|
|
New water cycle on Mars discovered![]() Gottingen, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2019 Approximately every two Earth years, when it is summer in the southern hemisphere of Mars, a window opens: only there and only in this season can water vapor efficiently rise from the lower into the upper atmosphere. There, winds carry the rare gas to the north pole. While part of the water vapor decays and escapes into space, the rest sinks back down near the poles. Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germ ... read more |
Why this Martian full moon looks like candyPasadena CA (JPL) May 10, 2019 For the first time, NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has caught the Martian moon Phobos during a full moon phase. Each color in this new image represents a temperature range detected by Odyssey's infrare ... more
For InSight, dust cleanings will yield new sciencePasadena CA (JPL) May 07, 2019 The same winds that blanket Mars with dust can also blow that dust away. Catastrophic dust storms have the potential to end a mission, as with NASA's Opportunity rover. But far more often, passing w ... more
Lockheed Martin completes testing milestone for Mars 2020 heat shieldDenver CO (SPX) May 05, 2019 Protecting against the extremes of space travel is critical to the success of any mission. Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has successfully completed the flight hardware structure of the heat shield, va ... more
Martian Dust Could Help Explain Water Loss, Plus Other Learnings From Global StormGreenbelt MD (SPX) May 03, 2019 Dust is not just a household nuisance; it's a planetary one, particularly on Mars. Before astronauts visit the Red Planet, we need to understand how the dust particles that often fill the atmosphere ... more |
|
| Previous Issues | May 10 | May 09 | May 08 | May 07 | May 06 |
|
|
|
|
Curiosity Tastes First Sample in 'Clay-Bearing Unit'Pasadena CA (JPL) Apr 12, 2019 Scientists working with NASA's Curiosity Mars rover have been excited to explore a region called "the clay-bearing unit" since before the spacecraft launched. Now, the rover has finally tasted its f ... more
Tests for the InSight 'Mole'Bremen, Germany (SPX) Apr 12, 2019 A blue box, a cubic metre of Mars-like sand, a rock, a fully-functional model of the Mars 'Mole' and a seismometer - these are the main components with which the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Z ... more
First results from the ExoMars Trace Gas OrbiterParis (ESA) Apr 12, 2019 New evidence of the impact of the recent planet-encompassing dust storm on water in the atmosphere, and a surprising lack of methane, are among the scientific highlights of the ExoMars Trace Gas Orb ... more
ExoMars carrier module prepares for final pre-launch testingParis (ESA) Apr 08, 2019 The module that will carry the ExoMars rover and surface science platform from Earth to Mars has arrived in Italy for final integration preparations. The module, along with electrical ground s ... more
Martian soil detox could lead to new medicinesParis (ESA) Apr 09, 2019 Bacterial resistance to antibiotics is one of humankind's major long-term health challenges. Now research into helping humans live on Mars could help address this looming problem. Dennis Claes ... more |
![]() British instruments help reveal secrets of Mars atmosphere
NASA selects two new space tech research institutes for smart habitatsWashington DC (SPX) Apr 09, 2019 As exploration missions venture beyond low-Earth orbit and to the Moon - and eventually Mars - NASA must consider automated technologies to keep habitats operational even when they are not occupied ... more |
|
|
NASA's MAVEN Uses Red Planet's Atmosphere to Change OrbitGreenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 08, 2019 NASA's MAVEN spacecraft achieved a tighter orbit around Mars to act as a telecommunications relay. The two-month campaign began February 11 and ended April 5. MAVEN's navigation team slowed th ... more
Mysterious Martian Methane Bursts ConfirmedTucson AZ (SPX) Apr 05, 2019 Martian methane releases are rare, episodic, and often debated, but scientists have discovered evidence of a methane emission in June 2013, which constitutes the first confirmation of a methane rele ... more
Life on Mars?Washington DC (SPX) Apr 05, 2019 According to NASA, scientists are in agreement that there is no life on Mars. However, they continue to assess whether Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting microbial life. Now, r ... more
Curiosity Captured Two Solar Eclipses on MarsPasadena CA (JPL) Apr 05, 2019 When NASA's Curiosity Mars rover landed in 2012, it brought along eclipse glasses. The solar filters on its Mast Camera (Mastcam) allow it to stare directly at the Sun. Over the past few weeks, Curi ... more
After the Moon in 2024, NASA wants to reach Mars by 2033Washington (AFP) April 2, 2019 NASA has made it clear they want astronauts back on the Moon in 2024, and now, they are zeroing in on the Red Planet - the US space agency confirmed that it wants humans to reach Mars by 2033. ... more |
|
|
Lunar tunnel engineers excited by boring Moon colonies Naples, Italy (AFP) May 10, 2019
As space agencies prepare to return humans to the Moon, top engineers are racing to design a tunnel boring machine capable of digging underground colonies for the first lunar inhabitants.
"Space is becoming a passion for a lot of people again. There are discussions about going back to the moon, this time to stay," US-Iranian expert Jamal Rostami told AFP at this year's World Tunnel Congress ... more |
China's Yuanwang-7 departs for space monitoring missions Nanjing (XNA) May 03, 2019 |
|
|
First planetary defense technology demonstration to collide with asteroid in 2022 Baltimore MD (SPX) May 07, 2019
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - NASA's first mission to demonstrate a planetary defense technique - will get one chance to hit its target, the small moonlet in the binary asteroid system Didymos.
The asteroid poses no threat to Earth and is an ideal test target: measuring the change in how the smaller asteroid orbits about the larger asteroid in a binary system is much easier ... more |
Brazilian scientists investigate dwarf planet's ring Sao Paulo, Brazil (SPX) May 08, 2019
Discovered in 2004, Haumea is a dwarf planet located beyond Pluto's orbit in a region of the Solar System called the Kuiper Belt. Pluto was demoted from the category of fully fledged planets in 2006 because of the discovery of Haumea and other dwarf planets.
Haumea was officially recognized as a dwarf planet in 2008. Its ellipsoidal shape resembles that of the ball used in rugby or America ... more |
|
|
Researchers find ice feature on Saturn's giant moon Tucson AZ (SPX) May 01, 2019
Rain, seas and a surface of eroding organic material can be found both on Earth and on Saturn's largest moon, Titan. However, on Titan it is methane, not water, that fills the lakes with slushy raindrops.
While trying to find the source of Titan's methane, University of Arizona researcher Caitlin Griffith and her team discovered something unexoldpected - a long ice feature that wraps nearl ... more |
What does Earth's core have in common with salad dressing? Maybe this New Haven CT (SPX) May 08, 2019
A Yale-led team of scientists may have found a new factor to help explain the ebb and flow of Earth's magnetic field - and it's something familiar to anyone who has made a vinaigrette for their salad.
Earth's magnetic field, produced near the center of the planet, has long acted as a buffer from the harmful radiation of solar winds emanating from the Sun. Without that protection, life on E ... more |
|
|
NASA awards ATLAS Space Operations space operations partnership Traverse City MI (SPX) May 07, 2019
ATLAS Space Operations, Inc., a leading innovator in communications for the space industry, today announced NASA has awarded it a contract for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program's Space Relay Partnership and Services Study. Prime contractor ATLAS partnered in its proposal with Laser Light Communications, Inc, a leader in advanced optical communications and data distribution v ... more |
Gravitational forces in protoplanetary disks may push super-Earths close to their stars University Park PA (SPX) May 10, 2019
The galaxy is littered with planetary systems vastly different from ours. In the solar system, the planet closest to the Sun - Mercury, with an orbit of 88 days - is also the smallest. But NASA's Kepler spacecraft has discovered thousands of systems full of very large planets - called super-Earths - in very small orbits that zip around their host star several times every 10 days.
Now, rese ... more |
|
|
Hummingbird robot uses AI to soon go where drones can't West Lafayette IN (SPX) May 10, 2019
What can fly like a bird and hover like an insect? Your friendly neighborhood hummingbirds. If drones had this combo, they would be able to maneuver better through collapsed buildings and other cluttered spaces to find trapped victims.
Purdue University researchers have engineered flying robots that behave like hummingbirds, trained by machine learning algorithms based on various technique ... more |
Scientists discover what powers celestial phenomenon STEVE Washington DC (SPX) Apr 26, 2019
The celestial phenomenon known as STEVE is likely caused by a combination of heating of charged particles in the atmosphere and energetic electrons like those that power the aurora, according to new research. In a new study, scientists found STEVE's source region in space and identified two mechanisms that cause it.
Last year, the obscure atmospheric lights became an internet sensation. Ty ... more |
|
|
Rocket Lab to launch rideshare mission for Spaceflight Huntington Beach CA (SPX) May 13, 2019
Rocket Lab announced Friday that its next flight will launch multiple spacecraft on a mission procured by satellite rideshare and mission management provider, Spaceflight. The launch window will open in June, with launch taking place from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand's Mahia Peninsula.
The mission is Rocket Lab's seventh Electron launch overall and the company's third for 201 ... more |
Could Rare Supernova Resolve Longstanding Origin Debate Washington DC (SPX) May 08, 2019
Detection of a supernova with an unusual chemical signature by a team of astronomers led by Carnegie's Juna Kollmeier - and including Carnegie's Nidia Morrell, Anthony Piro, Mark Phillips, and Josh Simon - may hold the key to solving the longstanding mystery that is the source of these violent explosions. Observations taken by the Magellan telescopes at Carnegie's Las Campanas Observatory in Chi ... more |
|
|
UCLA students touch space with a microgravity experiment Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 10, 2019
It took only 10 minutes and a ride aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard reusable rocket for 11 students in the Bruin Spacecraft Group to make history.
At 6:32 a.m. on May 2, their experimental pump designed for use in zero-gravity environments, named "Blue Dawn ," completed its flight into a low-Earth orbit and freefall - thereby becoming the first space payload developed and built entirely ... more |
Explosions of universe's first stars spewed powerful jets Boston MA (SPX) May 09, 2019
Several hundred million years after the Big Bang, the very first stars flared into the universe as massively bright accumulations of hydrogen and helium gas. Within the cores of these first stars, extreme, thermonuclear reactions forged the first heavier elements, including carbon, iron, and zinc.
These first stars were likely immense, short-lived fireballs, and scientists have assumed tha ... more |
|
|
Beyond the Metal: Investigating Soft Robots at NASA Langley Hampton VA (SPX) May 09, 2019 |
China's Yuanwang-7 departs for space monitoring missions Nanjing (XNA) May 03, 2019 |
|
| Buy Advertising | Media Advertising Kit | Editorial & Other Enquiries | Privacy statement |
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement |