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Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloud![]() Paris (ESA) Oct 26, 2018 Since 13 September, ESA's Mars Express has been observing the evolution of an elongated cloud formation hovering in the vicinity of the 20 km-high Arsia Mons volcano, close to the planet's equator. In spite of its location, this atmospheric feature is not linked to volcanic activity but is rather a water ice cloud driven by the influence of the volcano's leeward slope on the air flow - something that scientists call an orographic or lee cloud - and a regular phenomenon in this region. The cl ... read more |
NASA's InSight will study Mars while standing stillPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 25, 2018 You don't need wheels to explore Mars. After touching down in November, NASA's InSight spacecraft will spread its solar panels, unfold a robotic arm ... and stay put. Unlike the space agency's rover ... more
NASA Mars team actively listening out for OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 25, 2018 The dust storm on Mars has ended with atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site down to around typical values of 1.0 to 1.1. No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June ... more
Minerals of the world, uniteParis (ESA) Oct 22, 2018 Imagine you are on Mars and you stumble upon an interesting rock. The colours, the shape of the crystals and the place where you find it all tell you: there is more to it than meets the eye. Tool in ... more
Mars likely to have enough oxygen to support life: studyParis (AFP) Oct 22, 2018 Salty water just below the surface of Mars could hold enough oxygen to support the kind of microbial life that emerged and flourished on Earth billions of years ago, researchers reported Monday. ... more |
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Novel Technique Quickly Maps Young Ice Deposits and Formations on MarsTucson AZ (SPX) Oct 09, 2018 A new investigative technique has shown the latitudinal distribution of ice-rich landforms on Mars. This large-scale study enables future, more detailed investigations to study several young deposit ... more
ASU researcher innovates solar energy technology in spaceTempe AZ (SPX) Oct 08, 2018 Experts predict that by 2050 we're going to have global broadband internet satellite networks, in-orbit manufacturing, space tourism, asteroid mining and lunar and Mars bases. More than a giga ... more
Curiosity rover operating on backup computer during repairs to main processorWashington (UPI) Oct 4, 2018 NASA engineers have switched the Curiosity rover's brains, ceding control of the spacecraft to a backup computer. The move will allow engineers to analyze Curiosity's main processor, which has been unable to function properly for a few weeks. ... more
Curiosity Rover to Temporarily Switch 'Brains'Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 04, 2018 Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, this week commanded the agency's Curiosity rover to switch to its second computer. The switch will enable engineers to do a det ... more
Lockheed Martin Reveals New Human Lunar Lander ConceptDenver CO (SPX) Oct 04, 2018 At this week's International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Bremen, Germany, Lockheed Martin experts revealed the company's crewed lunar lander concept and showed how the reusable lander aligns wit ... more |
![]() Opportunity Remains Silent For Over Three Months
Software finds the best way to stick a Mars landingBoston MA (SPX) Oct 01, 2018 Selecting a landing site for a rover headed to Mars is a lengthy process that normally involves large committees of scientists and engineers. These committees typically spend several years weighing ... more |
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UCF selling experimental Martian dirt - $20 a kilogram, plus shippingOrlando FL (SPX) Oct 01, 2018 The University of Central Florida is selling Martian dirt, $20 a kilogram plus shipping. This is not fake news. A team of UCF astrophysicists has developed a scientifically based, standardized ... more
How a tiny Curiosity motor identified a massive Martian dust stormGreenbelt 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 it ... 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
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
Opportunity emerges in a dusty picturePasadena CA (JPL) Sep 26, 2018 NASA still hasn't heard from the Opportunity rover, but at least we can see it again. A new image produced by HiRISE, a high-resolution camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), ... more |
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NASA seeks information for gateway cargo delivery services Washington DC (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
NASA will lead the development of the Gateway, a permanent spaceship orbiting the Moon, to serve as a home base for human and robotic missions to the surface of the Moon and ultimately, Mars. The first orbiting lunar laboratory will be a temporary home and office for astronauts for up to three months at a time, with cargo deliveries likely scheduled when crew are not present.
The agency is ... more |
China's space programs open up to world Beijing (XNA) Oct 24, 2018
When German scientists were conducting micro-gravity experiments on China's recoverable satellite in the 1980s, Chinese space engineer Tang Bochang was busy solving technical problems, while carefully keeping Chinese secrets.
Tang joined the China Academy of Space Technology in 1970, the same year China launched its first satellite. He has participated in the development of returnable sate ... more |
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Earth's Dust Cloud Satellites Confirmed London, UK (SPX) Oct 26, 2018
A team of Hungarian astronomers and physicists may have confirmed two elusive clouds of dust, in semi-stable points just 400,000 kilometres from Earth.
The clouds, first reported by and named for Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski in 1961, are exceptionally faint, so their existence is controversial. The new work appears in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ... more |
Europa plume sites lack expected heat signatures Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
The study of two potential plume sites on Jupiter's moon Europa has shown a lack of expected hotspot signatures, unlike Enceladus where plumes have a very clear and obvious temperature signature, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Julie Rathbun shows.
"We searched through the available Galileo thermal data at the locations proposed as the sites of potential plumes. Re ... more |
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Saturn's Moon Dione Covered by Mysterious Stripes Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
Mysterious straight bright stripes have been discovered on Saturn's moon Dione, says research by Planetary Science Institute Associate Research Scientist Alex Patthoff.
The origins of these linear virgae (virgae meaning a stripe or streak of color) are most likely caused by the draping of surface materials like material from Saturn's rings, passing comets, or co-orbital moons Helene and Po ... more |
Researchers develop an operative complex scheme for short-range weather forecasts Moscow, Russia (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
Staff members from the Higher School of Economics and the Hydrometeorological Centre of Russia have proposed a new operative scheme for the short-range complex forecasting of wind and possible gusts, surface air temperature, and humidity. The results, i.e., estimates of average forecast errors at different lead times and their comparison with competitors' results, were published in the journal R ... more |
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Plant hormone makes space farming a possibility Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 18, 2018
With scarce nutrients and weak gravity, growing potatoes on the Moon or on other planets seems unimaginable. But the plant hormone strigolactone could make it possible, plant biologists from the University of Zurich have shown. The hormone supports the symbiosis between fungi and plant roots, thus encouraging plants' growth - even under the challenging conditions found in space.
The idea h ... more |
Plan developed to characterize and identify ocean worlds Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
Strategies to identify and explore ocean worlds in our solar system should focus on a range of targets, including confirmed and unconfirmed ocean worlds, according to a new paper by a team led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Amanda R. Hendrix.
Hendrix and Terry A. Hurford of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are co-lead authors of "The NASA Roadmap to Ocean Worlds" that appe ... more |
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US Air Force's X-37B space plane marks 400 days in orbit Washington DC (Sputnik) Oct 22, 2018
The US Air Force's unmanned X-37B space plane has passed its 400-day mark, inching its way toward setting a new flight duration record for the Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) mission.
The spacecraft, the fifth of its kind, was initially rocketed into orbit on September 7, 2017, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, according to Space.com. All previous OTV missions established new flight records, wit ... more |
Students help scientist ID the sonic signatures of solar storms Washington (UPI) Oct 20, 2018
What does it sound like when solar storms collide with Earth's magnetosphere? Students in London are helping scientists find out.
Earth's magnetic field features a near-constant cacophony of low-frequency sound waves - too low-pitched to be discernible to the human ear. But by speeding up audio recordings of the magnetosphere, researchers at London's Queen Mary University made the soun ... more |
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Russia launches first Soyuz rocket since failed space launch Moscow (AFP) Oct 25, 2018
Russia on Thursday successfully launched a Soyuz rocket for the first time since the failure of a similar rocket aborted a manned take-off to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 11.
"On Thursday at 03:15 (0015 GMT) a Soyuz-2.1B rocket was successfully launched carrying a satellite for the Russian military," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
The satellite rea ... more |
Borexino experiment: analysis of ten years of neutrino signals Munich, Germany (SPX) Oct 26, 2018
Researchers from the Borexino collaboration have published the hitherto most comprehensive analysis of neutrinos from the Sun's core processes. The results confirm previous assumptions about the processes inside the sun.
According to the standard solar model, around 99 percent of the Sun's energy stems from a sequence of fusion processes in which hydrogen is converted to helium. It begins ... more |
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In five -10 years, gravitational waves could accurately measure universe's expansion Chicago IL (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
Twenty years ago, scientists were shocked to realize that our universe is not only expanding, but that it's expanding fasterover time.
Pinning down the exact rate of expansion, called the Hubble constant after famed astronomer and UChicago alumnus Edwin Hubble, has been surprisingly difficult. Since then scientists have used two methods to calculate the value, and they spit out distressing ... more |
A new way to measure nearly nothing Washington DC (SPX) Oct 22, 2018
Many semiconductor fabricators and research labs are under increasing pressure from, of all things, vacuum. These facilities need to remove greater amounts of gas molecules and particles from their setups as new technologies and processes demand lower and lower pressures.
For example, the vacuum chambers in which microchip manufacturers lay down a series of ultrathin layers of chemicals st ... more |
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Elephant trunks form joints to pick up small objects Rochester NY (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
Understanding how elephants use their trunks to pick up small objects could lead to robots designed with flexible hands or grippers, according to a new study that includes Rochester Institute of Technology research.
RIT scientist Scott Franklin collaborated with David Hu at Georgia Institute of Technology to understand how elephants apply force with their trunk to manipulate different size ... more |
China's space programs open up to world Beijing (XNA) Oct 24, 2018
When German scientists were conducting micro-gravity experiments on China's recoverable satellite in the 1980s, Chinese space engineer Tang Bochang was busy solving technical problems, while carefully keeping Chinese secrets.
Tang joined the China Academy of Space Technology in 1970, the same year China launched its first satellite. He has participated in the development of returnable sate ... more |
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