Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

September 24, 2015

The Fact and Fiction of Martian Dust Storms
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 23, 2015
For years, science fiction writers from Edgar Rice Burroughs to C. S. Lewis have imagined what it would be like for humans to walk on Mars. As mankind comes closer to taking its first steps on the Red Planet, authors' depictions of the experience have become more realistic. Andy Weir's "The Martian" begins with a massive dust storm that strands fictional astronaut Mark Watney on Mars. In the scene, powerful wind rips an antenna out of a piece of equipment and destroys parts of the astronauts' camp ... read more

Previous Issues

Sep 23

Sep 22

Sep 21

Sep 18

Sep 17

NASA's MAVEN Celebrates One Year at Mars NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft has been in orbit around Mars for one Earth year. MAVEN was launched to Mars on Nov. 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station i ... more		India's Mars mission to last many years: top space official India's Mars mission will last for many years as it has so far not experienced any failures, a top space official has reportedly said. "Mars (mission) is expected to last for many years now be ... more		Marines experiment with robot capabilities A quadruped prototype robot has demonstrated its field capabilities in weeklong testing by the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory. ... more
				NASA Seeks Big Ideas from Students for Inflatable Heat Shield Technology NASA is giving university and college students an opportunity to be part of the agency's journey to Mars with the Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. NASA's Game ... more		ExoMars 2016 targets March launch window A problem recently discovered in two sensors in the propulsion system of the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module has prompted the recommendation to move the launch of the ExoMars 2016 mis ... more

Nuclear Decommissioning And Used Fuel Market 2015

Solar systems for home and business installations

China to rehearse new carrier rocket for lunar mission A Long March-5 carrier rocket on Sunday was shipped from North China's Tianjin port for a rehearsal of a scheduled Chang'e-5 lunar mission around 2017. It will be the first drill carried out i ... more		Indra renews SMOS maintenance and development contract The European Space Agency has extended until 2017 the maintenance and development contract of the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) mission user segment, entrusted to Indra. The service could ... 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		New Space Mining Tech Could Be Game-Changer for Interstellar Travel NASA researchers have come up with a seemingly simple - and extremely potent - idea: "optical mining," through which the water contained within millions of asteroids across the universe could be use ... more
				Pluto 'Wows' in Spectacular New Backlit Panorama The latest images from NASA's New Horizons spacecraft have scientists stunned - not only for their breathtaking views of Pluto's majestic icy mountains, streams of frozen nitrogen and haunting low-l ... more		Opportunity Continues Search for Clay Minerals On Mars Opportunity is within 'Marathon Valley' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater conducting a walk-about in search of clay minerals. The rover is operating in persistent RAM mode (not using Flash f ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

Electron transport between species discovered in deep-sea research Researchers at the California Institute of Technology have discovered two microbial species capable of sharing the energy needed to consume methane through electron transfer without direct contact. ... more		Expect Martian Colonies to Build Themselves First Space explorers will travel to prefabricated colonies on the Moon, Mars and elsewhere, says the Self-deployable Habitat for Extreme Environments project (SHEE). SHEE is developing domiciles to ... 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		Big Iron gets technology boost ESA deploys 'big iron' to communicate with its deep-space missions: three 35 m-diameter dishes employing some of the world's most advanced tracking technology. And it's about to get a boost. E ... more
China's new carrier rocket succeeds in 1st trip China successfully launched a new model of carrier rocket, Long March-6, at 7:01 a.m. Sunday from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north China's Shanxi Province. The rocket carried 20 mi ... more		China launches new type of carrier rocket: state media China on Sunday launched a new, smaller type of rocket from its "Long March" family which will be primarily used for carrying satellites aloft, state media reported, as the country races ahead with an ambitious space programme. ... more		Marines send robotic dog into simulated combat Over the last several days week, Spot, a robot dog designed by Google-owned Boston Dynamics, has been put to the test. ... more		Stellar atmosphere can be used to predict the composition of rocky exoplanets In two recently published articles researchers from Instituto de Astrofisica e Ciencias do Espaco (IA3) show that the ratio of some heavy elements in a star, like Magnesium (Mg), Silicon (Si) and Ir ... more

	Watching an exoplanet in motion around a distant star A team of astronomers has given us our best view yet of an exoplanet moving in its orbit around a distant star. A series of images captured between November 2013 to April 2015 shows the exoplanet b ... more		Saturn's Moon Enceladus Hosts A Global Ocean Every square inch of Saturn's small moon Enceladus overlies a potentially habitable ocean. Observations of Enceladus' slight wobble as it orbits Saturn can only be explained if the outer crust float ... 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

NASA's LRO discovers Earth's pull is 'massaging' our moon		Cassini Finds Global Ocean in Saturn's Moon Enceladus		Scientists conduct most precise test of light speed		Record-breaking astronauts return to Earth		Long March-2D carrier rocket blasts off in NW China
Under Saturnian moon's icy crust lies a 'global' ocean		New photos reveal Pluto's stunning geological diversity: NASA		Study: 'Hot Jupiter' exoplanets formed extremely rapidly		Europlanet 2020 launches new era of planetary collaboration in Europe		Nearby Red Dwarfs Could Reveal Planet Secrets

Supervising two rovers from space

Advanced alien civilizations rare or absent in the local Universe

Rocky planets may be habitable depending on their 'air conditioning system'

Team Continues to Operate Rover in RAM Mode

Astronomers peer into the 'amniotic sac' of a planet-hosting star

New Pluto Images from New Horizons: It's Complicated

Neurotechnology Provides Near-Natural Sense of Touch

NIST physicists show 'molecules' made of light may be possible

Mars Panorama from Curiosity Shows Petrified Sand Dunes

Ridley Scott's 'The Martian' takes off in Toronto

SETI reborn: The New Search for Intelligent Life

US military develops prosthetic hand that can 'feel'

Sweeping over the south pole of Mars

Moon's crust as fractured as can be

New Horizons Probes the Mystery of Charon's Red Pole

Ceres' Bright Spots Seen in Striking New Detail

Mercury's Movements Give Scientists Peek Inside the Planet

Opportunity Driving West To Reach New Rock Target

Canada Dominates European Rover Challenge 2015

US and and Germany partner in trail blazing biomedical research study

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.