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Aerogel could be a key building material for Mars![]() Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 17, 2019 Raising crops on Mars is far easier in science fiction than it will be in real life: The Red Planet is an inhospitable world. Among other challenges, subzero temperatures mean water can persist on the surface only as ice, and the planet's atmosphere offers little protection to plants (or people) from the Sun's radiation. Of course, NASA has plans to eventually put humans on Mars, using lessons it will learn from its Artemis lunar explorations. And those humans will need to eat. Being able to produ ... read more |
A material way to make Mars habitableBoston MA (SPX) Jul 17, 2019 People have long dreamed of re-shaping the Martian climate to make it livable for humans. Carl Sagan was the first outside of the realm of science fiction to propose terraforming. In a 1971 paper, S ... more
NASA funds demo of 3D-Printed spacecraft parts made, assembled in orbitHuntsville AL (SPX) Jul 13, 2019 NASA has awarded a $73.7 million contract to Made In Space, Inc. of Mountain View, California, to demonstrate the ability of a small spacecraft, called Archinaut One, to manufacture and assemble spa ... more
NASA SLS rocket testing ensures astronaut safety, mission successHuntsville 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 mi ... 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 |
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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
Mars 2020 Rover's 7-Foot-Long Robotic Arm InstalledPasadena CA (JPL) Jul 01, 2019 In this image, taken on June 21, 2019, engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, install the main robotic arm on the Mars 2020 rover. (A smaller arm to handle Mars sampl ... more
Paragon Space Development Corp awarded NASA contract for ISRU technologyTucson AZ (SPX) Jun 28, 2019 Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon), and its partner Giner Inc., are proud to announce that they are now under contract for the development and testing of the ISRU-derived water purifica ... more
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 Yet
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 |
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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 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 |
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NASA Chief Explains Why America Hasn't Been Back to the Moon Since the 70s Washington DC (Sputnik) Jul 17, 2019 Late last week, NASA announced that senior officials in charge of the manned space mission portfolio had been reshuffled amid growing impatience from President Donald Trump to hasten the return human beings to the lunar surface.
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has explained why the US suspended its manned lunar program over 40 years ago and what it will take for the US manned space prog ... 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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MASCOT Confirms What Scientists Have Long Suspected Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jul 17, 2019
Ryugu and other asteroids of the common 'C-class' consist of more porous material than was previously thought. Small fragments of their material are therefore too fragile to survive entry into the atmosphere in the event of a collision with Earth. This has revealed the long-suspected cause of the deficit of this meteorite type in finds on Earth.
Researchers at the German Aerospace Center ( ... 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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Yale researcher has a window seat for planning NASA's Dragonfly mission New Haven CT (SPX) Jul 17, 2019 By 2034, when the Dragonfly drone mission makes landfall on the surface of Titan, Yale's Juan Lora will have spent nearly half his life studying the climatic tendencies of Saturn's icy moon.
That's when the real work will begin, he says.
Finally, after long years of preparation and modeling, Lora and his colleagues on the scientific end of the NASA Dragonfly mission will begin to get ... more |
Animal observation system ICARUS is switched on Konstanz, Germany (SPX) Jul 16, 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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Russia May Send Saudi Astronaut to Space - Intergovernmental Commission Moscow (Sputnik) Jul 17, 2019 Russia and Saudi Arabia have discussed the possibility for Russia to send a Saudi astronaut to space for a short-duration flight, the protocol of the meeting of the Russian-Saudi intergovernmental commission read.
"The countries have expressed readiness to continue consultations on the prospects and mutually beneficial areas of bilateral space activities ... a manned space flight and prepa ... more |
Scientists deepen understanding of magnetic fields surrounding Earth and other planets Plainsboro NJ (SPX) Jul 13, 2019
Vast rings of electrically charged particles encircle the Earth and other planets. Now, a team of scientists has completed research into waves that travel through this magnetic, electrically charged environment, known as the magnetosphere, deepening understanding of the region and its interaction with our own planet, and opening up new ways to study other planets across the galaxy.
The sci ... more |
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C-Astral participates in demonstrations to help Europe set rules for drone deliveries Sint-Truiden, Belgium (SPX) Jul 17, 2019
C-Astral, a SESAR Joint Undertaking demonstrator project lead by Terra Drone-affiliated Unifly, is announcing its successful participation in the first practical SAFIR flight and integration tests at DronePort, Sint-Truiden, Belgium. SAFIR is a large-scale demonstration project aiming to showcase the economic viability of drone use in industrial environments.
As a member of SAFIR, C-Astral ... 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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SpaceX Dragon capsule explosion blamed on titanium valve failure Orlando FL (UPI) Jul 17, 2019 SpaceX announced Monday that the explosion of its Crew Dragon space capsule during an April test in Florida was due to the failure of a titanium valve.
The explosion put the schedule for a crewed flight of SpaceX missions to the International Space Station in doubt.
Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of mission assurance for SpaceX, said sending people up in a Dragon capsule this year ... more |
Star formation may be halted by cold ionized hydrogen Dwingeloo, Netherlands (SPX) Jul 13, 2019
For the first time ionised hydrogen has been detected at the lowest frequency ever towards the centre of our galaxy. The findings originate from a cloud that is both very cold (around -230 degrees Celsius) and also ionised, something that has never been detected before. This discovery may help to explain why stars don't form as quickly as they theoretically could.
Dr. Raymond Oonk (ASTRON/ ... 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 |
Could vacuum physics be revealed by laser-driven microbubble? Osaka, Japan (SPX) Jul 11, 2019
A "vacuum" is generally thought to be nothing but empty space. But in fact, a vacuum is filled with "virtual particle-antiparticle pairs" of electrons and positrons that are continuously created and annihilated in unimaginably short time-scales.
The quest for a better understanding of vacuum physics will lead to the elucidation of fundamental questions in modern physics, which is integral ... more |
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Robot-ants that can jump, communicate with each other and work together Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Jul 11, 2019
Individually, ants have only so much strength and intelligence. However, as a colony, they can use complex strategies to complete sophisticated tasks and evade larger predators.
At EPFL, robotics researchers in Professor Jamie Paik's Laboratory have reproduced this phenomenon, developing tiny robots that display minimal physical intelligence on an individual level but that are able to comm ... 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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