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How a tiny Curiosity motor identified a massive Martian dust storm![]() Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 27, 2018 There is no shortage of eyeballs, human and robotic, pointed at Mars. Scientists are constantly exploring the Red Planet from telescopes on Earth, plus the six spacecraft circling the planet from its orbit, and two roving its surface. So when dust filled the atmosphere during the recent planet-wide dust storm, observations were plentiful. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provided the earliest insights on May 30 when it observed an accumulation of dust in the atmosphere near Perseverance Va ... read more |
Martian moon likely forged by ancient impact, study findsWashington (UPI) Sep 24, 2018 New research suggest Mars' largest moon, Phobos, was formed from Martian debris excised by an ancient impact. ... more
NASA sees its stalled Martian robot, but still no signalsWashington (AFP) Sept 25, 2018 NASA scientists can now see their solar-powered probe that was lost in a Martian dust storm more than 100 days ago - but the vintage robot hasn't shown any signs of life. ... more
NASA is taking a new look at searching for life beyond EarthWashington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2018 Since the beginning of civilization, humanity has wondered whether we are alone in the universe. As NASA has explored our solar system and beyond, it has developed increasingly sophisticated tools t ... more
Martian moon may have come from impact on home planetWashington DC (SPX) Sep 26, 2018 The weird shapes and colors of the tiny Martian moons Phobos and Deimos have inspired a long-standing debate about their origins. The dark faces of the moons resemble the primitive asteroids o ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Sep 26 | Sep 25 | Sep 24 | Sep 23 | Sep 21 |
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Hit-and-Run Heist of Water by Terrestrial Planets in the Early Solar SystemBerlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 20, 2018 A study simulating the final stages of terrestrial planet formation shows that 'hit-and-run' encounters play a significant role in the acquisition of water by large protoplanets, like those that gre ... more
Opportunity silent since June 10Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 21, 2018 The Opportunity team is increasing the frequency of commands it beams to the rover via the dishes of NASA's Deep Space Network from three times a week to multiple times per day. No signal from ... more
Candy-Pink lagoon serves up salt-rich diet for potential life on MarsBerlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 21, 2018 The discovery of a microorganism that gives a candy-pink lagoon in central Spain its startling colour is providing new evidence for how life could survive on a high-salt diet on Mars or Europa. ... more
Recent tectonics on MarsParis (ESA) Sep 20, 2018 These prominent trenches were formed by faults that pulled the planet's surface apart less than 10 million years ago. The images were taken by ESA's Mars Express on 27 January, and capture par ... more
Attempting Contact With Opportunity Multiple Times A DayPasadena CA (JPL) Sep 19, 2018 The Opportunity team is increasing the frequency of commands it beams to the rover via the dishes of NASA's Deep Space Network from three times a week to multiple times per day. No signal from ... more |
![]() ExoMars orbiter highlights radiation risk for Mars astronauts
River basin provides evidence of ancient ocean on MarsWashington (UPI) Sep 14, 2018 Mars was once home to a giant ocean, new research suggests. ... more |
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Curiosity Surveys a Mystery Under Dusty SkiesPasadena 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 ... 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
A new listening plan for Mars Opportunity roverPasadena CA (JPL) Sep 12, 2018 No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018), though NASA has approved a strategy for listening for the rover through January of 2019. It is expected that Opportuni ... 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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India Aims to Establish Firmest Conclusion of Water, Minerals on Moon's Surface New Delhi (Sputnik) Sep 25, 2018
India's second moon mission, Chandrayaan-2, will begin its lunar studies in January-February 2019 with an orbiter that carries a wider range spectrometer that goes up to 5 microns to clearly provide a water signature.
In its second moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has chosen as landing site above 70-degrees latitude, a location no other country has gone before. T ... 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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Interstellar object 'Oumuamua traced to four possible stellar homes Washington (UPI) Sep 25, 2018
The interstellar object 'Oumuamua came from somewhere outside the solar system, but where has remained a mystery.
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, however, have identified four stellar candidates from which the object may have originated.
Astronomers first spotted 'Oumuamua in 2017. Unfortunately, by the time scientists noticed the oblong visitor, it was alre ... more |
Juno image showcases Jupiter's brown barge Washington (UPI) Sep 19, 2018
Jupiter's "brown barge" feature is the subject of a new photograph snapped by Juno's camera.
Like Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the brown barge is shaped by cyclone-like weather patterns in the gas giant's atmosphere. But unlike the red spot, which is round, the barge is longer and boxier.
The brown barge isn't always easy to pick out. Its colors often blend relatively seamlessly wit ... more |
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Dust storms on Titan spotted by Cassini for the first time Paris (ESA) Sep 25, 2018
Data from the international Cassini spacecraft that explored Saturn and its moons between 2004 and 2017 has revealed what appear to be giant dust storms in equatorial regions of Titan.
The discovery, described in a paper published in Nature Geoscience, makes Titan the third body in the Solar System where dust storms have been observed - the other two are Earth and Mars.
The observati ... more |
Three Earth Explorer ideas selected Paris (ESA) Sep 24, 2018
As part of ESA's continuing commitment to realise cutting-edge satellite missions to advance scientific understanding of our planet and to show how new technologies can be used in space, three new ideas have been chosen to compete as the tenth Earth Explorer mission.
The decision follows the release of a call for ideas in September 2017. Out of the 21 proposals submitted, ESA's Advisory Co ... more |
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Japanese Rocket Blasts Off to Resupply Station Tanegashima, Japan (SPX) Sep 22, 2018
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s H-IIB rocket launched at 1:52 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 22 (2:52 a.m. Sept. 23 Japan standard time) from the Tanegashima Space Center in southern Japan. At the time of launch, the space station was 254 miles over the southwest Pacific, west of Chile.
A little more than 15 minutes after launch, the unpiloted H-II Transfer Vehicle-7 (HTV-7) car ... more |
Gaia finds candidates for interstellar 'Oumuamua's home Paris (ESA) Sep 26, 2018
Using data from ESA's Gaia stellar surveyor, astronomers have identified four stars that are possible places of origin of 'Oumuamua, an interstellar object spotted during a brief visit to our Solar System in 2017.
The discovery last year sparked a large observational campaign: originally identified as the first known interstellar asteroid, the small body was later revealed to be a comet, a ... more |
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Self-flying glider 'learns' to soar like a bird Paris (AFP) Sept 19, 2018
Scientists have created a self-flying glider that uses machine learning to navigate rising air currents, in an experiment that could help our understanding of how birds migrate.
Soaring birds ride warm air passages known as thermals to fly and gain height without needing to flap their wings, although no one knows exactly how they do it.
To gain insight into what cues birds instinctively ... more |
Illuminating First Light Data from Parker Solar Probe Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2018
Just over a month into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned first-light data from each of its four instrument suites. These early observations - while not yet examples of the key science observations Parker Solar Probe will take closer to the Sun - show that each of the instruments is working well. The instruments work in tandem to measure the Sun's electric and magnetic fields, particle ... more |
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DARPA invests in propellant-free rocket theory Washington (UPI) Sep 26, 2018
Physicist Mike McCulloch plans to use a $1.3 million grant from the federal agency DARPA to prove his quantized inertia theory is more than just a spark plug for heady debates on online physics forums.
McCulloch believes his ideas about quantized inertia and Unruh radiation can inspire the creation of a rocket engine that turns light into thrust without the assistance of a chemical prop ... more |
Gaia detects a shake in the Milky Way Barcelona, Spain (SPX) Sep 25, 2018
"We have observed shapes with different morphologies, such as a spiral similar to a snail's shell. The existence of these substructures has been observed for the first time thanks to the unprecedented precision of the data brought by Gaia satellite, from the European Space Agency (ESA)", says Teresa Antoja, researcher at ICCUB (IEEC-UB) and first signer of the article.
"These substructures ... more |
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GRACE-FO Satellite Switching to Backup Instrument Processing Unit Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 17, 2018
The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission team plans to switch to a backup system in the Microwave Instrument (MWI) on one of the twin spacecraft this month. Following the switch-over, GRACE-FO is expected to quickly resume science data collection.
A month after launching this past May, GRACE-FO produced its first preliminary gravity field map. The mission ha ... more |
How long does a quantum jump take? Vienna, Austria (SPX) Sep 25, 2018
It was one of the crucial experiments in quantum physics: when light falls on certain materials, electrons are released from the surface. Albert Einstein was the first to explain this phenomenon in 1905, when he spoke of "light quanta" - the smallest units of light that we call photons today.
In tiny fractions of a second, an electron of the material absorbs a photon, "jumps" into another ... more |
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Amazon aims to make Alexa assistant bigger part of users' lives Seattle (AFP) Sept 21, 2018 From the kitchen to the car, Amazon on Thursday sought to make its Alexa digital assistant and online services a bigger part of people's lives with an array of new products and partnerships.
Updates to the internet giant's Alexa-infused Echo smart speakers will allow them to tend to microwave cooking and even have "hunches" regarding what users may want or have forgotten.
When Alexa is t ... 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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