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December 20, 2014

NASA, Planetary Scientists Find Meteoritic Evidence of Mars Water Reservoir
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 19, 2014
NASA and an international team of planetary scientists have found evidence in meteorites on Earth that indicates Mars has a distinct and global reservoir of water or ice near its surface. Though controversy still surrounds the origin, abundance and history of water on Mars, this discovery helps resolve the question of where the "missing Martian water" may have gone. Scientists continue to study the planet's historical record, trying to understand the apparent shift from an early wet and warm clima ... read more

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NASA's Kepler Reborn, Makes First Exoplanet Find of New Mission NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft makes a comeback with the discovery of the first exoplanet found using its new mission - K2. The discovery was made when astronomers and engineers devised an ... more		Signs of Europa Plumes Remain Elusive in Search of Cassini Data A fresh look at data collected by NASA's Cassini spacecraft during its 2001 flyby of Jupiter shows that Europa's tenuous atmosphere is even thinner than previously thought and also suggests that the ... more		Opportunity drives on in no-flash mode Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards 'Marathon Valley,' a location assumed to have abundant clay minerals only about a half-mile (800 meters) to the south. With t ... more
				Inmarsat-2 F2 satellite retired after more than 23.5 years of GEO operations Inmarsat-2 F2, the second Eurostar satellite designed and built by Airbus Defence and Space, was retired from operational service and safely decommissioned this week after completing a record breaki ... more		Australian university students aim to generate first 'breathable' air on Mars A Mars One astronaut candidate and a team of Western Australian students aiming to generate the first breathable air on Mars have reached the finals of the international competition that will land v ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Goddard instrument makes first detection of organic matter on Mars The team responsible for the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite on NASA's Curiosity rover has made the first definitive detection of organic molecules at Mars. Organic molecules are the ... more		NASA Rover Finds Active and Ancient Organic Chemistry on Mars NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has measured a tenfold spike in methane, an organic chemical, in the atmosphere around it and detected other organic molecules in a rock-powder sample collected by the ro ... more		Sidekick autonomy software guides YFQ-42A test mission for CCA program Infleqtion lists shares on NYSE as neutral atom quantum firm Top Chinese gaming companies continue to challenge		Super-Earth spotted by ground-based telescope, a first For the first time, a ground-based telescope has observed a super-Earth alien planet passing in front of its host star. The exoplanet, roughly twice the size of Earth, is 55 Cancri e. Its host star is 55 Cancri, a Sun-like star 40 light-years away that can be spied with the naked eye in the Cancer constellation. ... more
				Soyuz Installed at Baikonur, Expected to Launch Wednesday The Soyuz-2.1A carrier rocket has been successfully installed at the launch site at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and is scheduled for launch on October 29, the press service of the Russian ... more		Robot named 'Athena' becomes first humanoid robot to pay for a seat on a flight A robot named "Athena" has officially become the first humanoid robot to pay for a seat on a flight. ... more

Startup in the Land of the Rising Sun; A Japanese Solar Venture - by Bradley L. Bartz

First steps for Hector the robot stick insect A research team at Bielefeld University has succeeded in teaching the only robot of its kind in the world how to walk. Its first steps have been recorded in a video. You can watch them in Bielefeld ... more		NASA is letting people name the craters of Mercury The team behind NASA's Mercury orbiter, MESSENGER, has begun a competition to name the craters of Mercury. ... more		Solar-driven ionosphere charges may nudge stressed faults toward rupture Stable black carbon in mangrove soils boosts coastal climate role Low crystallinity iron minerals show promise for chromium cleanup and carbon storage		Spike seen in methane on Mars, but source unknown Methane, a gas that on Earth comes mainly from living organisms, has been measured for the first time making a sudden spike on Mars, leaving scientists puzzled about its origin. ... more
Tag Heuer changes tune, now looking at smartwatches Barely a few months after dismissing Apple's smartwatch, the new chief executive of luxury Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer conceded Tuesday that such a hi-tech gadget might after all have a place in his firm's line-up. ... more		Moon Express testing compact lunar lander at Kennedy NASA is working with U.S. industry to develop the capabilities and cutting-edge technologies that will help send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. To achieve this goal, space travelers will need th ... more		Mars Mountain was All Wet Observations by NASA's Curiosity Rover indicate Mars' Mount Sharp was built by sediments deposited in a large lake bed over tens of millions of years. This suggests ancient Mars maintained a climate ... more		MAVEN Identifies Links in Chain Leading to Mars Atmospheric Loss Early discoveries by NASA's newest Mars orbiter are starting to reveal key features about the loss of the planet's atmosphere to space over time. The findings are among the first returns from ... more

	Opportunity Flash-Memory Resets Continue Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards 'Marathon Valley,' a putative location for abundant clay minerals only about a mile (about 1 kilometer) to the south. Because ... more		Oil-dwelling bacteria are social creatures in Earth's deep biosphere Oil reservoirs are scattered deep inside the Earth like far-flung islands in the ocean, so their inhabitants might be expected to be very different, but a new study led by Dartmouth College and Univ ... more

AALTO plans Zephyr stratospheric hub in northern Australia and seeks local payload partners

Ancient guano drove Chincha coastal power

UAH lands first DARPA award for biological sciences department

Opportunity In No-Flash Mode: Kludge Ready To Radiate		Signs of Ancient Mars Lakes and Quakes Seen in New Map		Observing Solar System Worlds as if They Were Distant Exoplanets		ESA and Omega: a watch for astronauts		MESSENGER Data Suggest Recurring Meteor Shower on Mercury
Building a Worldwide Genetic Library BRIC-by-BRIC		Astronomers spot Pluto-size objects swarming about young sun		Early adoption of robotic surgery leads to organ preservation for kidney cancer patients		New 'electronic skin' for prosthetics, robotics detects pressure from different directions		How Did Life Become Complex, And Could It Happen Beyond Earth?

Flash-Memory Reformat Planned

On Pluto's Doorstep, NASA's New Horizons Spacecraft Awakens for Encounter

Swarms of Pluto-Size Objects Kick Up Dust around Adolescent Sun-Like Star

Saturn's Moons: What a Difference a Decade Makes

Two Robots, One Challenge, Endless Possibility

UK Plans to Drill Into Moon, Explore Feasibility of Manned Base

Asteroid 2014 UR116 Represents No Threat to the Earth

Mars is a Four-Letter Word

Airbus Defence and Space signs contract for Microwave Sounder instruments

China's Long March puts satellite in orbit on 200th launch

Engineer Applies Robot Control Theory to Improve Prosthetic Legs

Curiosity finds clues to how water helped shape Mars

Artificial intelligence: Hawking's fears stir debate

Tennessee research offers explanation for Titan dune puzzle

China's ardor for a red planet

Ancient lava flows could explain pie-shaped landform on Mars

New Horizons Wakes Up on Pluto's Doorstep

Mars mountain may have arisen from lake sediments: NASA

The first X-ray diffraction measurements on Mars

Giving Thanks for Opportunity's Great Work!

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