Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

July 31, 2016

NASA's Next Planet Hunter Will Look Closer to Home
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 29, 2016
As the search for life on distant planets heats up, NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is bringing this hunt closer to home. Launching in 2017-2018, TESS will identify planets orbiting the brightest stars just outside our solar system using what's known as the transit method. When a planet passes in front of, or transits, its parent star, it blocks some of the star's light. TESS searches for these telltale dips in brightness, which can reveal the planet's presence and provide addi ... read more

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Avoiding stumbles, from spacewalks to sidewalks Video of astronauts tripping over moon rocks can make for entertaining Internet viewing, but falls in space can jeopardize astronauts' missions and even their lives. Getting to one's feet in a bulky ... more		SwRI-led study shows puzzling paucity of large craters on dwarf planet Ceres A team of scientists led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) made a puzzling observation while studying the size and distribution of craters on the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres is the largest ... more		Engine burn gives Mars mission a kick Following a lengthy firing of its powerful engine this morning, ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter is on track to arrive at the Red Planet in October. ExoMars made its first critical manoeuvre since it ... more
				Heart hazard for Apollo astronauts: study NASA's Apollo astronauts, the only humans to have travelled beyond Earth's protective magnetosphere, die disproportionately of heart and blood vessel diseases, researchers said Thursday, blaming radiation. ... more		New remote-controlled microrobots for medical operations For the past few years, scientists around the world have been studying ways to use miniature robots to better treat a variety of diseases. The robots are designed to enter the human body, where they ... more

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

China's Agreement with United Nations to Help Developing Countries Get Access to Space Last month, China has signed an agreement with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) to open the country's future space station for science experiments and astronauts from UN me ... more		Chinese mega-telescope obtains data on 7 million stars A Chinese telescope has collected data on over 7 million stars, exceeding the sum of all existing spectroscopic data on stars and making it the world's largest database in the field. The Guo S ... more		Romania says Russian drone breached its airspace MSBAI wins DoD contract to accelerate OrbitGuard for space situational awarenes AI powered SAR imagery analysis tool launched by SATIM and ICEYE		HawkEye 360 brings space-based radio frequency mapping and analytics to new applications HawkEye 360 and Lockheed Martin are collaborating to apply HawkEye 360's radio frequency (RF) detection and mapping technology in new markets. HawkEye 360 plans to deploy a constellation of small sa ... more
				China to expand int'l astronauts exchange China will expand international exchange in the training of astronauts in a bid to push it closer to becoming a space power, an official said Wednesday. Li Xinke of the Astronaut Center of Chi ... more		The Case of the Missing Ceres Craters Ceres is covered in countless small, young craters, but none are larger than 175 miles (280 kilometers) in diameter. To scientists, this is a huge mystery, given that the dwarf planet must have been ... more

2nd Integrated Air and Missile Defense - Securing the Complex Air Domain: Requirements for Sustainable, Global, and Reliable Solutions to Next Generation Air & Missile Threats - 28-30 September, 2016 | Washington D.C.

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

Chinese tracking ship Yuanwang-7 starts maiden voyage China's new-generation spacecraft tracking ship Yuanwang-7 sailed into the ocean from the Yangtze River on Tuesday, beginning its maiden mission. Yuanwang-7 was accompanied by Yuanwang-6. Yuan ... more		Digging deeper into Mars Water is the key to life on Earth. Scientists continue to unravel the mystery of life on Mars by investigating evidence of water in the planet's soil. Previous observations of soil observed along cr ... more		Ash improves methane yield and fertilizer value in biogas systems Bio-oil from agricultural and forest waste could help seal abandoned oil wells and store carbon Rice researchers turn wasted data center heat into clean power		Why are there so few large craters on dwarf planet Ceres? Life in the asteroid belt isn't conducive to a smooth complexion. Ceres' surface is proof of that. But researchers say the dwarf planet's face isn't nearly as chiseled as they expected. ... more
SSL to provide robotic arms to DARPA for satellite servicing Space Systems Loral (SSL), a leading provider of innovative satellites and spacecraft systems, today announced it has received $20.7 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA ... more		Europe backing 'limitless' energy project in France The European Commission said it was moving in line behind a French plan to build a pilot project that would help convert power from tides into electricity. ... more		Hey robot, shimmy like a centipede Centipedes move quickly. And when one is coming directly at you, you might not care to spend a moment pondering its agility. So perhaps our lack of understanding about just why centipedes move with ... more		Alien Solar System Boasts Tightly Spaced Planets, Unusual Orbits Tightly spaced planets inside an alien solar system known as Kepler-80 boast a rare orbital configuration. The study was led by Mariah MacDonald as an undergraduate with Darin Ragozzine, an assistan ... more

	First atmospheric study of Earth-sized exoplanets reveals rocky worlds On May 2, scientists from MIT, the University of Liege, and elsewhere announced they had discovered a planetary system, a mere 40 light years from Earth, that hosts three potentially habitable, Eart ... more		Human eyes can detect the smallest units of light New research suggest the human eye is remarkably sensitive to light. In a recent study, participants were able to detect the presence of a single photon inside a pitch black room. ... more

Manipulating light to advance quantum entanglement research

Top Japan start-up Sakana AI touts nature-inspired tech

Galileo daughter mission named Celeste to strengthen navigation resilience

NASA Mars Rover Can Choose Laser Targets on Its Own		BepiColombo Mission to Mercury on Track for April 2018 Launch		Directed Energy invites public to participate in Voices of Humanity		NASA's Viking Data Lives on, Inspires 40 Years Later		Scientists attempt to explain Neptune atmosphere's wobble
Opportunity Rover wrapping up work within Marathon Valley		NASA to Begin Testing Next Generation of Spacecraft Heat Exchangers		Asteroid that formed moon's Imbrium Basin may have been protoplanet-sized		Atmospheric chemistry on paper		Russian and US engineers plan manned moon mission

Feature: ET, when will we see you

China commissions space tracking ship as new station readied

Minimalist swimming microrobots

Artificial muscle for soft robotics: Low voltage, high hopes

NASA Selects Five Mars Orbiter Concept Studies

China's Midea snares near-86 percent stake in Germany's Kuka

Taiwan to make lunar lander for NASA moon-mining mission

NASA's Kepler discovers more than 104 new exoplanets

Next Mars Rover Progresses Toward 2020 Launch

NASA's Kepler Confirms 100+ Exoplanets During Its K2 Mission

Surface Composition Determines Planet's Temperature and Habitability

Warm Jupiters Not as Lonely as Expected

Gemini Observatory Instrumental in Latest Exoplanet Harvest

Passive Attitude Control For Small Satellites

SSTL and Goonhilly announce partnership and a call for lunar orbit payloads

Researchers design minimalist microrobots for tiny tasks

Robot would assemble modular telescope - in space

U.S. and U.K. to study robotic troop re-supply

India May Buy Russian Microcircuits for Its Space Program

If life can make it here, it can make it anywhere

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