|
|
NASA's InSight passes halfway to Mars, instruments check in![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 21, 2018 NASA's InSight spacecraft, en route to a Nov. 26 landing on Mars, passed the halfway mark on Aug. 6. All of its instruments have been tested and are working well. As of Aug. 20, the spacecraft had covered 172 million miles (277 million kilometers) since its launch 107 days ago. In another 98 days, it will travel another 129 million miles (208 million kilometers) and touch down in Mars' Elysium Planitia region, where it will be the first mission to study the Red Planet's deep interior. InSigh ... read more |
Six Things About Opportunity'S Recovery EffortsPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 17, 2018 NASA's Opportunity rover has been silent since June 10, when a planet-encircling dust storm cut off solar power for the nearly-15-year-old rover. Now that scientists think the global dust storm is " ... more
The Science Team Continues to Listen for Opportunity as Storm DiminishesPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 17, 2018 The planet-encircling dust storm on Mars continues to decay, although in fits and starts. Atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site was estimated down near 2.1, but then popped up to 2.5. ... more
Planet-Encircling Dust Storm of Mars shows signs of slowingPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 15, 2018 The planet-encircling dust storm on Mars continues to show indications of decay. Dust-lifting sites have decreased and surface features are starting to emerge. There are indications that the a ... more
Still no change in Opportunity's statusPasadena 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 d ... more |
|
| Previous Issues | Aug 20 | Aug 17 | Aug 16 | Aug 15 | Aug 14 |
|
|
|
|
First SLS Core Stage flight hardware complete, ready for joiningHuntsville AL (SPX) Aug 01, 2018 The first major piece of core stage hardware for NASA's Space Launch System rocket has been assembled and is ready to be joined with other hardware for Exploration Mission-1, the first integrated fl ... more
Mars makes closest approach to Earth in 15 yearsLos Angeles (AFP) July 31, 2018 Earth's neighboring planet, Mars, is closer than it has been in the past 15 years, offering unusually bright views of the Red Planet's auburn hues. ... more
Scientists looking for ways to grow crops on Red PlanetMoscow (Sputnik) Jul 31, 2018 While humans prepare to land on Mars and eventually colonize it, the question about what people will eat on the Red Planet looms large. Indeed, generating a stable supply of food poses a major ... more
Mars terraforming not possible using present-day technologyGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 31, 2018 Science fiction writers have long featured terraforming, the process of creating an Earth-like or habitable environment on another planet, in their stories. Scientists themselves have proposed terra ... more
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 bolstered
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?Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 25, 2018 Life as we know it needs water to thrive. Even so, we see life persist in the driest environments on Earth. But how dry is too dry? At what point is an environment too extreme for even microorganism ... more
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
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 |
|
|
Ice confirmed at the Lunar poles Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 21, 2018
In the darkest and coldest parts of its polar regions, a team of scientists has directly observed definitive evidence of water ice on the Moon's surface. These ice deposits are patchily distributed and could possibly be ancient. At the southern pole, most of the ice is concentrated at lunar craters, while the northern pole's ice is more widely, but sparsely spread.
A team of scientists, le ... more |
China unveils Chang'e-4 rover to explore Moon's far side Beijing (XNA) Aug 17, 2018
China's moon lander and rover for the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, which is expected to land on the far side of the moon this year, was unveiled Wednesday.
Images displayed at Wednesday's press conference showed the rover was a rectangular box with two foldable solar panels and six wheels. It is 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide and 1.1 meters high.
Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lun ... more |
|
|
Earth mini-moons: Potential for exciting scientific and commercial opportunities Washington DC (SPX) Aug 14, 2018
The detection of "mini-moons" - small asteroids temporarily captured in orbit around Earth - will vastly improve our scientific understanding of asteroids and the Earth-Moon system, says a new review published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science. These small and fast-moving visitors have so-far evaded detection by existing technology, with only one confirmed mini-moon discovery to date. ... 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 |
|
|
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 |
First satellite to measure global winds set for launch Paris (AFP) Aug 19, 2018
A satellite designed to measure Earth's global wind patterns is set to be hoisted into orbit Tuesday from the Arianespace launch site in French Guiana.
The European Space Agency's (ESA) Aeolus mission - named for the guardian of wind in Greek mythology - promises to improve short-term weather forecasting and our understanding of manmade climate change.
"Meteorologists urgently need rel ... more |
|
|
What is NASA's Heat Melt Compactor? Moffett Field CA (SPX) Aug 20, 2018
Dealing with trash is a challenge wherever people work and live, and space is no exception. Astronauts produce a couple of pounds of trash per crew member per day. To better manage this, NASA is developing a new trash processing system to demonstrate on the International Space Station.
This work is critical for potential future missions traveling farther from Earth, to the Moon and Mars, a ... more |
Scientists discovered organic acid in a protoplanetary disk Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia (SPX) Aug 17, 2018
The importance of the finding is that the organic acid is much more difficult to obtain than other organic molecules found in protoplanetary discs before. If methanol is obtained from carbon monoxide on the surface of dust particles under stellar radiation, then formic acid requires more complex reactions, which are not possible without active processes of organic synthesis.
'We have found ... more |
|
|
Drones fly to rescue of Amazon wildlife Mamiraua Reserve, Brazil (AFP) Aug 16, 2018
A hoarse sound abruptly wakes visitors staying at a floating house that serves as a base for environmentalists on the Jaraua river in the Amazon rainforest.
During flood season, the Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve - located 500 kilometers (310 miles) from the Amazonas state capital Manaus - fills with water.
For researchers from the Mamiraua Institute and WWF-Brazil, that mean ... more |
Parker Solar Probe marks first mission milestones on voyage to Sun Laurel MD (SPX) Aug 20, 2018
Just two days after launch on Aug. 11, 2018, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, NASA's Parker Solar Probe achieved several planned milestones toward full commissioning and operations, announced mission controllers at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, or APL, in Laurel, Maryland.
On Aug. 13, the high-gain antenna, which Parker Solar Probe uses to communicate high- ... more |
|
|
Aerojet Rocketdyne Expands Solid Rocket Motor Center of Excellence at Arkansas Facility Little Rock AR (SPX) Aug 17, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne, a leader in the development and manufacture of aerospace and defense products, has announced plans to expand its Southern Arkansas facility near Camden, where the company manufactures solid rocket motors and warheads critical to national defense.
Aerojet Rocketdyne's currently envisioned expansion plans include investing in new infrastructure and creating more than 140 ... more |
Astronomers find far fewer galaxies than they expected Los Angeles CA (SPX) Aug 20, 2018
University of California astronomers, including three from UCLA, have resolved a mystery about the early universe and its first galaxies. Astronomers have known that more than 12 billion years ago, about 1 billion years after the Big Bang, the gas in deep space was, on average, much more opaque than it is now in some regions, although the opacity varied widely from place to place. But they weren ... more |
|
|
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 |
Astronomers discover the most distant radio galaxy ever Amsterdam, Netherlands (SPX) Aug 10, 2018
After nearly twenty years, the record of the most distant radio galaxy ever discovered has been broken. A team led by PhD student Aayush Saxena (Leiden Observatory, the Netherlands) has found a radio galaxy from a time when the universe was only 7% of its current age, at a distance of 12 billion light-years.
The team used the Giant Meter-wave Radio Telescope (GMRT) in India to initially id ... more |
|
|
Robot wars: China shows off automated doctors, teachers and combat stars Beijing (AFP) Aug 19, 2018
Robots that can diagnose diseases, play badminton and wow audiences with their musical skills are among the machines China hopes could revolutionise its economy, with visitors to a Beijing exhibition offered a glimpse of an automated future.
The popular stars of this year's World Robot Conference, which ends Sunday, were undoubtedly the small, amateur-made "battle bots" which smashed, hammer ... more |
China unveils Chang'e-4 rover to explore Moon's far side Beijing (XNA) Aug 17, 2018
China's moon lander and rover for the Chang'e-4 lunar probe, which is expected to land on the far side of the moon this year, was unveiled Wednesday.
Images displayed at Wednesday's press conference showed the rover was a rectangular box with two foldable solar panels and six wheels. It is 1.5 meters long, 1 meter wide and 1.1 meters high.
Wu Weiren, the chief designer of China's lun ... more |
|
| Buy Advertising | Media Advertising Kit | Editorial & Other Enquiries | Privacy statement |
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement |