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December 23, 2015

NASA suspends March launch of InSight mission to Mars
Pasadena CA (AFP) Dec 23, 2015
NASA has suspended the March 2016 launch of its InSight mission to Mars because of problems with a key scientific component, the US space agency said Tuesday. The lander was set to delve deep beneath the Red Planet's surface in order to discover how the solar system's rocky planets formed. The next favorable launch window for the mission is more than two years away. "Learning about the interior structure of Mars has been a high priority objective for planetary scientists since the Viking era ... read more

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University researchers test prototype spacesuits at Kennedy The spacesuits astronauts will wear while exploring the surface of Mars will protect the person inside, supply air and water, and be flexible enough that astronauts can dig samples and do the other ... more		Marshall: Advancing the technology for NASA's Journey to Mars From making rocket engines roar to analyzing the first 3-D printed parts created on the space station and developing new technologies, 2015 was a year of discovery and progress as the team at NASA's ... more		Opportunity positioned on steeper slopes for another Martian winter Opportunity is inside "Marathon Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is positioned on steep slopes for improved solar array energy production. The near-term object is to position t ... more
				Magnetic nanoparticle chains offer new technique for controlling soft robots Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a technique for using chains of magnetic nanoparticles to manipulate elastic polymers in three dimensions, which could be used to remo ... more		Martian gullies likely contain 'no water': study Months after scientists announced "the strongest evidence yet" of liquid water on Mars, a study Monday said there was none at least in the valleys carved into numerous Red Planet slopes. ... more

Canada delivers Laser Altimeter for OSIRIS-REx spacecraft integration A sophisticated laser-based mapping instrument has arrived at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver for integration onto NASA's Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security- ... more		Cassini Completes Final Close Enceladus Flyby NASA's Cassini spacecraft has begun transmitting data and images from the mission's final close flyby of Saturn's active moon Enceladus. Cassini passed Enceladus at a distance of 3,106 miles (4,999 ... 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		Israel's Amos-5 Satellite Failure Caused by Power Supply Malfunction Israel's AMOS-5 satellite failed as a result of a problem either with the power supply or an onboard cable network due to the external impact of high-energy cosmic particles, the manufacture of the ... more
				Rare full moon on Christmas Day Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. But this year, a bright full moon will be an added gift for the holidays. December's full moon, the last of the year, is called ... more		LADEE Mission Shows Force of Meteoroid Strikes on Lunar Exosphere NASA scientists have released new findings about the Moon's tenuous exosphere - the thin layer of gas surrounding the Moon that is one 25-trillionth the density of Earth's atmosphere. The data revea ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

New Horizons team releases detailed slice of Pluto Five months after NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto to take the first images and measurements of this icy world and its system of satellites, knowledge about this distant system continu ... more		Nearby star hosts closest alien planet in the 'habitable zone' UNSW Australia astronomers have discovered the closest potentially habitable planet found outside our solar system so far, orbiting a star just 14 light years away. The planet, more than four times ... 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		Asteroid WT24 looks even better second time around Asteroid 1998 WT24 safely flew past Earth on Dec. 11 at a distance of about 2.6 million miles (4.2 million kilometers, 11 lunar distances). During its flyby, NASA scientists used the 230-foot (70-me ... more
ALMA reveals planetary construction sites Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have found the clearest indications yet that planets with masses several times that of Jupiter have recently formed in the d ... more		Is evolution more intelligent than we thought Evolution may be more intelligent than we thought, according to a University of Southampton professor. Professor Richard Watson says new research shows that evolution is able to learn from pre ... more		Insight shipped to California for March launch to Mars NASA's next Mars spacecraft has arrived at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, for final preparations before a launch scheduled in March 2016 and a landing on Mars six months later. Lockhee ... more		Cassini Closes in on Enceladus, One Last Time A thrilling chapter in the exploration of the solar system will soon conclude, as NASA's Saturn-orbiting Cassini spacecraft makes its final close flyby of the ocean-bearing moon Enceladus. Cassini i ... more

	Rocks Rich in Silica Present Puzzles for Mars Rover Team In detective stories, as the plot thickens, an unexpected clue often delivers more questions than answers. In this case, the scene is a mountain on Mars. The clue: the chemical compound silica. Lots ... more		New Mars rover findings revealed at American Geophysical Union Conference New findings by NASA's Mars Curiosity rover are the focus of a press conference this morning at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) meeting in San Francisco, Calif. A group of scientists, including ... 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

Opportunity performs a week of robotic arm at Marathon Valley		Monster planet is 'dancing with the stars'		Agreement with Chinese Space Tech Lab Will Advance Exploration Goals		Time-resolved measurement of the anomalous velocity		Cassini gets bull's eye view of Enceladus and Tethys
Twin civilisations? How life on an exoplanet could spread to its neighbour		Scientists teach machines to learn like humans		SSL selected for NASA project to develop robotic on-orbit satellite assembly		NASA: Asteroid to pass by Earth on Christmas Eve		Exoplanets Water Mystery Solved

Satellite's Last Days Improve Orbital Decay Predictions

Huge organs defy austerity for tiny cave snails in the subterranean realm

Mystery of missing exoplanet water solved

Hubble reveals diversity of exoplanet atmosphere

Study finds evidence for more recent clay formation on Mars

Hayabusa2 Earth Swing-by Result

Digital Globe to use Raytheon's Constellation Scheduling System

Tech titans pledge $1 bn for artificial intelligence research

Curiosity reaches sand dunes

Opportunity on west rim of Endeavour Crater within Marathon Valley

Japan asteroid probe enters 'target orbit' in space quest

Computing with time travel

No extraterrestrial laser pulses detected from KIC 8462852

Pluto's close-up, now in color

NASA's Curiosity rover reaches Martian sand dunes

Zooming in on Pluto's Pattern of Pits

Dwarf planet Ceres: water vapor in Occator crater

German physicists see landmark in nuclear fusion quest

China launches new communication satellite

XPRIZE verifies moon express launch contract, kicking off new space race

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