December 21st, 2021
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A fundamental programmatic step required to pave the way for a large-scale solar power collection system in space has been announced. The Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) Space Solar Power Incremental Demonstrations and Research (SSPIDR) Project is a team effort with Northrop Grumman. That AFRL/Grumman team has successfully conducted the first end-to-end demonstration of key […]
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3333 duties. “On Mars, like Earth, we are prepping for the holidays,” reports Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. A newly scripted eleven sol plan will take Mars researchers to the end of December. […]
The Soyuz MS-20 crewed spacecraft descent vehicle landed December 20 at the designated point in Kazakhstan. The “tourist’ crew” of Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and Japanese spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano are back on terra firma – all in good health. The space travelers stayed 11 days onboard the International Space Station. Roscosmos […]
A senior official at the China Manned Space Agency reports that the country is making preparations for a human Moon landing. According to China Daily, Dong Nengli, head of the agency’s technology bureau, made the claim at a news conference at the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee in Beijing last Friday. Dong […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3329 duties. “Our Sol 3326 drive was successful, completing our shot through the Maria Gordon notch, with its spectacular structures and deep shadows, and continuing our climb up Mount Sharp,” reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland. To keep […]
The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars by Simon Morden; Published by Elliott & Thompson/London (2021) and Pegasus Books/U.S. (2022); 256 pages; Hard Cover: £14.99. This delightful volume is a must-have for those perplexed by the wonderment of the Red Planet, what research has already revealed and those mysteries still to be exposed. Morden […]
New research points to a water-rich region of Valles Marineris, making it a promising target for future human explorers. As the largest canyon in the Solar System, Valles Marineris is arguably Mars’ most dramatic landscape, and a feature that is often compared to Earth’s Grand Canyon – despite being some ten times longer and […]
Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin has instructed Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (part of Roscosmos) to develop and present a plan to increase the Soyuz MS series crewed spacecraft production in order to ensure space tourism development. “After American crewed spacecraft started flying, Russia was relieved of its obligation to deliver foreign astronauts to the […]
A pair of high-altitude drop tests took place in Oregon on November 21 and December 3 as part of the ongoing parachute testing to ensure the safe delivery of Europe’s ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover via the Russian Kazachok lander to the surface of Mars in 2023. This milestone meant that the largest parachute set to […]
A specially designed sleeping bag may prevent vision problems astronauts endure in space, where fluids float into the head and continually push and reshape the back of the eyeball. The phenomenon has plagued scientists for more than a decade. It remains one of the biggest health dilemmas of human space exploration. But new research by […]
