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NASA SLS rocket testing ensures astronaut safety, mission success![]() Huntsville AL (SPX) Jul 11, 2019 As the world reflects on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo missions, NASA is looking forward to its next giant leaps. One way NASA ensures the safety of astronauts and the success of the Artemis missions to the Moon in preparation for future missions to Mars is by testing the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket structures. With the recent delivery of the last structural test article, the liquid oxygen tank, to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the start of testing in Ju ... read more |
Sustaining Life on Long-Term Crewed Missions Will Require Planetary ResourcesCleveland 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 sur ... 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 |
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| Previous Issues | Jul 11 | Jul 10 | Jul 09 | Jul 08 | Jul 07 |
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A Martian methane belch melts awayWashington (AFP) June 25, 2019 The mystery of the Martian methane continues. ... more
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 Mars
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 |
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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 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 |
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The machine that made the Moon missions possible Washington (AFP) July 12, 2019
We've all been there: you're working on something important, your PC crashes, and you lose all your progress.
Such a failure was not an option during the Apollo missions, the first time ever that a computer was entrusted with handling flight control and life support systems - and therefore the lives of the astronauts on board.
Despite an infamous false alarm during lunar descent that ... 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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Hayabusa-makes completes second asteroid touchdown to collect samples Washington (UPI) Jul 11, 2019 Japan's asteroid-circling probe successfully executed a second touchdown on Thursday, collecting another sample from the surface of the space rock.
"The state of the spacecraft is normal and the touchdown sequence was performed as scheduled," the mission announced on Twitter. "Project Manager Tsuda has declared that the 2nd touchdown was a success!"
Japan's space agency, JAXA, sh ... more |
Jupiter's auroras powered by alternating current Washington (UPI) Jul 11, 2019
New analysis of Juno mission data suggests Jupiter's auroras are powered by alternating current, not direct current.
Jupiter, a the largest planet in the solar system, boasts an aurora with a radiant power of 100 terawatts, or 100 billion kilowatts. It's the brightest aurora in the solar system.
Like Earth's auroras, Jupiter's light shows are centered around its poles. The aurora ... 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 |
Animal observation system ICARUS is switched on Konstanz, Germany (SPX) Jul 09, 2019
The International Cooperation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS) is a cooperative project between the Russian space agency Roscosmos and the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) under the leadership of Martin Wikelski from the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Konstanz.
With the space-based observation system, scientists want to find out m ... more |
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Virgin Galactic seeks space tourism boost with market launch London (AFP) July 9, 2019
British billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic will merge with a US investment firm to become the world's first publicly-traded space tourism venture - with an eye on sending its first clients into space within a year, the group's chief executive said Tuesday.
"By embarking on this new chapter, at this advanced point in Virgin Galactic's development, we can open space to more investo ... more |
Astronomers expand cosmic "cheat sheet" in hunt for life Ithaca NY (SPX) Jul 11, 2019
Using nature's color palette from early Earth, Cornell University astronomers have created a cosmic "cheat sheet" in order to understand where discovered exoplanets may fall along their own evolutionary spectrum.
Jack O'Malley-James, a research associate at the Carl Sagan Institute, and Lisa Kaltenegger, professor of astronomy and director of the Carl Sagan Institute, co-authored "Expandin ... more |
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Navy's Fire Scout unmanned helicopter achieves initial operational capability Washington (UPI) Jul 9, 2019
The U.S. Navy's MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter has reached initial operational capability, paving the way for fleet operations and training.
On June 28, the sea-based, vertical lift drone manufactured by Northrop Grumman was declared to achieve operational capability, the Navy said Monday.
The aircraft is designed to provide reconnaissance, situational awareness and precisi ... 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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Jumping space robot 'flies' like a spacecraft Paris (ESA) Jul 08, 2019
Astronauts on the Moon found themselves hopping around, rather than simply walking. Switzerland's SpaceBok planetary exploration robot has followed their example, launching all four legs off the ground during tests at ESA's technical heart.
SpaceBok is a quadruped robot designed and built by a Swiss student team from ETH Zurich and ZHAW Zurich. It is currently being tested using robotic fa ... 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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