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Sustaining Life on Long-Term Crewed Missions Will Require Planetary Resources![]() Cleveland OH (SPX) Jul 09, 2019 When astronauts live and work on the Moon, they will need access to life-sustaining oxygen, water and other resources. On the Moon, and eventually Mars, they could collect local resources on the surface and transform them into breathable air; water for drinking, hygiene, and farming; rocket propellants and more. It's a practice called in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). In order to develop the best ways to find and use resources on the Moon, NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland created an Exca ... read more |
Dust storms swirl at the north pole of MarsParis (ESA) Jul 08, 2019 ESA's Mars Express has been keeping an eye on local and regional dust storms brewing at the north pole of the Red Planet over the last month, watching as they disperse towards the equator. Loc ... more
Methane vanishing on MarsAarhus, 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 gro ... 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 |
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A chaos found only on MarsParis (ESA) Jun 28, 2019 The cracked, uneven, jumbled landscape seen in this image from ESA's Mars Express forms an intriguing type of terrain that cannot be found on Earth: chaotic terrain. The feature visible here, Aurora ... more
NASA's TESS Mission Finds Its Smallest Planet YetGreenbelt MD (SPX) Jun 28, 2019 NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has discovered a world between the sizes of Mars and Earth orbiting a bright, cool, nearby star. The planet, called L 98-59b, marks the tiniest di ... more
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 Mars
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 |
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Curiosity detects unusually high methane levelsPasadena CA (JPL) Jun 24, 2019 This week, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover found a surprising result: the largest amount of methane ever measured during the mission - about 21 parts per billion units by volume (ppbv). One ppbv means t ... more
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
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 |
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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 |
From Moon to Mars, Chinese space engineers rise to new challenges Beijing (XNA) Jul 08, 2019
With eyes bright, Sun Zezhou, chief designer of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe, speaks fast but clearly.
"Every time I see the moon, I think how Chinese probes have left permanent footprints on it, especially Chang'e-4, the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side. As a member of the mission, I'm very proud," said Sun.
Chinese engineers began plans for the Chang'e-1 lunar probe i ... more |
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Zwicky Transient Facility Spots Asteroid with Shortest Year Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 09, 2019
Astronomers have spotted an unusual asteroid with the shortest "year" known for any asteroid. The rocky body, dubbed 2019 LF6, is about a kilometer in size and circles the Sun roughly every 151 days.
In its orbit, the asteroid swings out beyond Venus and, at times, comes closer in than Mercury, which circles the Sun every 88 days. 2019 LF6 is one of only 20 known "Atira" asteroids, which a ... 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 |
Airbus to develop CO3D Earth Observation programme for CNES Paris, France (SPX) Jul 09, 2019
The French Space Agency (CNES) has awarded the CO3D (Constellation Optique 3D) contract to Airbus. Under this agreement, Airbus will deliver a global high-resolution Digital Surface Model (DSM).
Following launch, expected end of 2022, the Airbus-made CO3D constellation, comprising four identical satellites, will deliver 50cm resolution stereo imagery across the world on a daily basis. The ... more |
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LightSail 2 phones home to mission control Pasadena CA (SPX) Jul 03, 2019
The Planetary Society's LightSail 2 spacecraft sprang loose from its Prox-1 carrier vehicle as planned, and sent its first signals back to mission control at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in California. The CubeSat, about the size of a loaf of bread, was scheduled to leave Prox-1 precisely 7 days after both spacecraft successfully flew to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
Following dep ... more |
Discovering Exoplanets with Gravitational Waves Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Jul 09, 2019
In a recent paper in Nature Astronomy, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute/AEI) in Potsdam and from the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in Saclay, Paris suggest how the planned space-based gravitational-wave observatory LISA can detect exoplanets orbiting white dwarf binaries everywhere in our Milky Way and ... 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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Pioneer satellites launched Paris (ESA) Jul 09, 2019
The latest ESA Partnership Projects mission has launched two tiny supercomputing nanosatellites aboard a Soyuz rocket from Vostochny in Russia.
The parallel supercomputing scalable devices, aboard the lightweight, shoebox-sized nanosatellites, can be programmed to both receive and process data while in orbit. This enables them to select high-quality data and immediately transfer it to Eart ... 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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Chameleon Theory Could Change How We Think About Gravity Durham UK (SPX) Jul 09, 2019
Supercomputer simulations of galaxies have shown that Einstein's general theory of relativity might not be the only way to explain how gravity works or how galaxies form.
Physicists at Durham University, UK, simulated the cosmos using an alternative model for gravity - f(R)-gravity, a so called Chameleon Theory. The resulting images produced by the simulation show that galaxies like our Mi ... 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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Tiny motor can 'walk' to carry out tasks Boston MA (SPX) Jul 08, 2019
Years ago, MIT Professor Neil Gershenfeld had an audacious thought. Struck by the fact that all the world's living things are built out of combinations of just 20 amino acids, he wondered: Might it be possible to create a kit of just 20 fundamental parts that could be used to assemble all of the different technological products in the world?
Gershenfeld and his students have been making st ... more |
From Moon to Mars, Chinese space engineers rise to new challenges Beijing (XNA) Jul 08, 2019
With eyes bright, Sun Zezhou, chief designer of China's Chang'e-4 lunar probe, speaks fast but clearly.
"Every time I see the moon, I think how Chinese probes have left permanent footprints on it, especially Chang'e-4, the first spacecraft to soft-land on the far side. As a member of the mission, I'm very proud," said Sun.
Chinese engineers began plans for the Chang'e-1 lunar probe i ... more |
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