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Mount Sharp 'Photobombs' Mars Curiosity Rover![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Feb 02, 2018 A new self-portrait of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle on Vera Rubin Ridge, which it has been investigating for the past several months. Directly behind the rover is the start of a clay-rich slope scientists are eager to begin exploring. In coming weeks, Curiosity will begin to climb this slope. In the image, north is on the left and west is on the right, with Gale Crater's rim on the horizon of both edges. Poking up just behind Curiosity's mast is Mount Sharp, photobombing the ... read more |
A vista from Mars rover looks back over journey so farPasadena CA (JPL) Jan 31, 2018 A panoramic image that NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took from a mountainside ridge provides a sweeping vista of key sites visited since the rover's 2012 landing, and the towering surroundings. ... more
NASA tests power system to support manned missions to MarsWashington DC (VOA) Jan 30, 2018 United States government agencies say the first tests of a very small nuclear power system designed for missions to Mars have been successful. The American space agency NASA and the Department ... more
European-Russian space mission steps up the search for life on MarsMoscowm Russia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018 In 2013, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos - the Russian governmental body responsible for space research - agreed to cooperate on ExoMars, the first joint interplanetary mission between ESA a ... more
Opportunity prepares software update as Sol 5000 approachesPasadena CA (JPL) Jan 29, 2018 Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater from a location in the north fork of the local flow channel. Color imaging of ligh ... more |
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Crater Neukum named after Mars Express founderParis (ESA) Jan 19, 2018 A fascinating martian crater has been chosen to honour the German physicist and planetary scientist, Gerhard Neukum, one of the founders of ESA's Mars Express mission. The International Astron ... more
Next Mars Analog mission will help improve efficiency and reduce dust exposureDaytona Beach, FL (SPX) Jan 18, 2018 As NASA and others look to return humans to the Moon for longer durations, lunar dust remains an industry concern. Apollo mission crew members described the dust as similar to sandpaper, havin ... more
New technique for finding life on MarsWashington DC (SPX) Jan 19, 2018 Researchers demonstrate for the first time the potential of existing technology to directly detect and characterize life on Mars and other planets. The study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, ... more
Deep, buried glaciers spotted on MarsMiami (AFP) Jan 11, 2018 Buried glaciers have been spotted on Mars, offering new hints about how much water may be accessible on the Red Planet and where it is located, researchers said Thursday. ... more
Opportunity takes right at the fork and has successful battery testPasadena CA (JPL) Jan 15, 2018 Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned upstream of a fork in the flow channels. After some deliberatio ... more |
![]() Possible Lava Tube Skylights Discovered Near the North Pole of the Moon
Steep Slopes on Mars Reveal Structure of Buried IcePasadena CA (JPL) Jan 11, 2018 Researchers using NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have found eight sites where thick deposits of ice beneath Mars' surface are exposed in faces of eroding slopes. These eight scarps, ... more |
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Scientist's work may provide answer to Martian mountain mysteryDallas TX (SPX) Jan 12, 2018 By seeing which way the wind blows, a University of Texas at Dallas fluid dynamics expert has helped propose a solution to a Martian mountain mystery. Dr. William Anderson, an assistant professor of ... more
Exploring alien worlds with lasersParis (ESA) Jan 11, 2018 In everyday life we look and touch things to find out what they are made of. A powerful scientific technique does the same using lasers - and in two years' time it will fly in space for the first ti ... more
Our rover could discover life on Mars - here's what it would take to prove itSt Andrews UK (SPX) Jan 09, 2018 Finding past or present microbial life on Mars would without doubt be one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. And in just two years' time, there's a big opportunity to do so, with tw ... more
Opportunity Takes Images Over the Holiday PeriodPasadena CA (JPL) Jan 09, 2018 Opportunity is continuing her winter exploration of "Perseverance Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned upstream of a fork in the flow channels. Over the holiday ... more
NASA studies the human body in space for one year to extrapolate for missions to MarsHouston TX (SPX) Dec 27, 2017 Before we can run or jump, we walk. Before sending humans to Mars, NASA must understand how the human body is affected by living and working in space. Typical missions to the International Space Sta ... more |
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CubeSats for hunting secrets in lunar darkness Paris (ESA) Jan 25, 2018
Imagine sending a spacecraft the size of an airline cabin bag to the Moon - what would you have it do? ESA issued that challenge to European teams last year, and two winners have now been chosen.
The Lunar Meteoroid Impact Orbiter, or Lumio for short, would circle over the far side of the Moon to detect bright impact flashes during the lunar night, mapping meteoroid bombardments as they oc ... more |
China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system.
Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories gro ... more |
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New research suggests toward end of Ice Age, human beings witnessed fires larger than dinosaur killers Lawrence KS (SPX) Feb 02, 2018
On a ho-hum day some 12,800 years ago, the Earth had emerged from another ice age. Things were warming up, and the glaciers had retreated.
Out of nowhere, the sky was lit with fireballs. This was followed by shock waves.
Fires rushed across the landscape, and dust clogged the sky, cutting off the sunlight. As the climate rapidly cooled, plants died, food sources were snuffed out, and ... more |
Europa and Other Planetary Bodies May Have Extremely Low-Density Surfaces Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
Spacecraft landing on Jupiter's moon Europa could see the craft sink due to high surface porosity, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Robert Nelson shows.
Nelson was the lead author of a laboratory study of the photopolarimetric properties of bright particles that explain unusual negative polarization behavior at low phase angles observed for decades in association wi ... more |
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Titan topographic map unearths cookie-cutter holes in moon's surface Ithaca NY (SPX) Jan 19, 2018
Using the now-complete Cassini data set, Cornell University astronomers have created a new global topographic map of Saturn's moon Titan that has opened new windows into understanding its liquid flows and terrain. Two papers, recently published in Geophysical Review Letters, describe the map and discoveries arising from it.
Creating the map took about a year, according to doctoral student ... more |
NASA's small spacecraft produces first 883-gigahertz global ice-cloud map Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 31, 2018
A bread loaf-sized satellite has produced the world's first map of the global distribution of atmospheric ice in the 883-Gigahertz band, an important frequency in the submillimeter wavelength for studying cloud ice and its effect on Earth's climate.
IceCube - the diminutive spacecraft that deployed from the International Space Station in May 2017- has demonstrated-in-space a commercial 883 ... more |
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NASA-JAXA Joint Statement on Space Exploration Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Jan 30, 2018
On January 24, 2018, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) met to exchange their views on space exploration. The agencies signed a joint statement affirming their strong mutual interest in continued future cooperation in space exploration.
Both agencies have established a strong and committed partnership throughout the many y ... more |
First Light for Planet Hunter ExTrA at La Silla Garching, Germany (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
A new national facility at ESO's La Silla Observatory has successfully made its first observations. The ExTrA telescopes will search for and study Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. ExTrA's novel design allows for much improved sensitivity compared to previous searches. Astronomers now have a powerful new tool to help in the search for potentially habitable worlds.
The ne ... more |
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L-3 awarded $8.2M for retrofits to Predator simulators Washington (UPI) Jan 30, 2018
The U.S. Air Force has awarded L-3 Link Simulation & Training an $8.2 million contract for retrofits on the Predator Mission Aircrew Training System simulators.
The new award, announced Monday by the Department of Defense, is a modification to a previous contract, which is now valued at $120,753,92.
The modified contract is for 40 retrofit communications kits and simulator seats ... more |
What's behind the most brilliant lights in the sky Madison WI (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
Space physicists at University of Wisconsin-Madison have just released unprecedented detail on a bizarre phenomenon that powers the northern lights, solar flares and coronal mass ejections (the biggest explosions in our solar system). The data on so-called "magnetic reconnection" came from a quartet of new spacecraft that measure radiation and magnetic fields in high Earth orbit.
"We're lo ... more |
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Putin gives nod to creation of Russian super heavy-lift launch vehicle Vostochny Cosmodrome (Sputnik) (Sputnik) Feb 02, 2018
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree on the creation of a new Russian super heavy-lift launch vehicle (SHLLV), which is supposed to be used for missions to the Moon and Mars, Roscosmos Director General Igor Komarov told journalists on Thursday.
"As for the super heavy-lift launch vehicle, there is one good piece of news - this week, the Russian president has signed a decree ... more |
Astrochemists reveal the magnetic secrets of methanol Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Jan 30, 2018
A team of scientists, led by Boy Lankhaar at Chalmers University of Technology, has solved an important puzzle in astrochemistry: how to measure magnetic fields in space using methanol, the simplest form of alcohol. Their results, published in the journal Nature Astronomy, give astronomers a new way of investigating how massive stars are born.
Over the last half-century, many molecules hav ... more |
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Cutting-Edge Technology Enhances Virgo Gravitational-Wave Detector Hannover, Germany (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute, AEI) in Hannover and from the Institute for Gravitational Physics at Leibniz Universitat Hannover has developed an advanced squeezed-light source for the gravitational-wave detector Virgo near Pisa.
Now, the Hannover scientists have delivered the setup, installed it, and handed it over ... more |
Scientists get better numbers on what happens when electrons get wet Chicago IL (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
There's a particular set of chemical reactions that governs many of the processes around us--everything from bridges corroding in water to your breakfast breaking down in your gut. One crucial part of that reaction involves electrons striking water, and despite how commonplace this reaction is, scientists still have to use ballpark numbers for certain parts of the equation when they use computer ... more |
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Let's make a deal: Could AI compromise better than humans? Provo, UT (SPX) Jan 23, 2018
Computers can play a pretty mean round of chess and keep up with the best of their human counterparts in other zero-sum games. But teaching them to cooperate and compromise instead of compete?
With help from a new algorithm created by BYU computer science professors Jacob Crandall and Michael Goodrich, along with colleagues at MIT and other international universities, machine compromise an ... more |
China's first successful lunar laser ranging accomplished Beijing (XNA) Jan 29, 2018
China has accomplished its first successful Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR), with a 1.2-meter telescope laser ranging system.
Based on the signals of laser pulses reflected by the lunar retro-reflector planted by the U.S. manned mission Apollo 15, the applied astronomy group from the Yunnan Observatories measured the distance between the Apollo 15 retro-reflector and the Yunnan Observatories gro ... more |
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