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InSight Engineers Have Made a Martian Rock Garden![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 19, 2018 NASA's InSight lander is due to set its first science instrument on Mars in the coming days. But engineers here on Earth already saw it happen - last week. Like NASA's Curiosity rover, InSight has a full-scale working model at the agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. This sister lander, aptly named ForeSight, lets the team test all operations before they happen on Mars. To practice how InSight will place its instruments, JPL engineers built a Martian rock garden modele ... read more |
Opportunity team performs more frequent communication attempts throughout each dayPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 17, 2018 Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site remains at a storm-free range around 1.0. No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018). Opportunity likely experi ... more
Planetary scientists assist in capturing image of Insight from orbitLondon, Canada (SPX) Dec 14, 2018 Houston, there is no problem here. Eric Pilles assisted in capturing - for the first-time ever - extraordinary and highly significant scientific images of the NASA InSight robotic lander using HiRIS ... more
NASA's InSight takes its first selfiePasadena CA (JPL) Dec 12, 2018 NASA's InSight lander isn't camera-shy. The spacecraft used a camera on its robotic arm to take its first selfie - a mosaic made up of 11 images. This is the same imaging process used by NASA's Curi ... more
NASA's InSight lander 'hears' wind on MarsTampa (AFP) Dec 7, 2018 Humans can now hear the haunting, low rumble of wind on Mars for the first time, after NASA's InSight lander captured vibrations from the breeze on the Red Planet, the US space agency said Friday. ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Dec 18 | Dec 17 | Dec 14 | Dec 13 | Dec 12 |
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Safely on Mars, InSight unfolds its arrays and snaps some picsWashington (AFP) Nov 29, 2018 After safely landing on Mars following its nearly seven month journey, NASA has released the first pictures taken by its InSight spacecraft, which has opened it solar arrays to charge batteries. ... more
SpaceBok robotic hopper being tested at ESA's Mars YardWashington (UPI) Nov 28, 2018 SpaceBok, a robotic hopper, is currently undergoing tested in the European Space Agency's Mars Yard. On Wednesday, ESA released an image of the four-legged robot navigating cragged, red-tinged rocks. ... more
NASA Hears MarCO CubeSats Loud and Clear from MarsPasadena CA (JPL) Nov 28, 2018 NASA's MarCO mission was built to see whether two experimental, briefcase-sized spacecraft could survive the trip to deep space, and the two CubeSats proved more than able. After cruising along behi ... more
Mars Mole HP3 Arrives at the Red PlanetBonn, Germany (SPX) Nov 28, 2018 Just a few weeks from now, the German Aerospace Center's HP3 Mole will start hammering its way automatically into the subsoil of the Red Planet to measure its inner heat. "By participating in ... more
With InSight on Mars, Scientists Feel Earthly Relief, Get to WorkIthaca NY (SPX) Nov 28, 2018 After cruising for 205 days over 301 million miles, NASA's InSight spacecraft - a mission designed to probe beneath the surface of Mars - landed flawlessly Nov. 26 at Elysium Planitia. Cornell Unive ... more |
![]() InSight unfolds to catch some solar rays on Mars
Shaping the surface of Mars with water, wind and iceParis (ESA) Nov 26, 2018 ESA's Mars Express has imaged an intriguing part of the Red Planet's surface: a rocky, fragmented, furrowed escarpment lying at the boundary of the northern and southern hemisphere. This region is ... more |
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Mars InSight lands on Red PlanetPasadena, United States (AFP) Nov 26, 2018 Cheers and applause erupted at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory on Monday as a $993 million unmanned lander, called InSight, touched down on the Red Planet and managed to send back its first picture. ... more
Marsquakes' Mission Successfully Lands On Red PlanetLondon, UK (SPX) Nov 27, 2018 A mission to Mars, supported by the UK Space Agency, has successfully landed and will soon begin the first study of the heart of the planet. The NASA InSight mission landed at 19:53 GMT on Monday, 2 ... more
Research helps in understanding the dynamics of dune formationSao Paulo, Brazil (SPX) Nov 27, 2018 Crescent-shaped dunes called barchans are structures that appear in a wide variety of environments, including beaches and deserts, riverbeds and the seafloor, inside water pipes and oil pipelines, a ... more
Anxiety at NASA as InSight spacecraft nears Red PlanetLos Angeles (AFP) Nov 26, 2018 NASA's top scientists admitted to sleepless nights, sweaty palms, stomach aches and moments of pure terror as their $993 million Mars Insight spacecraft approaches a high-drama finale Monday: landing on Mars. ... more
NASA's InSight Lander Arrives on Martian SurfacePasadena CA (JPL) Nov 26, 2018 Mars has just received its newest robotic resident. NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet after an a ... more |
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Israeli spacecraft gets special passenger before moon journey Yehud, Israel (AFP) Dec 17, 2018
Israeli scientists making final preparations to launch the country's first spacecraft to the moon added a special passenger on Monday that will accompany the journey.
A time capsule of three digital discs containing thousands of files was ceremoniously placed within the space pod by organisers wearing white dust coats at the plant where it is being constructed and tested.
They included d ... more |
China's Chang'e-4 probe enters lunar orbit Beijing (XNA) Dec 13, 2018
China's Chang'e-4 probe decelerated and entered the lunar orbit Wednesday, completing a vital step on its way to make the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
After flying about 110 hours from earth, an engine on the probe was ignited when it was 129 km above the surface of the moon, in line with instructions sent fr ... more |
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Space telescope detects water in a number of asteroids Kobe, Japan (SPX) Dec 19, 2018
Using the infrared satellite AKARI, a Japanese research team has detected the existence of water in the form of hydrated minerals in a number of asteroids for the first time. This discovery will contribute to our understanding of the distribution of water in our solar system, the evolution of asteroids, and the origin of water on Earth.
The findings were made by the team led by the Project ... more |
Most Distant Solar System Object Ever Observed Washington DC (SPX) Dec 18, 2018
A team of astronomers has discovered the most distant body ever observed in our solar system. It is the first known solar system object that has been detected at a distance that is more than 100 times farther than Earth is from the Sun.
The new object was announced on Monday, December 17, 2018, by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Center [https://www.minorplanetcenter.net ... more |
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NASA Research Reveals Saturn is Losing Its Rings at "Worst-Case-Scenario" Rate Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 18, 2018
New NASA research confirms that Saturn is losing its iconic rings at the maximum rate estimated from Voyager 1 and 2 observations made decades ago. The rings are being pulled into Saturn by gravity as a dusty rain of ice particles under the influence of Saturn's magnetic field.
"We estimate that this 'ring rain' drains an amount of water products that could fill an Olympic-sized swimming p ... more |
Brazil keeps eye on Amazon deforestation with satellites Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil (AFP) Dec 13, 2018
The vast Amazon forest may be hard to penetrate, posing a problem for authorities trying to stop illegal logging - but there are still eyes in the sky keeping track of the destruction.
For three decades, a group of researchers have been monitoring forest clearing, agriculture and land use thanks to satellites orbiting the Earth and beaming images to Brazil's National Institute for Space Res ... more |
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Russian Progress freighter to fly to ISS under short scheme for second time Moscow (Sputnik) Dec 17, 2018
The Russian Progress MS-11 cargo spacecraft will for the second time fly to the International Space Station (ISS) under the three-hour scheme, circling Earth twice, in March 2019, a source in the aerospace industry told Sputnik.
"The launch of the freighter is scheduled for March 28. It will have to orbit Earth twice and dock to the ISS three hours after the lift-off. However, this will be ... more |
Where did the hot Neptunes go Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 17, 2018
"But where did the hot Neptunes go?" This is the question astronomers have been asking for a long time, faced with the mysterious absence of planets the size of Neptunes very close to their star. A team of researchers, led by astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has just discovered that one of these planets is losing its atmosphere at a frantic pace.
This observa ... more |
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General Atomics receives $40 million for Gray Eagle drone services Washington (UPI) Dec 14, 2018
General Atomics has been awarded $40 million by the U.S. Army for services on the Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle.
The contract modification, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, falls under Army fiscal operations and maintenance funding as is expected to be completed by June 2019.
The Gray Eagle is a development of the Predator drone designed for intelligence, sur ... more |
Preparing for discovery with NASA's Parker Solar Probe Greenbelt MD (SPX) Dec 13, 2018
Weeks after Parker Solar Probe made the closest-ever approach to a star, the science data from the first solar encounter is just making its way into the hands of the mission's scientists. It's a moment many in the field have been anticipating for years, thinking about what they'll do with such never-before-seen data, which has the potential to shed new light on the physics of our star, the Sun. ... more |
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Largest piece of SLS rocket test hardware moved for testing New Orleans LA (SPX) Dec 17, 2018
Technicians at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, moved the largest piece of structural test hardware for America's new deep space rocket, the Space Launch System, from the factory to the dock where it was loaded onto NASA's barge Pegasus Dec. 14, 2018.
The liquid hydrogen tank test article will make its way up the river to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, A ... more |
Massive New Dark Matter Detector Gets Its 'Eyes' Providence, RI (SPX) Dec 18, 2018
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter detector, which will soon start its search for the elusive particles thought to account for a majority of matter in the universe, had its first set of "eyes" delivered Thursday.
The first of two large arrays of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) - powerful light sensors that can detect the faintest of flashes - completed a 2,000-mile journey by truck from Rhode Is ... more |
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New squeezing record at GEO600 gravitational-wave detector Hannover, Germany (SPX) Dec 17, 2018
The detection of Einstein's gravitational waves relies on highly precise laser measurements of small length changes. The kilometer-size detectors of the international network (GEO600, LIGO, Virgo) are so sensitive that they are fundamentally limited by tiny quantum mechanical effects.
These cause a background noise which overlaps with gravitational-wave signals. This noise is always presen ... more |
Cosmic fountain powered by giant black hole Huntsville AL (SPX) Dec 17, 2018
Before electrical power became available, water fountains worked by relying on gravity to channel water from a higher elevation to a lower one. This water could then be redirected to shoot out of the fountain and create a centerpiece for people to admire.
In space, awesome gaseous fountains have been discovered in the centers of galaxy clusters. One such fountain is in the cluster Abell 25 ... more |
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New models sense human trust in smart machines West Lafayette IN (SPX) Dec 17, 2018
New "classification models" sense how well humans trust intelligent machines they collaborate with, a step toward improving the quality of interactions and teamwork.
The long-term goal of the overall field of research is to design intelligent machines capable of changing their behavior to enhance human trust in them. The new models were developed in research led by assistant professor Neer ... more |
China's Chang'e-4 probe enters lunar orbit Beijing (XNA) Dec 13, 2018
China's Chang'e-4 probe decelerated and entered the lunar orbit Wednesday, completing a vital step on its way to make the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) announced.
After flying about 110 hours from earth, an engine on the probe was ignited when it was 129 km above the surface of the moon, in line with instructions sent fr ... more |
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