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December 29, 2016
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DRAGON SPACE
China Plans to Launch 1st Mars Probe by 2020 - State Council Information Office



Beijing (Sputnik) Dec 28, 2016
China is planning to conduct the first orbiting and roving exploration of Mars by 2020, the country's State Council Information Office (SCIO) said Tuesday in a report. "China intends to execute its first Mars exploration operation, and grasp key technologies for orbiting, landing and roving exploration. It plans to launch the first Mars probe by 2020 to carry out orbiting and roving exploration," the report of said. According to the document, China is also planning to "conduct research into ... read more

MARSDAILY
Small Troughs Growing on Mars May Become 'Spiders'
Erosion-carved troughs that grow and branch during multiple Martian years may be infant versions of larger features known as Martian "spiders," which are radially patterned channels found only in th ... more
MARSDAILY
Full go-ahead for building ExoMars 2020
The first ExoMars mission arrived at the Red Planet in October and now the second mission has been confirmed to complete its construction for a 2020 launch. ESA and Thales Alenia Space signed ... more
MARSDAILY
Opportunity performs several drives to ancient gully
Opportunity is making progress towards the next science objective of the extended mission. The rover is headed toward an ancient water-carved gully about a kilometer south of the rover's current loc ... more
MARSDAILY
All eyes on Trump over Mars
The year 2016 has seen a rekindling of the human desire to conquer Mars, with public and private interests openly vying to take the first step on the Red Planet, possibly with a stopover on the Moon. ... more
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MARSDAILY
Skimming an alien atmosphere
After the smooth arrival of ESA's latest Mars orbiter, mission controllers are now preparing it for the ultimate challenge: dipping into the Red Planet's atmosphere to reach its final orbit. T ... more
IRON AND ICE
Ceres: Water ice in eternal polar night
The American Dawn space probe has been orbiting the asteroid Ceres between Mars and Jupiter since March 2015. Thanks to the two identical onboard cameras from the Max Planck Institute for Solar Syst ... more
MARSDAILY
Bremen robot team successfully simulates Mars mission in Utah
A major challenge in the exploration of Mars by robots is its uneven surface, which is marked by trenches and craters. Whether the systems can withstand the rough terrain on the Red Planet, they hav ... more
MARSDAILY
A Promising Spot for Life on Mars
As NASA's Curiosity rover makes its way up the central peak of Gale Crater, it has been gathering evidence from ancient lake beds and long ago groundwater environments that are promising to life. ... more
EPIDEMICS
Paris seeks high ground in fight to keep rats underground
Gazing upward to take in the majesty of the Eiffel Tower, visitors to Paris may be astonished to learn that a vicious war, pitting Man against Rat, is unfolding at their feet. ... more


How on Earth does NASA choose a landing site on Mars?

MARSDAILY
Mars Rock-Ingredient Stew Seen as Plus for Habitability
NASA's Curiosity rover is climbing a layered Martian mountain and finding evidence of how ancient lakes and wet underground environments changed, billions of years ago, creating more diverse chemica ... more
MARSDAILY
First detection of boron on the surface of Mars
Boron has been identified for the first time on the surface of Mars, indicating the potential for long-term habitable groundwater in the ancient past. This finding and others from NASA's Curiosity r ... more


China plans probes to far side, poles of Moon
China is planning missions to explore the far side of the Moon and to send robots to explore both lunar poles. Plans to send astronauts to the Moon are also being discussed, according to Wu Yanhua, vice director of the China National Space Administration. Wu told a press conference on Tuesday that work on the Chang'e-5 lunar mission, scheduled to make a soft landing on the Moon and r ... more
Lunar sonic booms

India Inc joins hands to bid for moon mission

TeamIndus signs contract with ISRO for lunar mission

China Plans to Launch 1st Mars Probe by 2020 - State Council Information Office
China is planning to conduct the first orbiting and roving exploration of Mars by 2020, the country's State Council Information Office (SCIO) said Tuesday in a report. "China intends to execute its first Mars exploration operation, and grasp key technologies for orbiting, landing and roving exploration. It plans to launch the first Mars probe by 2020 to carry out orbiting and roving explor ... more
China to expand int'l cooperation on space sciences

China sees rapid development of space science and technology

Chinese missile giant seeks 20% of a satellite market

Station crew get special delivery from Virginia
This week, astronauts are unloading more than 5,000 pounds of cargo and crew supplies from the Cygnus spacecraft to support dozens of science and research investigations. However, this shipment has special significance. This shipment arrived via an Antares rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport's pad 0A at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility. Rocket launches to the International Space ... more
Orbital cargo ship arrives at space station

New Instrument on ISS to Study Ultra-Cold Quantum Gases

Two Russians, one American blast off to ISS

Exploring Pluto and the Wild Back Yonder
As 2016 ends, I can't help but point out an interesting symmetry in where the mission has recently been and where we are going. Exactly two years ago we had just taken New Horizons out of cruise hibernation to begin preparations for the Pluto flyby. And exactly two years from now we will be on final approach to our next flyby, which will culminate with a very close approach to a small Kuiper Bel ... more
Juno Captures Jupiter 'Pearl'

Juno Mission Prepares for December 11 Jupiter Flyby

Research Offers Clues About the Timing of Jupiter's Formation



Cassini offers a crash course in ring world orbital mechanics
It may look as though Saturn's moon Mimas is crashing through the rings in this image taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft, but Mimas is actually 28,000 miles (45,000 kilometers) away from the rings. There is a strong connection between the icy moon and Saturn's rings, though. Gravity links them together and shapes the way they both move. The gravitational pull of Mimas (246 miles or 396 kil ... more
Saturn's bulging core implies moons younger than thought

Cassini Makes First Ring-Grazing Plunge

Cassini Beams Back First Images from New Orbit

There's a jet stream in our core
We would normally associate jet streams with the weather but, thanks to ESA's magnetic field mission, scientists have discovered a jet stream deep below Earth's surface - and it's speeding up. Launched in 2013, the trio of Swarm satellites are measuring and untangling the different magnetic fields that stem from Earth's core, mantle, crust, oceans, ionosphere and magnetosphere. Toget ... more
exactEarth to study Small Vessel Tracking for UK Space Agency

China launches TanSat to study atmospheric carbon dioxide processes

Airbus DS ships payload module for MetOp-C for final assembly



'Passengers' and the real-life science of deep space travel
From "Aliens" to "Interstellar," Hollywood has long used suspended animation to overcome the difficulties of deep space travel, but the once-fanciful sci-fi staple is becoming scientific fact. The theory is that a hibernating crew could stay alive over vast cosmic distances, requiring little food, hydration or living space, potentially slashing the costs of interstellar missions and eradicat ... more
NASA Readies for Major Orion Milestones in 2017

India achieves advances multiple space systems in 2016

Spacewalk for Thomas Pesquet at ISS

Microlensing Study Suggests Most Common Outer Planets Likely Neptune-mass
A new statistical study of planets found by a technique called gravitational microlensing suggests that Neptune-mass worlds are likely the most common type of planet to form in the icy outer realms of planetary systems. The study provides the first indication of the types of planets waiting to be found far from a host star, where scientists suspect planets form most efficiently. "We've fou ... more
Searching a sea of 'noise' to find exoplanets - using only data as a guide

The blob can learn and teach

Exciting new creatures discovered on ocean floor



Ford studies using drones to guide self-driving cars
Ford Motor Co. is studying a system to use drones to help guide self-driving vehicles, including on off-road adventures, company officials said. Drones launched from an autonomous vehicle would help guide it by mapping the surrounding area beyond what the car's sensors can detect. Vehicle passengers can control the drone using the car's infotainment or navigation system. "At some point, ... more
General Atomics to perform Reaper, Predator support services

Britain, France continue drone development project

Bird-like drone uses feathers for a more precise flight path

Moore Foundation provides libraries with a millione solar-eclipse viewers
The Space Science Institute was awarded a grant from the Moore Foundation that will provide 1.26 million solar viewing glasses and other resources for 1,500 public libraries across the nation. They will serve as centers for eclipse education and viewing for their communities. The libraries will be selected through a registration process managed by the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_N ... more
Preparing for the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse

Giving the Sun a brake

Perspectives on magnetic reconnection



Europe and Russia looking at Space Tug Project
Europe's largest aerospace group Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) plans to help the Russian Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia in the practical implementation of a project to create a space tug, head of Airbus DS in Russia Vladimir Terekhov said. According to him, the prospective space tug can be used in commercial aeronautics, and its creation could change scheme of launching, ... more
United Launch Alliance launches EchoStar XIX satellite

India to develop large scale solid fuel mixer

New round of wind tunnel tests underway for bigger SLS version

Russian physicists measure the loss of dark matter since the birth of the universe
Scientists from MIPT, the Institute for Nuclear Research (INR) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Novosibirsk State University (NSU) have discovered that the proportion of unstable particles in the composition of dark matter in the days immediately after the Big Bang was no more than 2%-5%. Their study has been published in Physical Review D. "The discrepancy between the cosmological ... more
New equipment funded for Joint Russian-German Spektrum-RG Observatory

Festive nebulae light up Milky Way Galaxy satellite

VLA, ALMA team up to give first look at birthplaces of most current stars



MIT researchers reveal new technique for measuring gravity
Researchers have found a way to improve atom interferometers, the most common and precise tool for measuring gravity. Atom interferometers measure difference in wave characteristics between atomic matter. They rely on an exotic state of matter called Bose-Einstein condensates. Researchers in MIT have found a way to improve the precision of atom interferometers by augmenting the condensa ... more
A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously

LISA Pathfinder's pioneering mission continues

Magnetic mirror could shed new light on gravitational waves

ALPHA observes light spectrum of antimatter for first time
In a paper published in the journal Nature, the ALPHA collaboration reports the first ever measurement on the optical spectrum of an antimatter atom. This achievement features technological developments that open up a completely new era in high-precision antimatter research. It is the result of over 20 years of work by the CERN antimatter community. "Using a laser to observe a transition i ... more
ALPHA observes light spectrum of antimatter for first time

Existence of a short-lived tetraneutron predicted

Saudi Arabia Adopts Western Calendar

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Avatar-style S. Korean manned robot takes first baby steps
A giant South Korean-built manned robot that walks like a human but makes the ground shake under its weight has taken its first baby steps. Designed by a veteran of science fiction blockbusters, the four-metre-tall (13-foot), 1.5 ton Method-2 towers over a room on the outskirts of Seoul. The hulking human-like creation bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the m ... more
Mimicking biological movements with soft robots

Marriage and more with robots: science fiction or new reality?

NIST device for detecting subatomic-scale motion may aid robotics, homeland security

China Plans to Launch 1st Mars Probe by 2020 - State Council Information Office
China is planning to conduct the first orbiting and roving exploration of Mars by 2020, the country's State Council Information Office (SCIO) said Tuesday in a report. "China intends to execute its first Mars exploration operation, and grasp key technologies for orbiting, landing and roving exploration. It plans to launch the first Mars probe by 2020 to carry out orbiting and roving explor ... more
China to expand int'l cooperation on space sciences

China sees rapid development of space science and technology

Chinese missile giant seeks 20% of a satellite market



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