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Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty Skies![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 07, 2018 After snagging a new rock sample on Aug. 9, NASA's Curiosity rover surveyed its surroundings on Mars, producing a 360-degree panorama of its current location on Vera Rubin Ridge. The panorama includes umber skies, darkened by a fading global dust storm. It also includes a rare view by the Mast Camera of the rover itself, revealing a thin layer of dust on Curiosity's deck. In the foreground is the rover's most recent drill target, named "Stoer" after a town in Scotland near where important discover ... read more |
Making space exploration real on EarthParis (ESA) Sep 05, 2018 You are on a rock speeding through space. On this rock called Earth every single mineral tells you something about planetary formation. This week astronauts and space engineers will unlock the myste ... more
Mars dust storm clears, raising hope for stalled NASA roverTampa (AFP) Aug 31, 2018 One of the biggest Martian dust storms on record is clearing up after nearly three months, raising hope that NASA's stranded, solar-powered robotic vehicle, Opportunity, will soon come back to life. ... more
NASA Launching Mars Lander Parachute Test from Wallops Sep 7Wallops Island, VA (SPX) Sep 03, 2018 NASA will conduct the third in a series of parachute tests for possible future missions to Mars during the flight of a Terrier-Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket in the morning on Sep. 7, 201 ... more
Team Continues to Listen for OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Sep 03, 2018 No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018). The dust storm on Mars continues its decay with atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site decreasing. It is expect ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Sep 06 | Sep 05 | Sep 04 | Sep 03 | Aug 31 |
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Technologies for deep space survivalBethesda, MD (SPX) Aug 22, 2018 Recently, there has been a great deal of discussion concerning human space travel beyond the near-Earth zone. Mars colonization has been a favorite topic for quite some time. However, getting to Mar ... more
Pence Reaffirms Vision for 'American Dominance in Space'Washington DC (VOA) Aug 27, 2018 Vice President Mike Pence is in Houston, Texas, to reaffirm the Trump administration's plans to establish an American Space Force by 2020, return Americans to the moon, and set its sight on Mars and ... more
NASA's InSight passes halfway to Mars, instruments check inPasadena 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 ... 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 slowing
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 |
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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
Students can now build their own rover modelPasadena CA (JPL) Aug 02, 2018 Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a machine like NASA's Curiosity rover, part of the Mars Science Laboratory project? Now students, hobbyists and enthusiasts can get a taste of what it i ... more |
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Mysterious 'lunar swirls' point to moon's volcanic, magnetic past New Brunswick NJ (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
The mystery behind lunar swirls, one of the solar system's most beautiful optical anomalies, may finally be solved thanks to a joint Rutgers University and University of California Berkeley study.
The solution hints at the dynamism of the moon's ancient past as a place with volcanic activity and an internally generated magnetic field. It also challenges our picture of the moon's existing g ... more |
China tests propulsion system of space station's lab capsules Beijing, China (SPX) Aug 30, 2018
Engineers have successfully tested the propulsion system of China's planned space station lab capsules, a key step in its space station program.
Weighing 66 tonnes, the space station will comprise a core module and two lab capsules. The propulsion system will determine whether lab capsules can move in space.
Engineers designed 36 engines for the propulsion system with four to adjust ... more |
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Asteroid-Deflection Mission Passes Key Development Milestone Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
The first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defense has moved into the final design and assembly phase, following NASA's approval on Aug. 16.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), being designed, built and managed by the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, will test what's known as the kinetic impactor technique - st ... more |
Tally Ho Ultima Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
More than 12 years after launch, New Horizons continues to be healthy, perform well, and speed across the outer solar system at a clip of nearly 1 million miles per day!
Since I last wrote, earlier this year, our flight team has been incredibly busy operating our spacecraft and planning for our next flyby. That work includes conducting mission simulations and preparing contingency plans fo ... more |
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Saturn's Famous Hexagon May Tower Above the Clouds Paris (ESA) Sep 05, 2018
The long-lived international Cassini mission has revealed a surprising feature emerging at Saturn's northern pole as it nears summertime: a warming, high-altitude vortex with a hexagonal shape, akin to the famous hexagon seen deeper down in Saturn's clouds. This suggests that the lower-altitude hexagon may influence what happens up above, and that it could be a towering structure spanning hundre ... more |
Aeolus laser shines light on wind Paris (ESA) Sep 06, 2018
Following the launch of Aeolus on 22 August, this extraordinary satellite's instrument has been turned on and is now emitting pulses of ultraviolet light from its laser, which is fundamental to measuring Earth's wind. And, this remarkable mission has also already returned a tantalising glimpse of the data it will provide.
Lofted into space on a Vega rocket from Europe's Spaceport in French ... more |
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Going up! Japan to test mini 'space elevator' Tokyo (AFP) Sept 4, 2018
A Japanese team working to develop a "space elevator" will conduct a first trial this month, blasting off a miniature version on satellites to test the technology.
The test equipment, produced by researchers at Shizuoka University, will hitch a ride on an H-2B rocket being launched by Japan's space agency from southern island of Tanegashima next week.
The test involves a miniature elevat ... more |
A Direct-Imaging Mission to Study Earth-like Exoplanets Washington DC (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
To answer significant questions about planetary systems, such as whether our solar system is a rare phenomenon or if life exists on planets other than Earth, NASA should lead a large direct imaging mission - an advanced space telescope - capable of studying Earth-like exoplanets orbiting stars similar to the Sun, says a new congressionally mandated report by the National Academies of Sciences, E ... more |
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3D printed impeller allows unmanned aircraft to operate for thousands of hours without need for repairs San Antonio TX (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
Southwest Research Institute engineers are developing a cooled, radial gas turbine for a small generator that provides thousands of hours of electricity to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), a significant improvement to current UAV turbines that only operate a few hundred hours before wearing out.
Turbines are rotary mechanical devices that, when combined with a generator, produce electrica ... more |
NASA-funded Rocket to View Sun with X-Ray Vision Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
Without special instrumentation, the Sun looks calm and inert. But beneath that placid facade are countless miniature explosions called nanoflares.
These small but intense eruptions are born when magnetic field lines in the Sun's atmosphere tangle up and stretch until they break like a rubber band. The energy they release accelerates particles to near lightspeed and according to some scien ... more |
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Elon Musk muses about life over whiskey and weed San Francisco (AFP) Sept 7, 2018
Entrepreneur Elon Musk sipped whiskey and puffed a little weed while musing at length late Thursday about artificial intelligence, colonizing space, and the need to give love a chance.
Musk shared thoughts on those topics and more during a podcast with comedian Joe Rogan that lasted more than two hours and stretched into Friday.
At one point, Musk described the constant barrage of ideas ... more |
Success in Critical Communications Tests for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Baltimore MD (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
When NASA's James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2021, it will write a new chapter in cosmic history. This premier space science observatory will seek the first stars and galaxies, explore distant planets around other stars, and solve mysteries of own solar system. Webb will be controlled from the Mission Operations Center (MOC) at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. ... more |
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Boosting gravitational wave detectors with quantum tricks Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
A group of scientists from the Niels Bohr Institute (NBI) at the University of Copenhagen will soon start developing a new line of technical equipment in order to dramatically improve gravitational wave detectors.
Gravitational wave detectors are extremely sensitive and can e.g. register colliding neutron stars in space. Yet even higher sensitivity is sought for in order to expand our know ... more |
Relationship Established Between Brightness and Diet of Black Holes Santiago, Chile (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
A group of researchers led by Paula Sanchez-Saez, a doctoral student in the Department of Astronomy of the Universidad de Chile, managed to determine that the rate of variability in the light emitted by material being swallowed by supermassive black holes in nuclei of active galaxies is determined by the accretion rate, that is, how much matter they are "eating."
"The light emitted by the ... more |
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A cyborg cockroach could someday save your life Storrs CT (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
A tiny neuro-controller created by researchers at the University of Connecticut could provide more precise control of futuristic biobots, such as cyborg cockroaches that are already being tested for use in search and rescue missions inside collapsed buildings.
Scientists have spent the better part of the past decade exploring ways to tether live insects to miniaturized computer hardware so ... more |
China tests propulsion system of space station's lab capsules Beijing, China (SPX) Aug 30, 2018
Engineers have successfully tested the propulsion system of China's planned space station lab capsules, a key step in its space station program.
Weighing 66 tonnes, the space station will comprise a core module and two lab capsules. The propulsion system will determine whether lab capsules can move in space.
Engineers designed 36 engines for the propulsion system with four to adjust ... more |
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