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October 22, 2015

Halloween Asteroid a Treat for Radar Astronomers
Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 22, 2015
NASA scientists are tracking the upcoming Halloween flyby of asteroid 2015 TB145 with several optical observatories and the radar capabilities of the agency's Deep Space Network at Goldstone, California. The asteroid will fly past Earth at a safe distance slightly farther than the moon's orbit on Oct. 31 at 10:05 a.m. PDT (1:05 p.m. EDT). Scientists are treating the flyby of the estimated 1,300-foot-wide (400-meter) asteroid as a science target of opportunity, allowing instruments on "spacecraft Earth" ... read more

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Scientists predict cool new phase of superionic ice Scientists have predicted a new phase of superionic ice, a special form of ice that could exist on Uranus and Neptune, in a theoretical study performed by a team of researchers at Princeton Universi ... more		NASA's OSIRIS-REx Spacecraft Begins Environmental Testing NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission is undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space Systems facilities, nea ... more		Landing site recommended for ExoMars 2018 Oxia Planum has been recommended as the primary candidate for the landing site of the ExoMars 2018 mission. ExoMars 2018, comprising a rover and surface platform, is the second of two missions makin ... more
				Cosmic 'Death Star' is destroying a planet The Death Star of the movie Star Wars may be fictional, but planetary destruction is real. Astronomers have reported they have spotted a large, rocky object disintegrating in its death spiral around ... more		NASA's Next Sample Return Robot Challenge Open for Registration Registration is open for the fifth running of NASA Centennial Challenges' Sample Return Robot Challenge, which will take place in June and September 2016. To win a share of the $1.5 million prize pu ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

TeleCommunications Systems receives another $5 million for satellite systems sustainment TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. has received $5 million in incremental funding from the U.S. Army to sustain AN/TSC-198A SNAP and other systems. ... more		Can ballet bugs help us build better robots When it's time to design new robots, sometimes the best inspiration can come from Mother Nature. Take, for example, her creepy, but incredibly athletic spider crickets. Johns Hopkins engineering stu ... 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		Europe-Russia Lunar mission will make them friends again Despite the current freeze in relations between Russia and the West, the European Space Agency (ESA) and its Russian counterpart, Roscosmos, plan to launch a probe to the Moon's southern pole to loo ... more
				You too can learn to farm on Mars Scientists at Washington State University and the University of Idaho are helping students figure out how to farm on Mars, much like astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, attempts in the crit ... more		The Last Tiangong In less than a year, China is expected to launch the Tiangong 2 space laboratory. Despite its name, Tiangong 2 is expected to be a small space station, just like its predecessor, Tiangong 1. With it ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

China aims to go deeper into space As China's exploration of the moon progresses, its space experts have begun considering going deeper into the solar system - to Mars, asteroids and Jupiter - and a manned deep-space mission. A ... more		Life on Earth likely started 4.1 billion years ago UCLA geochemists have found evidence that life likely existed on Earth at least 4.1 billion years ago - 300 million years earlier than previous research suggested. The discovery indicates that life ... 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		Google invests in Chinese artificial intelligence firm Google has taken a stake in a Chinese artificial intelligence startup which is aiming to develop smart wearable technologies, the companies said Tuesday. ... more
Friendly robot Pepper makes European debut in France A humanoid robot name Pepper designed as an upbeat companion made its European debut on Tuesday helping shoppers with wine, and more, in a major shop in France. ... more		The Martian Astrobiologist Mars has been a focus of astrobiology and exobiology research since the early days of NASA. Even before the invention of the telescope, Mars captured the imagination of scientists and philosophers w ... more		Most earth-like worlds have yet to be born, according to theoretical study Earth came early to the party in the evolving universe. According to a new theoretical study, when our solar system was born 4.6 billion years ago only eight percent of the potentially habitable pla ... more		Cassini Begins Series of Flybys with Close-up of Saturn Moon 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

	AIMing a light across millions of kilometres Imagine beaming a light across millions of kilometres of empty space, all the way back to Earth. ESA's proposed Asteroid Impact Mission is intended to do just that: demonstrate laser communications ... more		Closest-ever Views of Saturn's Moon Enceladus NASA's Cassini spacecraft has begun returning its best-ever views of the northern extremes of Saturn's icy, ocean-bearing moon Enceladus. The spacecraft obtained the images during its Oct. 14 flyby, ... 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

UIC researchers study gut feelings of identical twin astronauts		Opportunity parked for solar panels to charge up for winter		Mound near lunar south pole formed by unique volcanic process		New Horizons team publishes first research paper presenting numerous Pluto system findings		New Horizons reveals Pluto's striking surface variations and unique moon rotations
Wyle Wins NASA's Human Health and Performance Contract		The Journey to Mars: Bridging the Technology Gap		What smacks into Ceres stays on Ceres		To save on weight, a detour to the moon is the best route to Mars		Opportunity working at 'Marathon Valley' before winter relocation

Climate models used to explain formation of Mars valley networks

Pebbles on Mars likely traveled tens of miles down a riverbed

Cassini Begins Series of Flybys of Enceladus

Airbus DS ready to start testing exoplanet tracker CHEOPS

Robots are learning to fall with grace

Astronaut brains as beacons for researchers

More-flexible machine learning

Lakes on Mars - SETI Editorial

Planetary Data System Releases Final Raw MESSENGER Dataset

Hubble Telescope Spots Mysterious Space Objects

Mercury featuring prominently in October skies

Psychic robot will know what you really meant to do

ASU Mars images star in 'The Martian'

Bio-inspired robotic finger looks, feels and works like the real thing

NASA Challenge Seeks Ways to Use Mars' Natural Resources for Astronauts

Wet paleoclimate of Mars revealed by ancient lakes at Gale Crater

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

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