June 13th, 2020
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2792 duties. Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “Akin to a road trip where you want to make good time but do not want to miss the notable sights along the way, Curiosity is fitting in scientific sightseeing along her […]
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The return capsule of the trial version of China’s new-generation manned spaceship was opened in Beijing recently, with the interior arrangements now being shown to the public. The craft landed safely on May 8 at the Dongfeng landing site and is designed for transportation of both astronauts and cargo. The right side of the […]
Astrobotic has been selected by NASA to deliver the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, to the south pole of the Moon in 2023. The private company, will provide an end-to-end delivery for VIPER on board the company’s Griffin lunar lander through a $199.5 million contract awarded under the NASA Commercial Lunar Payload […]
After LM – NASA Lunar Lander Concepts Beyond Apollo, John Connolly (Editor) 2019; 277-pages, Free NASA PDF. This NASA-published volume traces the history of human lunar lander concepts developed since Apollo’s Lunar Module (LM). Editor John Connolly has spent 33 years at NASA, primarily leading development of lunar surface systems, including landers. Given the details […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now carrying out Sol 2788 duties. Mars researchers are evaluating where best Curiosity should next wheel, reports Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick; Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Recent deliberations involved where to drive in order to maximize the view out of the front window to make […]
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has been making close-up observations of asteroid Bennu. Those images contain the first evidence of thermal fracturing of rocks on an airless body. Thermal fracturing or thermal stress weathering occurs as rocks heat and cool each day, and mechanical stresses build up that can cause cracks to develop and grow. Over […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2783 tasks. “Curiosity is continuing her trek towards the sulfate-bearing unit while studying the local bedrock and environment along the way,” reports Vivian Sun, Planetary Geologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The previous drive placed Curiosity in front of several bedrock exposures which will be analyzed […]
Equipment attached to China’s 500-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope, or FAST, is being upgraded to search for extraterrestrial civilizations. In a China Daily story, Tong-Jie Zhang of Beijing Normal University’s astronomy department explains: “At present, the back-end equipment is being upgraded, and it is expected that new observations can be made after September, when the […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2784 tasks. The rover has been investigating an interesting pebble/nodular patch reports Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan. After a drive of longer than 164 feet (50 meters), Curiosity parked in front of an interesting patch of bedrock and sand well within […]
What steps are necessary to establish a cislunar sustainability paradigm? A new publication underscores the fact that, as more nations become spacefarers and cislunar traffic increases, established and emerging players should employ lessons learned from operations in low Earth orbit and geosynchronous Earth orbit “to be better caretakers of the expanded orbital neighborhood.” The report […]
