars, Chinese space engineers rise to new challenges

+ China plans to deploy almost 200 AU-controlled satellites into orbit

+ Luokung and Land Space to develop control system for space and ground assets

A burst of asteroid activity in Europe
Paris (ESA) Sep 11, 2019

The next few days will see a rare convergence of asteroid-related activity in Europe, as planetary defence and other experts meet in three locations to coordinate humanity's efforts to defend ourselves from hazardous space rocks. Such intense levels of international scientific collaboration are driven in part by the fact that an asteroid impact could cause devastating effects on Earth. But ... more

+ Gemini observatory captures multicolor image of first-ever interstellar comet

+ Two Asteroids to Safely Fly by Earth

+ Newly Discovered Comet Is Likely Interstellar Visitor

+ Tsunami Followed Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Impact

+ Europe and US teaming up for asteroid deflection

+ OSIRIS-REx's final four sample site candidates in 3D

+ UCF Student Working as Image Analyst for NASA's OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Recovery Mission

Stony-iron meteoroid caused August impact flash at Jupiter
Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 17, 2019

Analysis of a bright flash in Jupiter's atmosphere observed by an amateur astronomer in August 2019 has revealed that the likely cause was a small asteroid with a density typical of stony-iron meteorites. The impact is estimated to have released energy equivalent to an explosion of 240 kilotons of TNT - around half the energy released in the 2013 Chelyabinsk event at Earth. The results have been ... more

+ Storms on Jupiter are disturbing the planet's colorful belts

+ ALMA shows what's inside Jupiter's storms

+ Young Jupiter was smacked head-on by massive newborn planet

+ Mission to Jupiter's icy moon confirmed

+ Giant Impact Disrupted Jupiter's Core

+ Young Jupiter Was Smacked Head-On by Massive Newborn Planet

+ Hubble showcases new portrait of Jupiter

Age-old debate on Saturn's rings reignited
Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Sep 17, 2019

A team of researchers has reignited the debate about the age of Saturn's rings with a study that dates the rings as most likely to have formed early in the solar system. In an article published in Nature Astronomy and presented at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 2019 in Geneva, the authors suggest that processes that preferentially eject dusty and organic material out of Saturn's rings could ma ... more

+ Nitrogen explosions created craters on Saturn moon Titan

+ Saturn's Rings Shine in New Hubble Portrait

+ Methane-filled lakes on Saturn's moon Titan are explosion craters

+ New models suggest Titan lakes are explosion craters

+ A brief astronomical history of Saturn's amazing rings

+ Yale researcher has a window seat for planning NASA's Dragonfly mission

+ SMU's 'Titans in a jar' could answer key questions ahead of NASA's space exploration

Clemson physicists lead rocket missions to further explore the wonders of Earth's atmosphere
Clemson SC (SPX) Sep 12, 2019

Clemson University physicists will conduct a pair of three-year rocket missions funded by NASA Heliophysics designed to deepen our understanding of the visible and invisible mechanisms that modulate energy into Earth's atmosphere. Stephen Kaeppler is the principal investigator on a project titled "INCAA," which will study how energy is transferred and dissipated during colorful active auro ... more

+ Suomi NPP tracks fire and smoke from two continents

+ German HALO research aircraft to investigate ozone hole, Amazon fires and gravity waves

+ Cutting edge UK led satellite will help to identify natural resources from space

+ First Earth observation satellite with AI ready for launch

+ Sudden warming over Antarctica to prolong Australia drought

+ Researchers show satellite data can reveal fire susceptibility in peatlands

+ Do animals control earth's oxygen level

Russia mulls equipping cutting-edge cosmonaut emergency survival kit with firearm
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 17, 2019

Firearms could possibly be included in the emergency survival kit of Russia's next-generation Orel spacecraft, according to a spokesperson for the Russian space agency Roscosmos. "The survival kit for the next-generation Orel cargo spacecraft will be built in the later stages of its [spacecraft's] development", the spokesperson said, adding that Roscosmos is "considering [different] option ... more

+ Innovative model created for NASA to predict vitamin levels in spaceflight food

+ Testing and Training on the Boeing Starliner

+ A new journey into Earth for space exploration

+ Space Station science: learning from Luca

+ ARISS-US announces substantial gift toward the cost of the InterOperable Radio System

+ Brad Pitt talks weightlessness and calluses on phone call to ISS

+ Natalie Portman joins Hollywood space race with 'Lucy in the Sky'

First water detected on potentially 'habitable' planet
London, UK (SPX) Sep 12, 2019

Water vapour has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth with habitable temperatures by UCL researchers in a world first. K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or 'exoplanet', known to have both water and temperatures that could support life. The discovery, published in Nature Astronomy, is the first ... more

+ First Water Detected on Planet in the Habitable Zone

+ The rare molecule weighing in on the birth of planets

+ Research redefines lower limit for planet size habitability

+ Water detected on an exoplanet located in its star's habitable zone

+ How to Spin a Disk Around Young Protostars

+ Potassium Detected in an Exoplanet Atmosphere

+ Planetary collisions can drop the internal pressures in planets

Lockheed, Raytheon launch Javelin missiles from unmanned vehicle
Washington (UPI) Sep 10, 2019

A team of defense contractors has remotely launched Javelin missiles from an unmanned vehicle. The Javelin Joint Venture team, a partnership of Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin, fired the Javelin missiles from a Kongsberg remote launcher mounted on a Titan unmanned ground vehicle in a test fire at the U.S. Army Redstone Test Center in Alabama. "Javelin offers true fire-and-fo ... more

+ Iran unveils new reconnaissance and attack drone

+ Iraq paramilitary force says Israel behind latest drone attack

+ Hughes partners with startup to extend LTE Coverage using helicopters and UAVs

+ Drone buzzes above vineyard helping Luxembourg winegrower

+ Skyfront Perimeter Drone Performs The First Beyond-Line-of-Sight Flight under FAA Part 107

+ AFRL conducts first flight of robopilot unmanned air platform

+ Teams test swarm autonomy in second major OFFSET field experiment

Sandia experiments at temperature of sun offer solutions to solar model problems
Albuquerque NM (SPX) Sep 12, 2019

Experimenting at 2.2 million degrees Celsius, physicists at Sandia National Laboratories' Z machine have found that an astronomical model - used for 40 years to predict the sun's behavior as well as the life and death of stars - underestimates the energy blockage caused by free-floating iron atoms, a major player in those processes. The blockage effect, called opacity, is an element's natu ... more

+ It's not aurora, it's STEVE

+ NASA Selects Proposals to Advance Understanding of Space Weather

+ Streaks in Aurora Found to Map Features in Earth's Radiation Environment

+ Proposals selected for small satellites to study interplanetary space

+ NASA's MMS finds first interplanetary shock

+ Parker Solar Probe completes 2 orbits of Sun

+ Magnetic plasma pulses excited by UK-size swirls in the solar atmosphere

Baikonur Cosmodrome Getting Ready for Last Launch of Russian Rocket With Ukrainian Parts
Moscow (Sputnik) Sep 16, 2019

The Baikonur cosmodrome is getting ready for the last start of a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle with Ukrainian parts, Russian state space agency Roscosmos announced on Friday. "Baikonur Cosmodrome has begun preparing equipment ... of the launch system for the last start of the Soyuz-FG rocket with Ukrainian components in the launch vehicle's steering system", the agency's press service said. ... more

+ Fire forces Japan to cancel rocket launch to ISS

+ SES selects SpaceX to launch O3b mPOWER MEO communications system

+ China to launch Third Long March 5 by year end

+ Roscosmos to Build Cheap Soyuz-2M Rocket for Commercial Satellites Launch Service

+ Engine Section for NASA's SLS Rocket Moved for Final Integration

+ New salt-based propellant proven compatible in dual-mode rocket engines

+ NASA prepares for green run testing, practices lifting SLS Core Stage

VISTA unveils a new image of the Large Magellanic Cloud
Munich, Germany (SPX) Sep 16, 2019

The Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, is one of our nearest galactic neighbors, at only 163 000 light years from Earth. With its sibling the Small Magellanic Cloud, these are among the nearest dwarf satellite galaxies to the Milky Way. The LMC is also the home of various stellar conglomerates and is an ideal laboratory for astronomers to study the processes that shape galaxies. ESO's VISTA t ... more

+ New observations help explain the dimming of Tabby's Star

+ Are black holes made of dark energy

+ WVU astronomers help detect the most massive neutron star ever measured

+ Most massive neutron star ever detected, almost too massive to exist

+ The stellar nurseries of distant galaxies

+ NASA's WFIRST Will Help Uncover the Universe's Fate

+ Newly spotted comet is likely an interstellar traveler

UN offers use of ESA's hypergravity centrifuge to researchers worldwide
Noordwijk, Netherlands (SPX) Sep 06, 2019

Imagine being able to increase the force of gravity simply by turning a dial. A United Nations fellowship is offering this opportunity to researchers all over the world, through access to ESA's hypergravity-generating Large Diameter Centrifuge. Manipulate gravity and a lot of other factors shift too: bubbles in liquid alter their behaviour, convection currents accelerate and metal alloys f ... more

+ A key piece to understanding how quantum gravity affects low-energy physics

+ Fastest eclipsing binary, a valuable target for gravitational wave studies

+ Chameleon Theory Could Change How We Think About Gravity

+ Artificial gravity breaks free from science fiction

+ Researchers find quantum gravity has no symmetry

+ Development of a displacement sensor to measure gravity of smallest source mass ever

+ Gravitational waves leave a detectable mark, physicists say

High value for Hubble Constant from two gravitational lenses
Garching, Germany (SPX) Sep 16, 2019

The expansion rate of the universe today is described by the so-called Hubble constant, and different techniques have come to inconsistent results about how fast our universe actually does expand. An international team led by the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) has now used two gravitational lenses as new tools to calibrate the distances to hundreds of observed supernovae and t ... more

+ First 'Overtones' Heard in the Ringing of a Black Hole

+ Scientists Discover Black Hole Has Three Hot Meals a Day

+ Unexpected periodic flares may shed light on black hole accretion

+ Black hole at the center of our galaxy appears to be getting hungrier

+ KATRIN cuts the mass estimate for the elusive neutrino in half

+ Scientists detect the ringing of a newborn black hole for the first time

+ And then there was light: looking for the first stars in the Universe

Russia terminates robot Fedor after space odyssey
Moscow (AFP) Sept 11, 2019

It's mission over for a robot called Fedor that Russia blasted to the International Space Station, the developers said Wednesday, admitting he could not replace astronauts on space walks. "He won't fly there any more. There's nothing more for him to do there, he's completed his mission," Yevgeny Dudorov, executive director of robot developers Androidnaya Tekhnika, told RIA Novosti state news ... more

+ At NY Fashion Week, robotic dresses take on a life of their own

+ 'Sense of urgency', as top tech players seek AI ethical rules

+ Psychosensory electronic skin technology for future AI and humanoid development

+ Russian robot 'Fedor' leaves ISS

+ Russian Humanoid Robot Fedor Announces Full Implementation of Flight Test Program

+ CIMON back on Earth after 14 months on the ISS

+ NASA Robots Compete Underground in DARPA Challenge

China's KZ-1A rocket launches two satellites
Jiuquan, China (XNA) Sep 02, 2019

+ China's newly launched communication satellite suffers abnormality

+ China launches first private rocket capable of carrying satellites

+ Chinese scientists say goodbye to Tiangong-2

+ China's space lab Tiangong 2 destroyed in controlled fall to earth

+ From Moon to Mars, Chinese space engineers rise to new challenges

+ China plans to deploy almost 200 AU-controlled satellites into orbit

+ Luokung and Land Space to develop control system for space and ground assets

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