July 10th, 2023
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Yes, Venus is hot. But the controversial detection a few years ago of phosphine (PH3) in the Venusian atmospheric continues to be an astrobiological hot topic. The source of (PH3) detection on Venus is unknown. “There could be an as yet unknown geochemical or photochemical process. Or, there could possibly be life in the Venus […]
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The European Space Agency (ESA) is inviting researchers for ideas on collecting solar power in space and wirelessly transmitting it to Earth. ESA is proceeding with the SOLARIS initiative to further investigate and mature the feasibility of Space-based Solar Power, a concept that has the potential to deliver clean energy from space to Earth in […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now performing Sol 3881 duties. The rover recently wrapped up a busy weekend on Mars and a four-sol plan over the 4th of July holiday. It was executed as expected, but planning post-holiday was unusual because new images of the terrain in front of the wheeled […]
Wait a minute! Perhaps it is a case of re-inventing the wheel? The European Space Agency (ESA) has been busy testing the Lunar Equipment Support Assembly (LESA). The idea is to develop wheeled carriers to assist Artemis astronauts during moonwalks – a way to transport equipment and tools. Recently tested is the LESA-NEST […]
Around and around it goes. The veteran NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to circuit the Moon since June 2009. Over the decades, this spacecraft has spit out images and data proven to be transformational in our ability to eye and better value Earth’s celestial neighbor. While the aging craft remains on assignment – now […]
Wheeling and dealing with Mars – not an easy assignment. Remington Free, Operations Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, notes in a recent report use of the robot’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) to inspect its wheels. “This is an engineering activity we perform at a regular cadence in order to assess the state […]
The Japanese Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is slated for launch in the mid-2020s. A project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the MMX spacecraft consists of three modules. The exploration module has landing legs, samplers and some instruments as well as the MMX rover onboard named IDEFIX. A trilateral cooperation within the […]
What is going on with Compton-Belkovich? This feature on the Moon, a suspected volcano, is indeed glowing at microwave wavelengths. A new instrument type has discovered evidence of a volcanic process on the Moon that had only been seen on Earth, reports Matthew Siegler, Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) and lead author […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale crater is now performing Sol 3877 duties. “We made it!” That’s the report from Catherine O’Connell-Cooper, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. “We are peeking up over the edge of the ridge that we have been trying to climb for a few […]
China intends to alter the country’s space station complex, adopting other new configurations in coming months. The China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) has noted that currently the configuration of the orbiting Tiangong space station consists of the Tianhe core module, the lab modules Wentian and Mengtian, the Shenzhou-16 spacecraft, and cargo spacecraft of Tianzhou-5 and […]
