February 12th, 2021
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The fiery plunge to Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover next week is expected to offer spectacular visual and audio treats for Earth-bound audiences. As the mega-rover plows through the Mars atmosphere, watching the entry, descent and sky crane-assisted touchdown is NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The hope is to duplicate the view snagged by MRO […]
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As China’s Tianwen-1 probe orbits Mars, space officials in that country face daunting challenges in deploying a lander/rover onto the surface of the Red Planet. “The control process is smooth and successful. [The probe] was captured by Mars’ gravity exactly as expected and entered the orbit,” Cui Xiaofeng, chief engineer of the Mars exploration team […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 3028 tasks. Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada reports that the robot is on the final approach to the base of the sulfate-bearing unit identified from orbit as a region of interest within Gale crater long before […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now closing out Sol 3027 tasks. Abigail Fraeman, a planetary geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory reports that the rover is continuing along its journey through the rubbly unit that marks the transition from the clay-bearing rocks of “Glen Torridon” to the salty sulfate-bearing strata ahead. A recent plan scripted […]
Hungry for that first stint of free-floating magic called microgravity? You can enhance your aptitude for motion and develop a deeper understanding of how best to handle yourself by practicing here on Earth. Adam Dipert of the Department of Physics at Arizona State University explains that microgravity environments present unique movement and perceptual challenges. Furthermore, […]
It is called the Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design program, or NOM4D in DARPA speak – and DARPA stands for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. DARPA sees the NOM4D effort as a way to pioneer technologies for adaptive, off-Earth manufacturing to produce large space items and structures on the Moon. […]
Exploration of caves on planet Mars could potentially help shed light back on the history of past climate conditions on the Red Planet, as well as offer evidence for past microbial life. Martian caves are protected from radiation and environmental extremes making them excellent preservers of potential biosignatures. New research has looked into the […]
GOLDEN, Colorado – Work is underway on a Lunar In-situ Landing/Launch Environment (LILL-E) Pad. Analysis of Apollo mission video footage has shown that rockets will erode lunar regolith beneath landing vehicles by ejecting material at high speeds away from the rocket plume. In the Moon’s vacuum environment, this material will speed away on a ballistic […]
A new report suggests that because the US military edge over prospective opponents is eroding, the United States now needs every advantage it can get. Inflicting surprise on our adversaries is one tool for regaining strategic advantage. Mark Cancian, Senior Advisor to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) International Security Program, explains how […]
The United Arab Emirates Hope Mars spacecraft is nearing its orbit insertion around the Red Planet on February 9. It is the first arrival of a trio of Mars bound spacecraft; the other two are from China and the NASA Perseverance rover mission. The mission of the UAE’s Hope orbiter is to build the first […]
