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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 19 | Dec 18 | Dec 17 | Dec 16 | Dec 15 |
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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 |
ICESat-2 helps scientists measure ice thickness in the Weddell Sea Washington (UPI) Dec 17, 2018
Measurements by NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 are helping scientists map ice thickness across the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea.
By mapping and tracking changes in the thickness of sea ice surrounding Antarctica, scientists hope to pinpoint when and where seasonal sea ice first grows.
"We know a lot less about the sea ice in the Antarctic than the Arctic," Ron K ... more |
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Queen guitarist Brian May releases tribute to NASA spacecraft Washington (AFP) Dec 19, 2018
Jamming and astrophysics go hand-in-hand for Queen lead guitarist Brian May, who announced Wednesday he is releasing a musical tribute to a far-flung NASA spacecraft that is about to make history.
The US space agency's New Horizon's spacecraft will soon make the most distant flyby of a cosmic object ever, zipping by an object called Ultima Thule - a billion miles (1.6 billion kilometers) be ... more |
Narrowing the universe in the search for life Columbus OH (SPX) Dec 18, 2018
Humankind's exploration of space has for years pondered one central question: Is there another world somewhere in the universe where human beings could survive?
And as astrophysicists and astronomers have searched for the answer, they've traditionally looked for a world that has water.
But Wendy Panero, professor of earth sciences at The Ohio State University, has developed a new way ... 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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NASA's Plum Brook Station Completes Acoustic Test for SLS Sandusky, OH (SPX) Dec 19, 2018
Researchers at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, recently completed a development test on a proposed design of acoustic panels for the Space Launch System's (SLS) Universal Stage Adapter.
Given the extreme sound produced by the world's most powerful rocket, this test series, conducted at Plum Brook's Reverberant Acoustic Test Facility, provided data for acoustic modeling that wi ... 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 |
Unique insights into an exotic matter state Kiel, Germany (SPX) Dec 19, 2018
The properties of the matter, which surrounds us in our everyday life, are typically the result of complex interactions between electrons. These electrically-charged particles are one of the fundamental building blocks of nature.
By now, they are well researched, and theoretical physics has determined the electronic structure of the majority of matter. However, how matter behaves under ext ... 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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