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UK tests self driving robots for Mars![]() London, UK (SPX) Jan 03, 2019 As far as we know, Mars is the only planet populated entirely by robots! Due to the time taken for commands to travel to Mars (eight minutes each way), hand guided robots are limited to travelling only a few dozen metres a day. New software developed in the UK will change this, enabling future Mars rovers to make their own decisions about where to go and how to get there, driving up to a kilometre per day so delivering more scientific returns per mission. The UK is a world leader in robotics ... read more |
Russia continues work on plasma engine for superfast space travelMoscow (Sputnik) Jan 03, 2019 Scientists from Russia and around the world see plasma rocket technology as a crucial possible ingredient for speedy missions to Mars and beyond. Physicists from the Budker Institute of Nuclea ... more
ExoMars mission has good odds of finding life on Mars if life exists.Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 01, 2019 As Dr Dartnell pointed out, at this point it is unclear whether life actually exists on Mars; and if it does exist, it remains to be seen how similar this life may be to that on Earth. While N ... more
Mars Express gets festive: A winter wonderland on MarsParis (ESA) Dec 21, 2018 This image shows what appears to be a large patch of fresh, untrodden snow - a dream for any lover of the holiday season. However, it's a little too distant for a last-minute winter getaway: this fe ... more
Over Six Months Without Word From OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 24, 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 |
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InSight Engineers Have Made a Martian Rock GardenPasadena 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 ... 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 |
![]() NASA's Mars InSight Flexes Its Arm
InSight's robotic arm ready for some lifting on MarsWashington (UPI) Dec 7, 2018 NASA's newest Mars lander InSight is slowly readying itself for its scientific mission. The newest images captured by the lander's camera, and shared by NASA, showcase the spacecraft's robotic arm. ... more |
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Mars 2020 rover mission camera system 'Mastcam-Z' testing begins at ASUTempe AZ (SPX) Dec 06, 2018 Arizona State University research technician and Mars 2020 Mastcam-Z calibration engineer Andy Winhold waited patiently on the loading dock of ASU's Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building ... more
Over Five Months Without Word From OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 03, 2018 Mars atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site remains at a storm-free level of 0.8. Since loss of signal on Sol 5111 (June 10, 2018), 359 recovery commands have been radiated including on ... more
Life at home on Mars in a Big SandboxPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 03, 2018 With InSight safely on the surface of Mars, the mission team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is busy learning more about the spacecraft's landing site. They knew when In ... more
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 |
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Chinese rover 'Jade Rabbit' drives on far side of the moon Beijing (AFP) Jan 4, 2019
A Chinese lunar rover has driven on the far side of the moon, the national space agency announced on Friday, hailing the development as a "big step for the Chinese people".
The Yutu-2 (Jade Rabbit-2) rover drove onto the moon's surface from the lander at 10:22pm Thursday (1422 GMT), about 12 hours after the groundbreaking touchdown of the Chang'e-4 probe, the agency said.
The China Natio ... more |
In space, the US sees a rival in China Washington (AFP) Jan 6, 2019
During the Cold War, US eyes were riveted on the Soviet Union's rockets and satellites. But in recent years, it has been China's space programs that have most worried US strategists.
China, whose space effort is run by the People's Liberation Army, today launches more rockets into space than any other country - 39 last year, compared to 31 by the United States, 20 by Russia and eight by Eur ... more |
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Osiris-REX enters close orbit around asteroid Bennu Tucson AZ (SPX) Jan 01, 2019
At 2:43 p.m. EST on December 31, while many on Earth prepared to welcome the New Year, NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft, 70 million miles (110 million kilometers) away, carried out a single, eight-second burn of its thrusters - and broke a space exploration record. The spacecraft entered into orbit around the asteroid Bennu, and made Bennu the smallest object ever to be orbited by a spacecraft.
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New Ultima Thule Discoveries from NASA's New Horizons Laurel MD (SPX) Jan 04, 2019
Data from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which explored Kuiper Belt object Ultima Thule earlier this week, is yielding scientific discoveries daily.
"The first exploration of a small Kuiper Belt object and the most distant exploration of any world in history is now history, but almost all of the data analysis lies in the future," said Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boul ... 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 |
New nanosatellite system captures better imagery at lower cost Beer-Sheva, Israel (SPX) Jan 07, 2019
Ben-Gurion University researchers have developed a new satellite imaging system that could revolutionize the economics and imagery available from space-based cameras and even earth-based telescopes.
"This is an invention that completely changes the costs of space exploration, astronomy, aerial photography, and more," says Angika Bulbul, a BGU Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Prof. ... more |
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Russia demands explanation over US snub to space chief Moscow (AFP) Jan 5, 2019
Russia's space agency on Saturday demanded an explanation after NASA put off a planned visit to the United States by Russia's controversial space chief.
Dmitry Rogozin, a firebrand nationalist politician known for his anti-Western rhetoric, was set to visit the US in February but NASA said Friday that it was postponing his visit indefinitely.
Rogozin, appointed by President Vladimir Puti ... more |
Galaxy collision could send solar system flying Durham UK (SPX) Jan 04, 2019
A nearby galaxy is hurtling towards the Milky Way on a collision course that could fling our solar system into interstellar space.
New research led by astrophysicists at Durham University, UK, predicts that the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) could hit the Milky Way in two billion years' time. The collision could occur much earlier than the predicted impact between the Milky Way and another n ... more |
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Insitu gets defense contract for Blackjack unmanned aircraft Washington (UPI) Dec 28, 2018
Insitu has won a $12 million contract for spare and sustainment parts for the Blackjack unmanned aircraft system, the Defense Department announced.
The company, a division of Boeing headquartered in Bergen, Wash., was awarded $12,167,690 for firm-fixed-price delivery against a previously issued basic ordering agreement for parts to maintain the Naval Supply Systems Command's RQ-21A Blac ... more |
New findings reveal the behavior of turbulence in the exceptionally hot solar corona Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Jan 02, 2019
The sun defies conventional scientific understanding. Its upper atmosphere, known as the corona, is many millions of degrees hotter than its surface. Astrophysicists are keen to learn why the corona is so hot, and scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have completed research that may advance the search.
The scientists found that form ... more |
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Russia continues work on plasma engine for superfast space travel Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 03, 2019
Scientists from Russia and around the world see plasma rocket technology as a crucial possible ingredient for speedy missions to Mars and beyond.
Physicists from the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Novosibirsk are preparing another round of experiments aimed at successfully harnessing the power of thermonuclear plasma for use ... more |
Webb Telescope wrapped in a mobile clean room Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 02, 2019
Before moving NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, and to assure that it's kept clean and safe, Webb got a very special wrapping treatment. The wrapping acts as a "mobile clean room," safeguarding the technological marvel from contaminants.
All satellites and observatories are created in clean rooms. Clean rooms filter out harmful contaminants, as even a speck of dust or a fingerprint could ... 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 |
A competing state of matter in superconducting material uncovered Ames IA (SPX) Jan 03, 2019
A team of experimentalists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory and theoreticians at University of Alabama Birmingham discovered a remarkably long-lived new state of matter in an iron pnictide superconductor, which reveals a laser-induced formation of collective behaviors that compete with superconductivity.
"Superconductivity is a strange state of matter, in which the pairin ... more |
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Breadmaking robot startup eyes fresh connections Las Vegas (AFP) Jan 7, 2019
The robot breadmaker came to Las Vegas this week, aiming to bring some freshness to a sector that may be ready for disruption.
Wilkinson Baking Company unveiled its BreadBot at the Consumer Electronics Show, a machine that mixes and bakes up to 235 loaves a day.
Chief executive Randall Wilkinson said the device can lower costs and produce fresher breads than are available in most America ... more |
In space, the US sees a rival in China Washington (AFP) Jan 6, 2019
During the Cold War, US eyes were riveted on the Soviet Union's rockets and satellites. But in recent years, it has been China's space programs that have most worried US strategists.
China, whose space effort is run by the People's Liberation Army, today launches more rockets into space than any other country - 39 last year, compared to 31 by the United States, 20 by Russia and eight by Eur ... more |
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