June 19th, 2018
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Now in Sol 2086, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover continues to probe the Vera Rubin Ridge. Christopher Edwards, a planetary geologist at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona notes that the last time Curiosity drove anywhere was 30 martian days ago. “A lot has happened in these past 30 sols. The rover got its groove back […]
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In remarks today before the third meeting of the National Space Council, U.S. President Donald Trump called for “reclaiming America’s heritage as the world’s greatest space-faring nation,” the President said. “The essence of the American character,” Trump added, “is to explore new horizons and to tame new frontiers. But our destiny, beyond the Earth, […]
Experimental demonstration of a small, light-weight wind turbine under simulated current Martian atmospheric conditions has shown that wind power on Mars is feasible. The experiments were conducted in the Aarhus Wind Tunnel Simulator II at Aarhus University in Denmark in the fall of 2010. Follow-up findings stemming from the work are spotlighted by Christina Holstein-Rathlou […]
A European Space Agency (ESA) Council meeting held in Paris on June 13, 2018 has approved steps that could see Europe become a major player in the proposed “Lunar gateway” – a concept that extends the presence of humans one thousand times farther into space compared with today. The lunar gateway was one of a […]
As the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) addressed the Department of Transportation Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC) on Thursday, June 14 about issues that directly affect the U.S. commercial space industry. ”The United States has the potential to grow a vibrant and competitive […]
Naval architect Kurt Hughes runs the Seattle-based company, Kurt Hughes Sailing Designs. A recent mission Hughes has launched is to build a line of habitable, Apollo-era lunar landers providing creature comforts with low impact on the land and high amazement factor. External modules An inside visitor will find an open space, with external […]
A new report — Safeguarding the Heavens: The United States and the Future of Norms of Behavior in Outer Space – has been issued by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. This policy paper has been scribed by Frank A. Rose, a senior fellow for security and strategy in the Foreign Policy program […]
China and Saudi Arabia have jointly unveiled lunar images acquired through cooperation on the relay satellite mission for the upcoming Chang’e-4 lunar mission. An optical camera, developed by the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology of Saudi Arabia, was installed on a micro satellite, named Longjiang-2. The small spacecraft is a hitchhiking probe that […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 2083. The robot has been busily taking new images to create a “selfie.” Ken Herkenhoff, a planetary geologist at the USGS in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that the investigation of the Duluth drill hole is going well, work that continued on Sol 2082. The robot’s Mars Hand Lens […]
“It is time to reexamine the framework of U.S. space policy in light of the dramatic changes in the space enterprise over the last decade.” A new report suggests that better standardization of regulations across military, civil, and commercial sectors would help close loopholes and reduce confusion. That’s a key message from a just issued […]
