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Third ASPIRE test confirms Mars 2020 parachute a go![]() Wallops Island, VA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 In the early hours of Sept. 7, NASA broke a world record. Less than 2 minutes after the launch of a 58-foot-tall (17.7-meter) Black Brant IX sounding rocket, a payload separated and began its dive back through Earth's atmosphere. When onboard sensors determined the payload had reached the appropriate height and Mach number (38 kilometers altitude, Mach 1.8), the payload deployed a parachute. Within four-tenths of a second, the 180-pound parachute billowed out from being a solid cylinder to being f ... read more |
Desert test drive for Mars rover controlled from 1,000 miles awayLondon, UK (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 A UK-built Mars rover was taken for a test drive in Spain's Tabernas Desert this week, under remote control from the Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire - 1,000 miles away. The ExoFiT Mars ro ... more
Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloudParis (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. ... 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's first image of Mars from a cubesatPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 23, 2018 NASA's MarCO mission was designed to find out if briefcase-sized spacecraft called CubeSats could survive the journey to deep space. Now, MarCO - which stands for Mars Cube One - has Mars in sight. ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Oct 29 | Oct 28 | Oct 26 | Oct 25 | Oct 24 |
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Efforts to communicate with Opportunity continuePasadena CA (JPL) Oct 15, 2018 The dust storm on Mars has effectively ended with atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site down to around 1.0 to 1.1, values are typical for storm-free conditions this time of year. No si ... more
Painting cars for MarsPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 10, 2018 When John Campanella's friend wanted his beloved Ferrari painted, he knew exactly who to call. After all, Campanella had been painting, pinstriping and even airbrushing flames on to cars, motorcycle ... more
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'
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 |
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Opportunity Remains Silent For Over Three MonthsPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 01, 2018 No signal from Opportunity has been heard in over 115 sols, since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018). It is expected that Opportunity has experienced a low-power fault. Perhaps, a mission clock fault an ... more
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
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 |
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India successfully conducts crucial test of Moon lander New Delhi (Sputnik) Oct 29, 2018
The test demonstrated the capability of the navigation, guidance and control system of the lander to meet the mission requirement of a safe, soft and precise landing on the lunar surface by steering the module horizontally, as well as vertically down to a pre-defined target.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully conducted the crucial Lander Actuator Performance Tes ... 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 |
SwRI team makes breakthroughs studying Pluto orbiter mission San Antonio TX (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
A Southwest Research Institute team using internal research funds has made several discoveries that expand the range and value of a future Pluto orbiter mission. The breakthroughs define a fuel-saving orbital tour and demonstrate that an orbiter can continue exploration in the Kuiper Belt after surveying Pluto. These and other results from the study will be reported this week at a workshop on fu ... 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 |
Location of large mystery source of banned ozone depleting substance uncovered Bristol UK (SPX) Oct 29, 2018
The compound, carbon tetrachloride, contributes to the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer, which protects us from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
As a result, the production of carbon tetrachloride has been banned throughout the world since 2010 for uses that will result in its release to the atmosphere. However, recent studies have shown that global emissions have not declined as expec ... more |
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Thrusters with additively manufactured components qualified to fly humans on Orion spacecraft Redmond WA (SPX) Oct 30, 2018
Aerojet Rocketdyne recently completed qualification testing for the enhanced reaction control thruster system for NASA's Orion crew vehicle, helping to clear the way for the Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft's second test flight, and first mission to cislunar space, called Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1).
The reaction control system, or RCS, is the only means of guiding the Orion crew module a ... more |
Rocky and habitable - sizing up a galaxy of planets Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 26, 2018
The planets so far discovered across the Milky Way are a motley, teeming multitude: hot Jupiters, gas giants, small, rocky worlds and mysterious planets larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. As we prepare to add many thousands more to the thousands found already, the search goes on for evidence of life - and for a world something like our own.
And as our space telescopes and other in ... more |
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Armed drones, iris scanners: China's high-tech security gadgets Beijing (AFP) Oct 26, 2018
From virtual reality police training programmes to gun-toting drones and iris scanners, a public security expo in China showed the range of increasingly high-tech tools available to the country's police.
The exhibition, which ran Tuesday to Friday in Beijing, emphasised surveillance and monitoring technology just as the Communist government's domestic security spending has skyrocketed.
F ... more |
Parker Solar Probe breaks record, becomes closest spacecraft to Sun Greenbelt MD (SPX) Oct 30, 2018
Parker Solar Probe now holds the record for closest approach to the Sun by a human-made object. The spacecraft passed the current record of 26.55 million miles from the Sun's surface on Oct. 29, 2018, at about 1:04 p.m. EDT, as calculated by the Parker Solar Probe team.
The previous record for closest solar approach was set by the German-American Helios 2 spacecraft in April 1976. As the P ... more |
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Russia tests nuclear propulsion spacecraft's key element Moscow (Sputnik) Oct 30, 2018
The cooling system, which is the most important element of the Russian space transport and energy unit developed on the basis of megawatt-class nuclear electric propulsion, has been successfully tested in Russia, materials published on the government procurement website on Monday stated.
"The works have been fully completed. The results meet the requirements of the technical specifications ... 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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Gravitational waves could shed light on dark matter Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will enable astrophysicists to observe gravitational waves emitted by black holes as they collide with or capture other black holes. LISA will consist of three spacecraft orbiting the sun in a constant triangle formation.
Gravitational waves passing through will distort the sides of the triangle slightly, and these minimal distortions can be de ... more |
Astronomers spot signs of supermassive black hole mergers Hertfordshire UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
New research, published Wednesday, 24 October, in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, has found evidence for a large number of double supermassive black holes, likely precursors of gigantic black hole merging events. This confirms the current understanding of cosmological evolution - that galaxies and their associated black holes merge over time, forming bigger and big ... more |
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Humans help robots learn tasks Stanford CA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018
In the basement of the Gates Computer Science Building at Stanford University, a screen attached to a red robotic arm lights up. A pair of cartoon eyes blinks. "Meet Bender," says Ajay Mandlekar, PhD student in electrical engineering.
Bender is one of the robot arms that a team of Stanford researchers is using to test two frameworks that, together, could make it faster and easier to teach ... 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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