October 28th, 2020
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2925 tasks. The rover’s short drive – also called a “bump” – on Sol 2924 went well, reports Ken Herkenhoff, a planetary geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. The robot is now on a relatively steep slope right next to the “Maybole” outcrop. […]
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2924 tasks. Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, reports that the rover – after a weekend drive – is looking at new scenery – after sitting in one parking spot for the last three months. The robot’s drive […]
The Washington State Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has unanimously approved the designation of Apollo Lunar Rover Vehicles (LRVs) built by Boeing in Kent, Washington as Washington state historic landmarks. The city of Kent and the Kent Downtown Partnership applied to receive historic landmark designation for the LRVs used in Apollo Mission 15 […]
Today’s gush of water-on-the-Moon stories is heartening. But I would be remiss not to underscore a recent NASA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on NASA’s management of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), from which the new lunar observations are predicated: From the September 14, 2020 OIG report: “Although responsible for several […]
Fresh from a Kickstarter campaign, the Lunark Habitat mission is now underway. Crew members, Sebastian Aristotelis and Karl-Johan, are deep into their three-month journey in the Arctic, Greenland. Their home-away-from-home design for a lunar dwelling combines the ancient Japanese art of paper folding with the method of biomimicry. The result is a lightweight and strong […]
Until recently the Moon was thought to be bone dry and a waterless world. Little by little there seems to be a drip by drip of news that our celestial neighbor sports a wet look. Two research papers published in Nature Astronomy have turned on the tap a bit more to the prospect of molecular […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2923 tasks. Mars scientists are in the homestretch of having Curiosity complete work at the “Mary Anning” and “Groken” drill sites, reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland. A recent plan checks off final important work boxes at the site before the […]
China’s space station plans are pressing ahead. The recent selection of a new group of 18 reserve astronauts — including one female –were chosen from 2,500 candidates. This new cadre consists of seven spacecraft pilots, seven space flight engineers and four payload experts. According to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA), the flight engineers and […]
China’s Chang’e-4 lander and Yutu-2 rover have been switched to dormant mode, readied to experience another long stint of 14 days of brutal cold. Prior to their celestial slumber, the farside explorers worked stably for a 23rd lunar day, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National […]
There is a multi-country Moon rush in progress. While NASA is orchestrating the Artemis program of robotic and human lunar exploration, there’s China, preparing this year to hurl a go-getting return sample mission to the Moon. A new and successful Chinese spacecraft lunar landing joins still-active Chinese lander/rover machinery on the Moon. Toss […]
