Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

May 24, 2016

Cassini goes up and over for final mission tour of Saturn
Pasadena CA (JPL) May 24, 2016
Cassini orbited in Saturn's ring plane - around the planet's equator - for most of 2015. This enabled a season of flybys of the planet's icy moons, but did not allow for angled views of the rings and the planet's poles, like this one. But in early 2016, the spacecraft began to increase its orbital inclination, climbing higher over the poles in preparation for the mission's final spectacular orbits in 2017. This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 16 degrees above the ri ... read more

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Are mystery Mars plumes caused by space weather? Mysterious high-rise clouds seen appearing suddenly in the martian atmosphere on a handful of occasions may be linked to space weather, say Mars Express scientists. Amateur astronomers using telesco ... more		NASA Begins Launch Preparations for the First U.S. Asteroid Sampling Mission NASA's first spacecraft designed to return a piece of an asteroid to Earth arrived Friday, May 20, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and has begun final preparations in advance of its ... more		SwRI scientists discover fresh lunar craters A Southwest Research Institute-led team of scientists discovered two geologically young craters - one 16 million, the other between 75 and 420 million, years old - in the Moon's darkest regions. ... more
				China's new launch center prepares for maiden mission China's fourth space launch center, the Wenchang satellite launch center in southern Hainan Province, is preparing for its maiden launch mission. Components of a Long March-7 carrier rocket ar ... more		World May Now 'Face a New Kind of a Space Race' NASA's New Horizon team has officially submitted an extended-mission proposal for its spacecraft, after it had finished its primary mission on Pluto. In an interview with Radio Sputnik, David Mimoun ... more

Transition from Operations to Decommissioning by Preparing a Safe, Cost-Effective Shut Down and Waste Management Strategy

Animal training techniques teach robots new tricks Researchers at Washington State University are using ideas from animal training to help non-expert users teach robots how to do desired tasks. The researchers recently presented their work at the in ... more		Opportunity takes panorama; uses wheel to scuff soil Pasadena CA (JPL) May 23, 2016 Opportunity is exploring 'Marathon Valley' on the rim of Endeavour crater, searching specific outcrops for evidence of clay minerals. The rover is currently con ... 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		First Stellar Occultations Shed Additional Light on Pluto's Atmosphere Scientists on NASA's New Horizons team say the spacecraft succeeded in observing the first occultations of Pluto's atmosphere by ultraviolet stars, an important goal of the mission's Pluto encounter ... more
				Kepler-223 System Offers Clues to Planetary Migration The four planets of the Kepler-223 star system appeared to have little in common with the planets of our own solar system today. But a new study using data from NASA's Kepler space telescope suggest ... more		Precise measurements on earth ensure NASA's spacecraft work in space Huntsville AL (SPX) May 23, 2016 Measurement is the first step that leads to success. If you can't measure something accurately, you can't understand and improve it. That is especially true for gia ... more

Space Tech Expo - Design - Build - Test - Pasadena CA - May 24-26, 2016

The World's Largest Commercial Drone Conference and Expo - Sept 7-9 - Las Vegas

Directed Energy And Next Generation Munitions - 20-22 June - Washington DC

Using static electricity, RoboBees can land and stick to surfaces Call them the RoboBats. In a recent article in Science, Harvard roboticists demonstrate that their flying microrobots, nicknamed the RoboBees, can now perch during flight to save energy - like bats, ... more		New technique controls autonomous vehicles on a dirt track A Georgia Institute of Technology research team has devised a novel way to help keep a driverless vehicle under control as it maneuvers at the edge of its handling limits. The approach could help ma ... 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		Robots get creative to cut through clutter Clutter is a special challenge for robots, but new Carnegie Mellon University software is helping robots cope, whether they're beating a path across the Moon or grabbing a milk jug from the back of ... more
Artificial intelligence replaces physicists Physicists are putting themselves out of a job, using artificial intelligence to run a complex experiment. The experiment, developed by physicists from The Australian National University (ANU) and U ... more		Robot's in-hand eye maps surroundings, determines hand's location Before a robot arm can reach into a tight space or pick up a delicate object, the robot needs to know precisely where its hand is. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have ... more		The Book on the Birthplace of Planetary Science Tucson AZ (SPX) May 23, 2016 With the countdown underway to September's launch of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission, University of Arizona alumna Melissa Sevigny, author of the new book ... more		Mars - Closest, Biggest and Brightest in a Decade Look low in the southeast at nightfall, and an unusually bright, fire-yellow "star" will be staring back at you. It's the planet Mars, closer to Earth now than it has been since November 2005. Mars ... more

	New Horizons' First Science on a Post-Pluto Object Warming up for a possible extended mission as it speeds through deep space, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft has now twice observed 1994 JR1, a 90-mile (145-kilometer) wide Kuiper Belt object (KBO) or ... more		Imaging the Encounter of a Lifetime Jorge Nunez, a planetary scientist and engineer from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), is the deputy systems engineer of the Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) ins ... 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

Ancient tsunami evidence on Mars reveals life potential		Hubble Takes Mars Portrait Near Close Approach		Debris Alert: A Crack in the Window		Evolution: Building blocks of life		Hints of wandering planets in distant cometary belt
Mars Rover Scientist Hopes to Find More Evidence of Liquid Water on the Red Planet		Macau shows off robot croupiers as hopes of recovery rise		Scientists discover new form of light		Hunting for Hidden Life on Worlds Orbiting Old, Red Stars		Astronomical software date 2,500 year-old lyric poem

We'll Leave the Lights on for You

AAC Microtec to develop miniaturized motion controller for space rovers and robots

Dwarf Planet Haumea's Lunar System Smaller than Anticipated

China's Midea makes takeover offer for German robotics firm

Researchers teach AI system to run complex physics experiment

Andre Brahic, discoverer of Neptune's rings, dies aged 73

The rise and fall of Martian lakes

China, U.S. hold first dialogue on outer space safety

Hybrid hydrostatic transmission enables robots with human-like grace and precision

Second cycle of Martian seasons completing for Curiosity Rover

Asteroid Mining - What the Heck

Opportunity microscopic imaging camera back to normal operations

Exoplanets' Orbits Point to Planetary Migration

Star Has Four Mini-Neptunes Orbiting in Lock Step

How light is detected affects the atom that emits it

Soft wearable robot lightens heavy loads

Ingestible robot operates in simulated stomach

Synchronized planets reveal clues to planet formation

Kepler space telescope finds another 1284 exo planets

Largest unnamed world in the solar system 2007 OR10

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