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Still no change in Opportunity's status![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 08, 2018 There is no news since the last status update. As reported last week, the planet-encircling dust storm on Mars is showing indications of peaking and perhaps decaying. Dust lifting sites have decreased in extent and some surface features are starting to become visible. The storm has sustained high atmospheric opacity conditions over the Opportunity site, although there are some preliminary indications that the opacity might be decreasing there. Since the last contact with the rover on S ... read more |
Aerojet Rocketdyne delivers power generator for Mars 2020 RoverLos Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 08, 2018 Aerojet Rocketdyne, in collaboration with Teledyne, recently delivered the electrical power generator for NASA's Mars 2020 rover to the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Idaho National Laboratory (I ... more
Sorry Elon Musk, but it's now clear that colonising Mars is unlikelyLondon, UK (The Conversation) Aug 06, 2018 Space X and Tesla founder Elon Musk has a vision for colonising Mars, based on a big rocket, nuclear explosions and an infrastructure to transport millions of people there. This was seen as highly a ... more
Russia Plans to Send Capsule With Microorganisms to MarsMoscow (Sputnik) Aug 06, 2018 Russian scientists plan to send a capsule containing microorganisms to Mars' natural satellite Phobos and then get it back to Earth in order to study the possible mutations during the space flight, ... more
Mars Dust Storm May Have PeakedPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 03, 2018 The planet-encircling dust storm on Mars is showing indications of peaking and perhaps decaying. Dust lifting sites have decreased in extent and some surface features are starting to become vi ... more |
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Crewed Missions Beyond LEOBethesda, MD (SPX) Jul 31, 2018 Sending humans to Mars has been a dream of scientists and a large part of the population ever since Nicolaus Copernicus first postulated that it was a planet, about 500 years ago. Even before that f ... more
Evidence of subsurface Martian liquid water bolsteredTucson AZ (SPX) Jul 30, 2018 The announcement of the presence of liquid water beneath the surface of Martian poles validates research published by PSI Senior Scientist Stephen Clifford back in 1987. A paper published in t ... more
Life on Mars: Japan astronaut dreams after lake discoveryTokyo (AFP) July 27, 2018 Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai came back to earth last month but is still dreaming of space, especially after the discovery of an underground lake brought mankind one step closer to unravelling the mystery of life on Mars. ... more
What Looks Like Ceres on EarthPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 30, 2018 With its dark, heavily cratered surface interrupted by tantalizing bright spots, Ceres may not remind you of our home planet Earth at first glance. The dwarf planet, which orbits the Sun in the vast ... more
New family photos of Mars and Saturn from HubbleMunich, Germany (SPX) Jul 27, 2018 In summer 2018 the planets Mars and Saturn are, one after the other, in opposition to Earth. During this event the planets are relatively close to Earth, allowing astronomers to observe them in grea ... more |
![]() Is Mars' Soil Too Dry to Sustain Life?
Mars Express Detects Liquid Water Hidden Under Planet's South PoleNoordwijk, Netherlands (ESA) Jul 26, 2018 Evidence for the Red Planet's watery past is prevalent across its surface in the form of vast dried-out river valley networks and gigantic outflow channels clearly imaged by orbiting spacecraft. Orb ... more |
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Opportunity Continues in a Deep Sleep Beneath Raging Dust StormPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 25, 2018 The dust storm on Mars is continuing as a Planet-encircling Dust Event (PEDE). The storm has sustained high atmospheric opacity conditions over the Opportunity site for several weeks. The last ... more
Mars Passes Closest to Earth Since 2003 on July 31stBoston MA (SPX) Jul 26, 2018 After a slow crawl across the predawn darkness earlier this year, Mars is finally moving into the evening sky - just as it comes its closest to Earth in 15 years. According to Sky and Telescope maga ... more
Space experts worry US won't make it to Mars by 2030sTampa (AFP) July 26, 2018 The United States has vowed to send the first humans to Mars by the 2030s, but space experts and lawmakers on Wednesday expressed concern that poor planning and lack of funds will delay those plans. ... more
Liquid water lake discovered on MarsTampa (AFP) July 26, 2018 A massive underground lake has been detected for the first time on Mars, raising hopes that more water - and maybe even life - exists there, international astronomers said Wednesday. ... more
'Storm Chasers' on Mars Searching for Dusty SecretsPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 23, 2018 In June, one of these dust events rapidly engulfed the planet. Scientists first observed a smaller-scale dust storm on May 30. By June 20, it had gone global. For the Opportunity rover, that m ... more |
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At 60, NASA shoots for revival of moon glory days Tampa (AFP) July 27, 2018
Sixty years ago, spurred by competition with the Soviet Union, the United States created NASA, launching a journey that would take Americans to the moon within a decade.
Since then, the US space agency has seen glorious achievements and crushing failures in its drive to push the frontiers of space exploration, including a fatal launch pad fire in 1967 that killed three and two deadly shuttle ... more |
China to launch space station Tiangong in 2022, welcomes foreign astronauts Beijing (Sputnik) Aug 08, 2018
China's space station Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, is scheduled to launch in 2022. The facility, which is expected to adhere to similar standards as the International Space Station (ISS), will be open to foreign astronauts.
Larger than the 140-ton Russian Mir space station, the Tiangong will consist of a core module and two laboratory cabins, large enough to accommodate three to six astro ... more |
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"Great Show" predicted for Perseid meteor peak on August 12-13 Boston MA (SPX) Aug 07, 2018
The Perseid meteor shower, an annual celestial event beloved by millions of skywatchers around the world, is about to make its annual return to the night sky. And thanks to a new Moon, there'll be no bright moonlight to hinder the view.
Sky and Telescope magazine predicts that this year's Perseid shower will reach its peak on Sunday night, August 12th, and early morning on the 13th. You wi ... more |
Study helps solve mystery under Jupiter's coloured bands Canberra, Australia (SPX) Aug 10, 2018
Scientists from Australia and the United States have helped to solve the mystery underlying Jupiter's coloured bands in a new study on the interaction between atmospheres and magnetic fields.
Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system. Unlike Earth, Jupiter has no solid surface - it is a gaseous planet, consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium.
Several strong jet streams flo ... more |
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Cassini data yields super sharp infrared images of Titan Washington (UPI) Jul 19, 2018
Cassini disappeared into Saturn's atmosphere late last year. But the spacecraft continues to yield impressive images.
This week, NASA shared a series of super sharp infrared images of Saturn's moon Titan, compiled using 13 years of data collected by the probe's Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer, or VIMS instrument.
The moon's hazy atmosphere prevents clear observations of ... more |
New satellite map shows ground deformation after Indonesian quake Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 09, 2018
Scientists with NASA/Caltech's Advanced Rapid Imaging and Analysis project (ARIA) used new satellite data to produce a map of ground deformation on the resort island of Lombok, Indonesia, following a deadly 6.9-magnitude earthquake on August 5.
The false-color map shows the amount of permanent surface movement that occurred, almost entirely due to the quake, over a 6-day period between sat ... more |
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NASA makes progress toward planetary science decadal priorities Washington DC (SPX) Aug 08, 2018
Despite significant cuts to NASA's Planetary Science Division budget early in this decade, the space agency has made impressive progress in meeting goals outlined in the 2013-2022 planetary decadal survey by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, says a new midterm assessment from the National Academies.
The report notes that the agency met or exceeded the decadal s ... more |
Scientist begins developing instrument for finding extraterrestrial bacteria Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 10, 2018
A NASA scientist wants to create a planetary robot that would mimic what biologists do every day in terrestrial laboratories: look through microscopes to visually identify microbial life living in samples.
Although very early in its technology development, the concept would take NASA's hunt for extraterrestrial life to the next level by actually looking for bacteria and archaea in soil and ... more |
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Insitu tapped for RQ-21A spare, sustainment parts Washington (UPI) Aug 9, 2018
Insitu has received a $9 million order against a previously issued contract to maintain the RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial aircraft.
The order, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, provides for the procurement of spare and sustainment parts to maintain the RQ-21A Blackjack for the U.S. Marine Corps.
Work will be performed in Bingen, Wash., and is expected to be com ... more |
Satellite measurements of the Earth's magnetosphere promise better space weather forecasts Kanazawa, Japan (SPX) Aug 10, 2018
Earth is constantly being hammered by charged particles emitted by the Sun that have enough power to make life on Earth almost impossible. We survive because Earth's magnetic field traps and deflects these particles, preventing the vast majority of them from ever reaching the planet's surface.
The trapped particles bounce back and forth between the North and South poles in complex, ever-ch ... more |
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Aerojet Rocketdyne boosters complete simulated air-launch tests Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 07, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne's advanced tactical booster program recently completed two successful hot-fire tests of a motor that had been conditioned to mimic extreme cold- and hot-soak conditions for air-launch application. The tests took place at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
"Aerojet Rocketdyne has been the leading supplier of missile technolog ... more |
Another blow for dark matter interpretation of galactic center excess Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Aug 09, 2018
For almost ten years, astronomers have been studying a mysterious diffuse radiation coming from the center of our galaxy. Originally, it was thought that this radiation could originate from the elusive dark matter particles that many researchers are hoping to find.
However, physicists from the University of Amsterdam/GRAPPA and the Laboratoire d'Annecy-le-Vieux de Physique Theorique have n ... more |
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Household phenomenon observed by Leonardo da Vinci finally explained Cambridge UK (SPX) Aug 09, 2018
An everyday occurrence spotted when we turn on the tap to brush our teeth has baffled engineers for centuries - why does the water splay when it hits the sink before it heads down the plughole?
Famous inventor and painter Leonardo da Vinci documented the phenomenon, now known as a hydraulic jump, back in the 1500s. Hydraulic jumps are harmless in our household sinks but they can cause viol ... more |
Renovations lead to big improvement at Nuclear Astrophysics Lab Washington DC (SPX) Aug 09, 2018
In nature, the nuclear reactions that form stars are often accompanied by astronomically high amounts of energy, sometimes over billions of years. This presents a challenge for nuclear astrophysicists trying to study these reactions in a controlled, low-energy laboratory setting. The chances of re-creating such a spark without bombarding targets with high-intensity beams are unfathomably low. Ho ... more |
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A system to synthesize realistic sounds for computer animation Stanford CA (SPX) Aug 09, 2018
Advances in computer-generated imagery have brought vivid, realistic animations to life, but the sounds associated with what we see simulated on screen, such as two objects colliding, are often recordings. Now researchers at Stanford University have developed a system that automatically renders accurate sounds for a wide variety of animated phenomena.
"There's been a Holy Grail in computin ... more |
China to launch space station Tiangong in 2022, welcomes foreign astronauts Beijing (Sputnik) Aug 08, 2018
China's space station Tiangong, or Heavenly Palace, is scheduled to launch in 2022. The facility, which is expected to adhere to similar standards as the International Space Station (ISS), will be open to foreign astronauts.
Larger than the 140-ton Russian Mir space station, the Tiangong will consist of a core module and two laboratory cabins, large enough to accommodate three to six astro ... more |
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