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Methane vanishing on Mars![]() Aarhus, Denmark (SPX) Jul 05, 2019 The processes behind the release and consumption of methane on Mars have been discussed since methane was measured for the first time for approx. 15 years ago. Now, an interdisciplinary research group from Aarhus University has proposed a previously overlooked physical-chemical process that can explain methane's consumption. For approx. 15 years ago, one could for the first time read about methane in Mars's atmosphere. This aroused great interest, also outside the scientific circles, since methane ... read more |
InSight Uncovers the 'Mole' on MarsPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 05, 2019 Behold the "mole": The heat-sensing spike that NASA's InSight lander deployed on the Martian surface is now visible. Last week, the spacecraft's robotic arm successfully removed the support structur ... more
Mars 2020 Rover Gets a Super InstrumentPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 03, 2019 Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have installed the SuperCam Mast Unit onto the Mars 2020 rover. The instrument's camera, laser and spectrometers can identify t ... more
Artificial gravity breaks free from science fictionBoulder CO (SPX) Jul 05, 2019 Artificial gravity has long been the stuff of science fiction. Picture the wheel-shaped ships from films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, imaginary craft that generate their own gravity b ... more
Inflatable Decelerator Will Hitch a Ride on the JPSS-2 SatelliteGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 02, 2019 An inflatable decelerator technology that could one day help humans land on Mars will fly on the same Atlas V rocket as the JPSS-2 satellite. The Apollo lunar landers fired retro rockets to la ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Jul 04 | Jul 03 | Jul 02 | Jul 01 | Jun 28 |
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Santorini volcano, a new terrestrial analogue of MarsMadrid, Spain (SPX) Jun 28, 2019 One of the great attractions of the island of Santorini, in Greece, lies in its spectacular volcanic landscape, which also contains places similar to those of Mars. A team of European and U.S. scien ... more
Life on Mars Was Possible After Last Great Meteorite ImpactLondon, Canada (SPX) Jun 27, 2019 A new international study led by Western University shows that Mars' first 'real chance' at developing life started very early, 4.48 billion years ago, when giant, life-inhibiting meteorites stopped ... more
NASA's Curiosity rover finds new methane spike on MarsWashington (AFP) June 24, 2019 NASA's Curiosity Rover has detected the highest ever levels of methane in the course of its mission on Mars, an exciting discovery because the gas could point to the existence of microbial life. ... more
Experiments with salt-tolerant bacteria in brine have implications for life on MarsSan Francisco CA (SPX) Jun 24, 2019 Salt-tolerant bacteria grown in brine were able to revive after the brine was put through a cycle of drying and rewetting. The research has implications for the possibility of life on Mars, as well ... more
A Rover for Phobos and DeimosLe Bourget, France (SPX) Jun 21, 2019 Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. These are the target of the Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission, which also involves international partners. Scheduled for launch in 2024. i ... more |
![]() Curiosity detects unusually high methane levels
Mars 2020 Rover Gets Its WheelsPasadena CA (JPL) Jun 21, 2019 In this image, taken on June 13, 2019, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, install the starboard legs and wheels - otherwise known as the mobility suspension - on ... more |
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NASA Invests $45M in US Small Businesses for Space Tech DevelopmentWashington DC (SPX) Jun 19, 2019 American businesses will help NASA land astronauts on the Moon in five years and establish a sustainable presence there, as part of the agency's larger Moon to Mars exploration approach. NASA has se ... more
NASA scientists find Sun's history buried in lunar crustGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 18, 2019 The Sun is why we're here. It's also why Martians or Venusians are not. When the Sun was just a baby four billion years ago, it went through violent outbursts of intense radiation, spewing sco ... more
The Mast is raised for NASA's Mars 2020 roverPasadena CA (JPL) Jun 17, 2019 In this image, taken on June 5, 2019, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, take a moment after attaching the remote sensing mast to the Mars 2020 rover in the Space ... more
Meteors explain Mars' cloud coverWashington (UPI) Jun 17, 2019 New research suggests the wispy clouds found 18 miles above the Marian surface are made of icy dust produced by meteors hitting the Red Planet's atmosphere. ... more
Robotic arm will raise the support structure and help the Mole hammerBerlin, Germany (SPX) Jun 11, 2019 There is a new plan to support the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Mars 'Mole' that is part of NASA's InSight mission. The Heat Flow and Physical Properties ... more |
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New camera system to offer high-resolution images, video of lunar landing Tucson AZ (SPX) Jul 03, 2019
A new spacecraft-mounted camera system funded by NASA is poised to return the first high-resolution video of a landing plume as it lands on the Moon.
The Heimdall camera system project, headed by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist R. Aileen Yingst, consists of four color cameras and a DVR to store images until they can be uplinked to Earth.
"The camera system will return th ... more |
China plans to deploy almost 200 AU-controlled satellites into orbit Beijing (Sputnik) Jul 02, 2019
The satellites, which will reportedly include Yaogan-class remote sensing vehicles and named after the Leo constellation, are expected to be equipped with a self-piloting system.
Beijing plans to deploy 192 artificial intelligence satellites into orbit to observe the Earth's surface by 2021, China Central Television (CCTV) reports.
"It is safe to say that the satellites still remain ... more |
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'Oumuamua Is Not an Alien Spacecraft Honolulu HI (SPX) Jul 02, 2019
An international team of asteroid and comet experts, including two from the University of Hawaii, agrees on a natural origin for our first interstellar visitor. On October 19, 2017, the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System 1 (Pan-STARRS1) telescope, located at the University of Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory, discovered the first known interstellar object to pass through our sola ... more |
Kuiper Belt Binary Orientations Support Streaming Instability Hypothesis San Antonio TX (SPX) Jun 27, 2019
A Southwest Research Institute-led team studied the orientation of distant solar system bodies to bolster the "streaming instability" theory of planet formation.
"One of the least understood steps in planet growth is the formation of planetesimals, bodies more than a kilometer across, which are just large enough to be held together by gravity," said SwRI scientist Dr. David Nesvorny, the l ... more |
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SMU's 'Titans in a jar' could answer key questions ahead of NASA's space exploration Dallas TX (SPX) Jul 05, 2019
Researchers from Southern Methodist University (SMU) could help determine if Saturn's icy moon - Titan - has ever been home to life long before NASA completes an exploratory visit to its surface by a drone helicopter.
NASA announced in late June that its "Dragonfly" mission would launch toward Saturn's largest moon in 2026, expecting to arrive in 2034. The goal of the mission is to use a r ... more |
SSTL expertise enables new space mission for the FORMOSAT-7 weather constellation Guildford UK (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
The successful launch on 24 June 2019 (EST) of 6 satellites for the FORMOSAT-7 joint US-Taiwanese weather forecasting constellation marks the start of another SSTL-enabled space mission, a cause for celebration at SSTL's UK HQ.
The launch on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre was attended by SSTL staff including Managing Director, Sarah Parker who said "We are ver ... more |
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What a Space Vacation Deal Bethesda, MD (SPX) Jul 02, 2019
Three weeks ago, NASA announced a new program to entice more commercial activities on the US side of the International Space Station (ISS). Starting in 2020, the station will be open to vacationers and others at a per-night-rate of $35,000.
While this is the first time the American side of the ISS has been promoted as a high-flying hotel, there have been five tourists who have visited the ... more |
Planet Seeding and Panspermia Haifa, Israel (SPX) Jun 27, 2019
The first detection of an interstellar asteroid/comet-like object visiting the solar system two years ago has sparked the ideas about the possibility of interstellar travel. New research from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology suggests that such objects also raise far reaching implications about the origins of planets across the galaxy, and possibly even the initial formation of the sol ... more |
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Frequentis Defense gets $8.4M contract for work on MQ-25 Stingray Washington DC (UPI) Jul 04, 2019
Frequentis Defense Inc. received an $8.4 million U.S. Navy contract for work on the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned air vehicle, the Defense Department announced.
The company, based in Columbia, Md., will provide engineering and logistics for the design, development, test, manufacture and repair of the MD-5A Unmanned Carrier Aviation Mission Control System, which supports the MQ-25. The integra ... more |
Details of Solar Science Mission Revealed at UK Astronomy Meeting London, UK (SPX) Jul 05, 2019
Named after a Celtic goddess of the Sun, SULIS is a UK-led solar science mission, designed to answer fundamental questions about the physics of solar storms. The mission consists of a cluster of small satellites and will carefully monitor solar storms using state-of-the-art UK technology, as well as demonstrating new technologies in space. Lead Investigator on the project, Dr. Eamon Scullion of ... more |
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ULA says malfunction of Russian RD-180 rocket engine occurred in 2018 during Atlas V launch Moscow (Sputnik) Jul 02, 2019
The US United Launch Alliance (ULA) spokeswoman Julie Arnold said that there was an emergency situation with Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine in 2018 during a launch of Atlas V carrier rocket, noting that the incident did not affect the flight.
In June, the US Government Accountability Office released a report on NASA's Commercial Crew Program that noted an emergency situation with an eng ... more |
Scientists weigh the balance of matter in galaxy clusters Birmingham UK (SPX) Jul 05, 2019
A method of weighing the quantities of matter in galaxy clusters - the largest objects in our universe - has shown a balance between the amounts of hot gas, stars and other materials.
The results are the first to use observational data to measure this balance, which was theorized 20 years ago, and will yield fresh insight into the relationship between ordinary matter that emits light and d ... more |
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Artificial gravity breaks free from science fiction Boulder CO (SPX) Jul 05, 2019
Artificial gravity has long been the stuff of science fiction. Picture the wheel-shaped ships from films like 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Martian, imaginary craft that generate their own gravity by spinning around in space.
Now, a team from CU Boulder is working to make those out-there technologies a reality.
The researchers, led by aerospace engineer Torin Clark, can't mimic those ... more |
X-rays Spot Spinning Black Holes Across Cosmic Sea Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 05, 2019
Like whirlpools in the ocean, spinning black holes in space create a swirling torrent around them. However, black holes do not create eddies of wind or water. Rather, they generate disks of gas and dust heated to hundreds of millions of degrees that glow in X-ray light.
Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and chance alignments across billions of light years, astronomers have d ... more |
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Safe, low-cost, modular, self-programming robots Munich, Germany (SPX) Jul 01, 2019
Many work processes would be almost unthinkable today without robots. But robots operating in manufacturing facilities have often posed risks to workers because they are not responsive enough to their surroundings. To make it easier for people and robots to work in close proximity in the future, Prof. Matthias Althoff of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new system: IMPROV ... more |
China plans to deploy almost 200 AU-controlled satellites into orbit Beijing (Sputnik) Jul 02, 2019
The satellites, which will reportedly include Yaogan-class remote sensing vehicles and named after the Leo constellation, are expected to be equipped with a self-piloting system.
Beijing plans to deploy 192 artificial intelligence satellites into orbit to observe the Earth's surface by 2021, China Central Television (CCTV) reports.
"It is safe to say that the satellites still remain ... more |
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