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NASA's Opportunity Rover Logs 15 Years on Mars![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Jan 25, 2019 NASA's Opportunity rover begins its 16th year on the surface of Mars today. The rover landed in a region of the Red Planet called Meridiani Planum on Jan. 24, 2004, sending its first signal back to Earth from the surface at 9:05 p.m. PST (Jan. 25, 2004, at 12:05 a.m. EST). The golf-cart-sized rover was designed to travel 1,100 yards (1,006 meters) and operate on the Red Planet for 90 Martian days (sols). It has traveled over 28 miles (45 kilometers) and logged its 5,000th Martian day (or sol) back in Fe ... read more |
Prolonged spaceflight could weaken astronauts' immune systemsTucson AZ (SPX) Jan 24, 2019 NASA hopes to send humans to Mars by 2030 on a round-trip mission that could take up to three years - far longer than any human has ever traveled in space. Such long-term spaceflights could adversel ... more
ExoMars software passes ESA Mars Yard driving testNoordwijk, Netherlands (SPX) Jan 18, 2019 Navigation software destined for the ExoMars 2020 mission to the Red Planet has passed a rover-based driving test at ESA's 'Mars Yard'. ESA's ExoMars rover will drive to multiple locations and ... more
Dust storm activity appears to pick up south of OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Jan 18, 2019 Dust storm activity appears to have picked up again, with a regional storm tracking south about 124 miles (200 kilometers) to the west of Opportunity. The storm is expected to increase in opac ... more
Compete in a lunar economyParis (ESA) Jan 21, 2019 Sign up to the Metalysis-ESA Grand Challenge worth euro 500 000 rewarding innovation that helps us to explore space. As ESA and other agencies prepare to send humans back to the Moon - this t ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Jan 24 | Jan 23 | Jan 22 | Jan 21 | Jan 18 |
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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
3D photogrammetric evidence for trace fossils at Vera Rubin Ridge, Gale Crater, MarsBuckingham UK (SPX) Dec 24, 2018 On sol 1922 and 1923, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover (Curiosity) mission in Gale Crater, using its microscopic imager (MAHLI) returned over 84 images to Earth of enigmatic metallic dark- ... more
The C-Space Project Opens Mars Base as a Space Education FacilityJinchang, China (SPX) Dec 24, 2018 The C-Space Project recently unveiled its Mars Base set in the Gobi Desert, leaving many curious about its objectives. The C-Space Project, where the C stands for Community, Culture and Creativity, ... more
Mars 2020 rover to capture sound on the Red PlanetAlleroed, Denmark (SPX) Dec 21, 2018 In February 2021, NASA's Mars 2020 Rover is scheduled to touch down on the Red Planet. The spacecraft will have the capability to capture imagery and sound as the Mars 2020 vehicle descends through ... more
InSight places its first instrument on MarsPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 21, 2018 NASA's InSight lander has deployed its first instrument onto the surface of Mars, completing a major mission milestone. New images from the lander show the seismometer on the ground, its copper-colo ... more |
![]() Finding ways to protect crews from the effects of space radiation
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 |
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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 ArmPasadena CA (JPL) Dec 07, 2018 New images from NASA's Mars InSight lander show its robotic arm is ready to do some lifting. With a reach of nearly 6 feet (2 meters), the arm will be used to pick up science instruments from ... more |
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Preparing astronaut lunar exploration Lanzarote, Spain (ESA) Jan 25, 2019
Developing the most efficient and safest way to return to the Moon starts on Earth. European astronauts and spacewalk experts are getting ready for the future of Moon exploration with electronic aids, upgraded geological tools from the Apollo era and improved scientific protocols.
In November, ESA conducted a moonwalk simulation in Lanzarote, Spain as part of Pangaea-X, a test campaign tha ... more |
China to deepen lunar exploration: space expert Beijing (XNA) Jan 14, 2019
As the Chang'e-4 probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, a senior Chinese space expert said China will deepen its lunar exploration and venture further into the unknown.
China's current lunar program includes three phases: orbiting, landing, and returning. The first two phases have been accomplished, and the next step is to launch the Chang'e-5 probe to collect ... more |
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Lucy has 1000 days to launch day Boulder CO (SPX) Jan 23, 2019
Sunday marked T-1000 days to the launch of NASA's Lucy Spacecraft, the first spacecraft to explore the Jupiter Trojan asteroids. These asteroids, which lead and follow Jupiter in its orbit by roughly 60 degrees, hold vital clues to the history of the Solar System.
Over its 4156 day mission, Lucy will study six of these fascinating worlds. Lucy's launch period opens on October 16, 2021 - 10 ... more |
New Horizons' Newest and Best-Yet View of Ultima Thule Laurel MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2019
The wonders - and mysteries - of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 continue to multiply as NASA's New Horizons spacecraft beams home new images of its New Year's Day 2019 flyby target.
This image, taken during the historic Jan. 1 flyby of what's informally known as Ultima Thule, is the clearest view yet of this remarkable, ancient object in the far reaches of the solar system - and the first sm ... more |
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Scientist sheds light on Titan's mysterious nitrogen atmosphere San Antonio TX (SPX) Jan 24, 2019
A new Southwest Research Institute study tackles one of the greatest mysteries about Titan, one of Saturn's moons: the origin of its thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere. The study posits that one key to Titan's mysterious atmosphere is the "cooking" of organic material in the moon's interior.
"Titan is a very interesting moon because it has this very thick atmosphere, which makes it unique amo ... more |
Russia to launch Arctic weather satellite Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 21, 2019
The first Russian satellite for weather forecasting and monitoring climate and environment in the Arctic region, Arktika-M, is planned to be sent to near-earth orbit in June 2019, a source in the Russian space industry told Sputnik on Sunday.
"The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle from the Baikonur cosmodrome with Fregat booster and the first hydrometeorological satellite Arktika-M i ... more |
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Duration of UAE Astronaut's Mission on Board ISS Reduced to 8 Days Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 23, 2019
First UAE astronaut's length of stay on board the International Space Station has been reduced from 10 to eight days, a Russian space industry source told Sputnik.
"According to the new schedule, the launch of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft has been moved to September 25, which means that the duration of the Arab astronaut's mission, with the landing date for the Soyuz MS-12 remaining unchange ... more |
Where Is Earth's Submoon? Washington DC (SPX) Jan 24, 2019
"Can moons have moons?" This simple question - asked by the four-year-old son of Carnegie's Juna Kollmeier - started it all. Not long after this initial bedtime query, Kollmeier was coordinating a program at the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) on the Milky Way while her one-time college classmate Sean Raymond of Universite de Bordeaux was attending a parallel KITP program on the d ... more |
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Staff fraud may cost China's DJI drone maker $150 million Shanghai (AFP) Jan 21, 2019
Chinese drone maker DJI has placed 45 employees under investigation for alleged fraud that could cost the company more than one billion yuan ($150 million) in losses, the firm said Monday.
The world's top civilian drone maker said in an internal memo that most of the employees involved in the fraud worked in the supply chain, and 29 were fired while 16 were reported to the police.
The ca ... more |
Surprising Explanation for Differences in Southern and Northern Lights Bergen, Norway (SPX) Jan 25, 2019
For many years, scientists assumed the aurora seen around the north pole was identical to the aurora seen around the south pole. The poles are connected by magnetic field lines, and auroral displays are caused by charged particles streaming along these field lines. Because the charged particles follow these field lines, it would make sense that the auroras would be mirror images of each other. ... more |
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Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket makes 10th flight test Washington (AFP) Jan 23, 2019
With an eye to launching the first tourists to space by year's end, Blue Origin, the rocket company owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, blasted off the 10th test flight of its New Shepard rocket on Wednesday.
The rocket, carrying no people on board but eight science experiments for NASA, soared skyward from a launchpad in west Texas at 1508 GMT against a clear blue sky.
A few minutes into th ... more |
New detector fails to confirm would-be evidence of dark matter Sao Paulo, brazil (SPX) Jan 24, 2019
Almost 20 years ago, the DAMA/LIBRA experiment operated at Italy's Gran Sasso National Laboratory - LNGS began publishing data showing that it had detected a signal modulation produced by an interaction with the Milky Way's dark matter halo.
Dark matter is believed to constitute approximately 27% of the known universe, with ordinary matter accounting for only 4%. The remaining 69% is thoug ... 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 |
Taking magnetism for a spin: Exploring the mysteries of skyrmions Ames IA (SPX) Jan 24, 2019
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory have discovered the relaxation dynamics of a zero-field state in skyrmions, a spinning magnetic phenomenon that has potential applications in data storage and spintronic devices.
Skyrmions are nanoscale whirls or vortices of magnetic poles that form lattices within a magnetic material, a type of quasiparticle that can zip across ... more |
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The first tendril-like soft robot able to climb Rome, Italy (SPX) Jan 25, 2019
Researchers at IIT-Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia obtained the first soft robot mimicking plant tendrils: it is able to curl and climb, using the same physical principles determining water transport in plants. The research team is led by Barbara Mazzolai and results have been published in Nature Communications. In the future this tendril-like soft robot could inspire the development of wearable ... more |
China to deepen lunar exploration: space expert Beijing (XNA) Jan 14, 2019
As the Chang'e-4 probe made the first-ever soft landing on the far side of the moon, a senior Chinese space expert said China will deepen its lunar exploration and venture further into the unknown.
China's current lunar program includes three phases: orbiting, landing, and returning. The first two phases have been accomplished, and the next step is to launch the Chang'e-5 probe to collect ... more |
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