Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

October 13, 2016

How Mars' moon Phobos came to look like the Death Star
Livermore, Calif. (UPI) Oct 12, 2016
Mars' largest moon, Phobos, is well known for its resemblance to the Death Star, the mobile space station and planet-destroying weapon from Star Wars. Now, scientists know how Phobos' unique appearance came to be. A massive crater, spanning nearly half the moon, lends Phobos its Death Star-like appearance. Until now, astronomers couldn't figure out how an impact could leave such a sizable mark without destroying the satellite. New simulations designed by physicists at Lawrence Livermore ... read more

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A facelift for the Moon every 81,000 years The Moon is bombarded by so much space rock that its surface gets a complete facelift every 81,000 years, according to a study released Wednesday based on NASA data. ... more		TES team evaluates new data collection method after age-related issue Mission managers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California, are evaluating an alternate way to collect and process science data from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) inst ... more		China to launch world's first X-ray pulsar navigation satellite The China Academy of Space Technology has announced plans to launch the world's first X-ray pulsar navigation satellite (XPNAV-1) in November, Xinhua reported. The move brings autonomous spacecraft ... more
				Stars with Three Planet-Forming Discs of Gas A star with a ring of planets orbiting around it - that is the picture we know from our own solar system and from many of the thousands of exoplanets observed in recent years. But now researchers fr ... more		China getting ready for Shenzhou 11 launch The rollout of the Long March 2F launch vehicle carrying the Shenzhou 11 spacecraft was a critical step in the lead-up to its launch. It's also an indication that the state of the rocket and the spa ... more

US relies on industry help to make 'giant leap' to Mars US President Barack Obama said Tuesday the nation is relying on private industry to find ways to make the "giant leap" to Mars, with human missions on the horizon by the 2030s. ... more		Discovery: A new form of light Glow-in-the-dark stickers, weird deep-sea fish, LED lightbulbs - all have forms of luminescence. In other words, instead of just reflecting light, they make their own. Now a team of scientists from ... more		AI powered SAR imagery analysis tool launched by SATIM and ICEYE Ghosts of the Deep: China's AJX-002 XLUUV and the Geopolitics of Undersea Power Global Invacom unveils XRJ transceiver for government and defense satcom		NASA's Opportunity Rover to Explore Mars Gully NASA's Opportunity Mars rover will drive down a gully carved long ago by a fluid that might have been water, according to the latest plans for the 12-year-old mission. No Mars rover has done that be ... more
				Visitors to Mars could develop dementia from cosmic ray exposure When scientists at the University of California, Irvine exposed rodents to doses of high-energy charged particles, the test subjects developed cognitive impairments and dementia - bad news for Mars-bound astronauts. ... more		TESS will provide exoplanet targets for years to come NASA's search for planets outside of our solar system has mostly involved very distant, faint stars. NASA's upcoming Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), by contrast, will look at the brigh ... more

6th Annual Modular Construction Summit for Oil and Gas Agenda - December 7-9 - Houston

Nuclear Plant Digitalization Conference - Nov 15-16 - Charlotte NC USA

Closing windows on Shenzhou 11 China's Shenzhou 11 spacecraft will carry two astronauts to the Tiangong 2 space laboratory this month. Exactly when this will happen is yet to be confirmed by the Chinese themselves. At the t ... more		Schiaparelli readied for Mars landing This week, the commands that will govern the Schiaparelli lander's descent and touchdown on Mars were uploaded to ESA's ExoMars spacecraft, enroute to the Red Planet. The Trace Gas Orbiter has been ... more		AI tool accelerates SAR image analysis with automated object detection Fossil energy 'significant' driver of climate-fuelled heatwaves: study Ethiopia's mega-dam ranks 15th globally		Opportunity at First Science Spot of its 10th Extended Mission Opportunity is located at the terrain feature called 'Spirit Mount' on the rim of Endeavour Crater, the first science waypoint of the 10th extended mission. The rover has been positioned near ... more
Versatile Chemistry for the Red Planet When you need tools or parts for something you're working on around the house, you head to the nearest hardware store. Space travelers don't have that luxury and may have to make their own tools and ... more		Science at cusp of 'transformational' grasp of life via cell modeling A paper recently published in the Journal of Molecular Biology shows how advances in molecular biology and computer science around the world soon may lead to a three-dimensional computer model of a ... more		Origin of minor planets' rings revealed A team of researchers has clarified the origin of the rings recently discovered around two minor planets known as centaurs, and their results suggest the existence of rings around other centaurs. Th ... more		Tech giants race for edge in artificial intelligence Major technology firms are racing to infuse smartphones and other internet-linked devices with software smarts that help them think like people. ... more

	Omnidirectional mobile robot has just 2 moving parts More than a decade ago, Ralph Hollis invented the ballbot, an elegantly simple robot whose tall, thin body glides atop a sphere slightly smaller than a bowling ball. The latest version, called SIMbo ... more		China may be only country with space station in 2024 China may be the only country to have space station in service in 2024, said Lei Fanpei, chairman of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC). Lei told Xinhua on Friday that China p ... more

New fabrication method expands material options for quantum devices

Nuclearn secures $10.5 million to expand AI platform for nuclear operations

China penalises popular app Xiaohongshu over content

From nothing to glory in six decades - China's space program		Raytheon developing interface for DARPA's ground vehicle program		New smart textile is the muscle behind next generation devices		Filming light and electrons coupled together as they travel under cover		Synchronizing optical clocks to one quadrillionth of a second
Robot customs officers debut in South China ports		New NIST test bed makes the 'digital thread' accessible		How to control polarization of light		The death of a planet nursery?		Bern-made laser altimeter taking off to Mercury

Sensor material could enable more sensitive readings of biological signals

NASA flight program tests Mars Lander vision system

Study predicts next global dust storm on Mars

Your next nurse could be a robot

First demonstration of brain-inspired device to power artificial systems

Scientists unveil first tetherless hopping robot

Yorkshire salt mine could help shed light on Martian life

Mini "Pepper" robots start new jobs in Taiwan

Motion-directed robots on a micro scale

NASA's Curiosity Rover Begins Next Mars Chapter

Cassini data reveal subsurface ocean on Saturn's moon Dione

Beijing exhibition means plenty of "space" for everyone

Space for Shenzhou 11

QinetiQ, Milrem debut Titan unmanned ground vehicle

Samsung's bio-drug unit to raise $2 bn in upcoming IPO

Pioneering Space Requires Living Off the Land in the Solar System

Unusual Martian region leaves clues to planet's past

DarkLight enables visible light communication in the dark

Robots galore as Asia's biggest tech fair kicks off

New oscillating material may tap unused electromagnetic spectrum

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