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Third ASPIRE test confirms Mars 2020 parachute a go![]() Wallops Island, VA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 In the early hours of Sept. 7, NASA broke a world record. Less than 2 minutes after the launch of a 58-foot-tall (17.7-meter) Black Brant IX sounding rocket, a payload separated and began its dive back through Earth's atmosphere. When onboard sensors determined the payload had reached the appropriate height and Mach number (38 kilometers altitude, Mach 1.8), the payload deployed a parachute. Within four-tenths of a second, the 180-pound parachute billowed out from being a solid cylinder to being f ... read more |
The surprising coincidence between two overarchieving NASA missionsWashington DC (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 Two vastly different NASA spacecraft are about to run out of fuel: The Kepler spacecraft, which spent nine years in deep space collecting data that detected thousands of planets orbiting stars outsi ... more
India successfully conducts crucial test of Moon landerNew Delhi (Sputnik) Oct 29, 2018 The test demonstrated the capability of the navigation, guidance and control system of the lander to meet the mission requirement of a safe, soft and precise landing on the lunar surface by steering ... more
Bepicolombo magnetometer boom deployedParis (ESA) Oct 29, 2018 The 2.5 m long boom carrying the magnetometer sensors onboard ESA's BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) has been successfully deployed. The sensors are now prepared to measure the magnetic f ... more
How hibernators could help humans treat illness, conserve energy and get to MarsNew Orleans LA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018 Researchers gathered Friday to discuss the potential for hibernation and the related process, torpor, to aid human health in spaceflight at the American Physiological Society's (APS) Comparative Phy ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Oct 26 | Oct 25 | Oct 24 | Oct 23 | Oct 22 |
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Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloudParis (ESA) Oct 26, 2018 Since 13 September, ESA's Mars Express has been observing the evolution of an elongated cloud formation hovering in the vicinity of the 20 km-high Arsia Mons volcano, close to the planet's equator. ... more
Hayabusa2 team prepares for asteroid sample collectionTucson AZ (SPX) Oct 26, 2018 JAXA's (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's) Hayabusa2 mission is on track to return samples from its target asteroid, 162173 Ryugu, a C-type near-Earth asteroid (NEA). The past month has seen the ... more
Nuclear fusion: wrestling with burning questions on the control of 'burning plasmas'Bethlehem PA (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 What would it take to meet the world's energy needs, sustainably, far into the foreseeable future? Perhaps creating energy the way the sun does, through nuclear fusion. Fission and fusion are ... more
ALMA maps temperature of Jupiter's icy moon EuropaCharlottesville VA (SPX) Oct 24, 2018 Jupiter's icy moon Europa has a chaotic surface terrain that is fractured and cracked, suggesting a long-standing history of geologic activity. A new series of four images of Europa taken with ... more
Saturn's Moon Dione Covered by Mysterious StripesTucson AZ (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 Mysterious straight bright stripes have been discovered on Saturn's moon Dione, says research by Planetary Science Institute Associate Research Scientist Alex Patthoff. The origins of these li ... more |
![]() Superflares From Young Red Dwarf Stars Imperil Planets
SwRI team makes breakthroughs studying Pluto orbiter missionSan Antonio TX (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 A Southwest Research Institute team using internal research funds has made several discoveries that expand the range and value of a future Pluto orbiter mission. The breakthroughs define a fuel-savi ... more |
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NASA's InSight will study Mars while standing stillPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 25, 2018 You don't need wheels to explore Mars. After touching down in November, NASA's InSight spacecraft will spread its solar panels, unfold a robotic arm ... and stay put. Unlike the space agency's rover ... more
Rare blue asteroid-comet reveals itself during fly-byTucson AZ (SPX) Oct 24, 2018 Blue asteroids are rare, and blue comets are almost unheard of. An international team led by Teddy Kareta, a graduate student at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, investiga ... more
WorldWide Telescope looks ahead to New Horizons' Ultima Thule glybyWashington DC (SPX) Oct 25, 2018 At the 50th annual meeting of its Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) in Knoxville, Tennessee, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) has premiered a visualization of the voyage of NASA's New Hor ... more
NASA's Juno Mission Detects Jupiter Wave TrainsPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 24, 2018 Massive structures of moving air that appear like waves in Jupiter's atmosphere were first detected by NASA's Voyager missions during their flybys of the gas-giant world in 1979. The JunoCam camera ... more
NASA Mars team actively listening out for OpportunityPasadena CA (JPL) Oct 25, 2018 The dust storm on Mars has ended with atmospheric opacity (tau) over the rover site down to around typical values of 1.0 to 1.1. No signal from Opportunity has been heard since Sol 5111 (June ... more |
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Mars Express keeps an eye on curious cloud Paris (ESA) Oct 26, 2018
Since 13 September, ESA's Mars Express has been observing the evolution of an elongated cloud formation hovering in the vicinity of the 20 km-high Arsia Mons volcano, close to the planet's equator.
In spite of its location, this atmospheric feature is not linked to volcanic activity but is rather a water ice cloud driven by the influence of the volcano's leeward slope on the air flow - som ... more |
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NASA seeks information for gateway cargo delivery services Washington DC (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
NASA will lead the development of the Gateway, a permanent spaceship orbiting the Moon, to serve as a home base for human and robotic missions to the surface of the Moon and ultimately, Mars. The first orbiting lunar laboratory will be a temporary home and office for astronauts for up to three months at a time, with cargo deliveries likely scheduled when crew are not present.
The agency is ... more |
Europa plume sites lack expected heat signatures Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
The study of two potential plume sites on Jupiter's moon Europa has shown a lack of expected hotspot signatures, unlike Enceladus where plumes have a very clear and obvious temperature signature, research by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Julie Rathbun shows.
"We searched through the available Galileo thermal data at the locations proposed as the sites of potential plumes. Re ... more |
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Rocky and habitable - sizing up a galaxy of planets Pasadena CA (JPL) Oct 26, 2018
The planets so far discovered across the Milky Way are a motley, teeming multitude: hot Jupiters, gas giants, small, rocky worlds and mysterious planets larger than Earth and smaller than Neptune. As we prepare to add many thousands more to the thousands found already, the search goes on for evidence of life - and for a world something like our own.
And as our space telescopes and other in ... more |
Viasat, SpaceX Enter Contract for a Future ViaSat-3 Satellite Launch Carlsbad CA (SPX) Oct 29, 2018
Viasat Inc has selected SpaceX to launch one of its ViaSat-3 satellite missions. The Viasat mission is scheduled to launch in the 2020 - 2022 timeframe from the Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This mission will launch aboard a Falcon Heavy.
Viasat chose the SpaceX Falcon Heavy for its ability to fly a near direct-injection mission, inserting a ViaSat- ... more |
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China's space programs open up to world Beijing (XNA) Oct 24, 2018
When German scientists were conducting micro-gravity experiments on China's recoverable satellite in the 1980s, Chinese space engineer Tang Bochang was busy solving technical problems, while carefully keeping Chinese secrets.
Tang joined the China Academy of Space Technology in 1970, the same year China launched its first satellite. He has participated in the development of returnable sate ... more |
Earth's Dust Cloud Satellites Confirmed London, UK (SPX) Oct 26, 2018
A team of Hungarian astronomers and physicists may have confirmed two elusive clouds of dust, in semi-stable points just 400,000 kilometres from Earth.
The clouds, first reported by and named for Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski in 1961, are exceptionally faint, so their existence is controversial. The new work appears in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ... more |
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Lockheed Martin, General Atomics, Boeing compete for laser-armed drone Washington (UPI) Sep 4, 2018
Lockheed Martin, General Atomics and Boeing have received contract modifications for drone-mounted Low Power Laser Demonstrator system missile defense testing.
Lockheed Martin's contract has increased to a total value of $37.7 million, while General Atomics and Boeing's have been increased to $34 million and $29.4 million respectively, the Department of Defense announced on Friday.
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Northrop Grumman to upgrade IBNS systems for Burke-class vessels Washington (UPI) Oct 25, 2018
Northrop Grumman has received a contract to provide common integrated bridge and navigation systems, or IBNS, for the U.S. Navy's New Construction Ship Program and Midlife Modernization Program.
The $18 million firm-fixed-price contract, announced Wednesday by the Department of Defense, calls on Northrop to produce base hardware for IBNS systems for both new DDG-51 vessels and upgrades ... more |
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Saturn's Moon Dione Covered by Mysterious Stripes Tucson AZ (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
Mysterious straight bright stripes have been discovered on Saturn's moon Dione, says research by Planetary Science Institute Associate Research Scientist Alex Patthoff.
The origins of these linear virgae (virgae meaning a stripe or streak of color) are most likely caused by the draping of surface materials like material from Saturn's rings, passing comets, or co-orbital moons Helene and Po ... more |
Caltech engineers create an optical gyroscope smaller than a grain of rice Washington DC (SPX) Oct 26, 2018
Gyroscopes are devices that help vehicles, drones, and wearable and handheld electronic devices know their orientation in three-dimensional space. They are commonplace in just about every bit of technology we rely on every day. Originally, gyroscopes were sets of nested wheels, each spinning on a different axis.
But open up a cell phone today, and you will find a microelectromechanical sen ... more |
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In five -10 years, gravitational waves could accurately measure universe's expansion Chicago IL (SPX) Oct 24, 2018
Twenty years ago, scientists were shocked to realize that our universe is not only expanding, but that it's expanding fasterover time.
Pinning down the exact rate of expansion, called the Hubble constant after famed astronomer and UChicago alumnus Edwin Hubble, has been surprisingly difficult. Since then scientists have used two methods to calculate the value, and they spit out distressing ... more |
A new way to measure nearly nothing Washington DC (SPX) Oct 22, 2018
Many semiconductor fabricators and research labs are under increasing pressure from, of all things, vacuum. These facilities need to remove greater amounts of gas molecules and particles from their setups as new technologies and processes demand lower and lower pressures.
For example, the vacuum chambers in which microchip manufacturers lay down a series of ultrathin layers of chemicals st ... more |
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Small flying robots haul heavy loads Stanford CA (SPX) Oct 25, 2018
A closed door is just one of many obstacles that poses no barrier to a new type of flying, micro, tugging robot called a FlyCroTug. Outfitted with advanced gripping technologies and the ability to move and pull on objects around it, two FlyCroTugs can jointly lasso the door handle and heave the door open.
Developed in the labs of Mark Cutkosky, the Fletcher Jones Chair in the School of Eng ... more |
General Atomics awarded $193M for Gray Eagle logistics Washington (UPI) Oct 24, 2018
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems received a $193 million contract modification from the U.S. Army to perform logistics services on the Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft system, or drone.
Work on the contract, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, will be performed in Poway, Calif., and is expected to be finished in April 2019.
The drone is used for intelligence, reconnai ... more |
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