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October 15, 2015

To save on weight, a detour to the moon is the best route to Mars
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 15, 2015
Launching humans to Mars may not require a full tank of gas: A new MIT study suggests that a Martian mission may lighten its launch load considerably by refueling on the moon. Previous studies have suggested that lunar soil and water ice in certain craters of the moon may be mined and converted to fuel. Assuming that such technologies are established at the time of a mission to Mars, the MIT group has found that taking a detour to the moon to refuel would reduce the mass of a mission upon launch b ... read more

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Opportunity working at 'Marathon Valley' before winter relocation Opportunity is within 'Marathon Valley' on the west rim of Endeavour Crater conducting a valley floor survey for clay minerals before moving to the winter location on the south side of the valley. ... more		Pebbles on Mars likely traveled tens of miles down a riverbed The extensive valley networks on the surface of Mars were probably created by running water billions of years ago, but the source of that water is unknown. Now, a team of Penn State and NASA researc ... more		Wyle Wins NASA's Human Health and Performance Contract NASA has selected Wyle as the successful bidder on the $1.4 billion Human Health and Performance Contract (HHPC). Under the terms of the contract, Wyle will support a broad range of human spacefligh ... more
				What smacks into Ceres stays on Ceres A new set of high-velocity impact experiments suggests that the dwarf planet Ceres may be something of a cosmic dartboard: Projectiles that slam into it tend to stick. The experiments, perform ... more		Robots are learning to fall with grace Robots aren't yet perfect. As they learn new skills, they're likely to be even less perfect. For this reason and others, it's important for robots to learn to fall and fail gracefully. ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

Climate models used to explain formation of Mars valley networks The extensive valley networks on the surface of Mars were probably created by running water billions of years ago, but the source of that water is unknown. Now, a team of Penn State and NASA researc ... more		Cassini Begins Series of Flybys of Enceladus NASA's Cassini spacecraft will wrap up its time in the region of Saturn's large, icy moons with a series of three close encounters with Enceladus starting Wednesday, Oct. 14. Images are expected to ... more		U.S. defense in free fall U.S. and Saudis conduct Middle East's largest counter-drone exercise Saudi Arabia and Pakistan sign mutual defense pact		Airbus DS ready to start testing exoplanet tracker CHEOPS Airbus Defence and Space has finished building the structural model for ESA's CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite), Europe's first mission to search for exoplanetary transits by performing ul ... more
				More-flexible machine learning Machine learning, which is the basis for most commercial artificial-intelligence systems, is intrinsically probabilistic. An object-recognition algorithm asked to classify a particular image, for in ... more		Astronaut brains as beacons for researchers How astronauts adapt to the stresses of living in space is helping researchers to pinpoint the causes of common disorders on Earth. From the brain's point of view, living in space is very stressful. ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

Lakes on Mars - SETI Editorial I thought I was going to share my thoughts with you on the new study that was just published by Science. I was busy typing. I hope you will enjoy this commentary, and better, that it will bring you ... more		Planetary Data System Releases Final Raw MESSENGER Dataset Data collected during MESSENGER's 43rd through 49th months in orbit around Mercury were released to the public by NASA's Planetary Data System (PDS), the network of nodes that archives and distribut ... more		Fossil fuels harm health from 'cradle to grave': report Trash, mulch and security: All jobs for troops in Washington Rising oceans to threaten 1.5 million Australians by 2050: report		Hubble Telescope Spots Mysterious Space Objects Scientists from the Paris Observatory have discovered mysterious undulating objects on space photos made with the Hubble space telescope and ESO's Very Large Telescope, scientific magazine Nature wr ... more
Mercury featuring prominently in October skies Mercury is set to join the planetary party being held in the predawn sky. For the last couple weeks, Mars, Jupiter and Venus have been congregating in the Northern Hemisphere's morning sky. ... more		Psychic robot will know what you really meant to do What if software could steer a car back on track if the driver swerves on ice? Or guide a prosthesis to help a shaky stroke patient smoothly lift a cup? Bioengineers at the University of Illinois at ... more		ASU Mars images star in 'The Martian' Images of Mars taken by a visual and infrared camera designed at Arizona State University take a star turn in the new hit movie "The Martian." Last November, the film production company for "The Mar ... more		Bio-inspired robotic finger looks, feels and works like the real thing Most robotic parts used today are rigid, have a limited range of motion and don't really look lifelike. Inspired by both nature and biology, a scientist from Florida Atlantic University has designed ... more

	NASA Challenge Seeks Ways to Use Mars' Natural Resources for Astronauts Living off the land is different when the land is 140 million miles away, so NASA is looking for innovative ideas to use in situ (in place) Martian resources to help establish a human presence on th ... more		Wet paleoclimate of Mars revealed by ancient lakes at Gale Crater We have heard the Mars exploration mantra for more than a decade: follow the water. In a new paper published October 9, 2015, in the journal Science, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) team presents ... more

EU to fast-track review of 2035 combustion-engine ban

Norway sovereign wealth fund drops French miner over environmental fears

EU split on 2040 climate goal ahead of UN summit

ASU business professor helps astronauts stay on task		Mars colonisation still far off: Amitabh Ghosh		NASA outlines obstacles to putting a human on Mars		Exoplanet Anniversary: From Zero to Thousands in 20 Years		Pluto's Small Moons Nix and Hydra
New Horizons Finds Blue Skies and Water Ice on Pluto		NASA unveils missing pieces in journey to Mars		Latest Mars film bespeaks potential of China-U.S. space cooperation		Blue skies, frozen water detected on Pluto		Where to look for life

Fusion reactors 'economically viable' say experts

Mysterious ripples found racing through planet-forming disc

Curiosity Rover Team Confirms Ancient Lakes on Mars

Perfectly accurate clocks turn out to be impossible

Lunar Pox

Geology Award Going to Mars Landing Site Expert at JPL

MRO imagery reveals Red Planet's stressed substrate

Nobel laureate hopes work could pave way to fusion power

AIDA Double Mission to Divert Didymos Asteroid's Didymoon

NASA Lays the Groundwork for Homesteading in Space

Curiosity Low-Angle Self-Portrait at 'Buckskin' Drill Site

3D-Printed Igloo Wins House on Mars Design Contest

Terraforming the Red Planet: Nuclear Blasts Could Warm Mars for Humans?

The Journey to Mars Begins with People on Earth

Where to Search for Life? 'Habitability Index' Devised as a Guide

U.S. Navy orders new robots, servicing

Exhibition on "father of Chinese rocketry" opens in U.S.

Australian broadband satellite begins post-launch maneuvers

ESA entrusts Indra with data storage for the Sentinel 2B satellite

Asteroids found to be the moon's main 'water supply'

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