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November 16, 2015

Curiosity Mars Rover Heads Toward Active Dunes
Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 17, 2015
On its way to higher layers of the mountain where it is investigating how Mars' environment changed billions of years ago, NASA's Curiosity Mars rover will take advantage of a chance to study some modern Martian activity at mobile sand dunes. In the next few days, the rover will get its first close-up look at these dark dunes, called the "Bagnold Dunes," which skirt the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp. No Mars rover has previously visited a sand dune, as opposed to smaller sand ripples or drifts ... read more

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Secondhand Spacecraft Has Firsthand Asteroid Experience The NEOWISE mission hunts for near-Earth objects (NEOs) using the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft. Funded by NASA's NEO Observations Program, the NEOWISE mission uses images ta ... more		New exoplanet in our neighborhood Scientists have discovered a new exoplanet that, in the language of "Star Wars," would be the polar opposite of frigid Hoth, and even more inhospitable than the deserts of Tatooine. But instead of r ... more		Cassini Finds Monstrous Ice Cloud in Titan's South Polar Region New observations made near the south pole of Titan by NASA's Cassini spacecraft add to the evidence that winter comes in like a lion on this moon of Saturn. Scientists have detected a monstrous new ... more
				Astronomers eager to get a whiff of newfound Venus-like planet The collection of rocky planets orbiting distant stars has just grown by one, and the latest discovery is the most intriguing one to date. The newfound world, although hot as an oven, is cool enough ... more		Upgrade Helps NASA Study Mineral Veins on Mars Scientists now have a better understanding about a site with the most chemically diverse mineral veins NASA's Curiosity rover has examined on Mars, thanks in part to a valuable new resource scientis ... more

Solar systems for home and business installations

Asteroid ripped apart to form star's glowing ring system The sight of an asteroid being ripped apart by a dead star and forming a glowing debris ring has been captured in an image for the first time. Comprised of dust particles and debris, the rings are f ... more		UCLA professor proposes simpler way to define what makes a planet Since the late 1980s, scientists have discovered nearly 5,000 planetary bodies orbiting stars other than the sun. But astronomers are still working on what exactly we should call them. At an America ... 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		Early Earth's haze may give clue to habitability elsewhere in space An atmospheric haze around a faraway planet - like the one which probably shrouded and cooled the young Earth - could show that the world is potentially habitable, or even be a sign of life itself. ... more
				Newfound Earth-size exoplanet may be an important milestone in search for alien life Researchers have discovered an exoplanet just slightly bigger than Earth and located much closer to our Solar System than any other terrestrial, alien world. Called GJ 1132b, it orbits a tiny red, d ... more		Medicines do not seem to degrade faster in space The results of an opportunistic, pilot-scale study led by Virginia Wotring of the Center for Space Medicine and Department of Pharmacology at Baylor College of Medicine in the U.S. suggest that medi ... more

Nuclear Operations and Maintenance Efficiency Summit USA 2015

New Results from GPI Exoplanet Survey The Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey (GPIES) is an ambitious three-year study dedicated to imaging young Jupiters and debris disks around nearby stars using the GPI instrument installed on the ... more		Early Earth's Haze May Give Clue to Habitability Elsewhere An atmospheric haze around a faraway planet - like the one which probably shrouded and cooled the young Earth - could show that the world is potentially habitable, or even be a sign of life itself. ... 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		Space institute funds adjustable power eyeglasses and a smart sleep mask Two small companies developing state-of-the-art medical technologies have been selected to receive grants from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI). LumosTech, Inc. is a Stanford ... more
Discovery of a new confinement state for plasma The National Institutes of Natural Sciences National Institute for Fusion Science applied the "Momentary Heating Propagation Method" to the DIII-D tokamak device operated for the United States Offic ... more		Astronomers spot most distant object in the solar system As of right now, it is the most distant object in the solar system, a sizable space rock 103 times farther away from the sun than the Earth. ... more		Physicists uncover mechanism that stabilizes plasma within tokamaks A team of physicists led by Stephen Jardin of the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has discovered a mechanism that prevents the electrical current flowing throu ... more		Dust devils detected by seismometer could guide Mars mission Buried in the shallow soft mud of a dry California lake bed, a seismometer was able to detect the tiny tilts of the ground as it was pulled up by passing dust devils. The experiment, described onlin ... more

	Galileo satellites set for year-long Einstein experiment Europe's fifth and sixth Galileo satellites - subject to complex salvage manoeuvres following their launch last year into incorrect orbits - will help to perform an ambitious year-long test of Einst ... more		New rocket readies for liftoff in 2016 China is preparing to launch a new-generation quick-response rocket in 2016 to seize more of the international commercial launch market, industry insiders said. The Kuaizhou-11, or Fast Vessel ... more

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BU Satellite Team Gets Big Boost from NASA		Space rains junk on Spain		Daring move for first US-China fusion team		New Super H-mode regime could greatly increase fusion power		Mixing an icy cocktail to safely cool hot plasma
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Humans can empathize with robots

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Gaia's sensors scan a lunar transit

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NASA mission reveals speed of solar wind stripping Martian atmosphere

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Martian desiccation

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China's self-developed Mars probe to be on show

Cassini Plunged Into Icy Plumes of Enceladus

NSBRI help funds non-invasive Intracranial Pressure system

Radar Images Provide New Details on Halloween Asteroid

Distant world's weather is mixed bag of hot dust and molten rain

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