April 8th, 2020
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Shipment back to Earth by robotic means of bits and pieces from Mars remains an expensive and daunting task. Having our planet on the receiving end of Mars collectibles is deemed a “low risk” affair in terms of ecological and public safety – but that risk is not zero. Rocketing Martian flotsam could well […]
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There is pressing need to protect the Moon’s farside, to keep pristine this unique real estate for scientific activities. Nonetheless, the quickening pace of lunar exploration by multiple nations and the up swell of entrepreneurial space groups eager to seek lunar lucre could well interfere and overtake this viewpoint. An International Academy of Astronautics […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun Sol 2727 operations. “Curiosity is still at the Edinburgh drill site as part of a mini campaign to sample the Greenheugh pediment,” reports Lauren Edgar, a planetary geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. “We’re finishing drill-related analyses and activities, and the three-sol weekend plan […]
U.S. President Donald J. Trump is encouraging international support for the recovery and use of space resources, signing an Executive Order that directs the Secretary of State to lead a U.S. Government effort to develop joint statements, bilateral agreements, and multilateral instruments with like-minded foreign states to “enable safe and sustainable operations for the commercial […]
In a few days, the European Space Agency’s BepiColombo spacecraft is to conduct an Earth flyby before heading towards Venus – and in doing so the probe will scan the Moon using a unique instrument. Earth’s Moon will be observed for the first time in the thermal infrared and examined for its mineralogical composition using […]
Chinese researchers are working on a new system designed to prevent rocket boosters from falling unpredictably in areas with human activity. China Central Television (CCTV) reports that the first accurate landing of a Long March 3B booster was made possible with a parachute control system. The system was tested on March 9 […]
NASA has scripted a 21st Century plan for sustained human presence on the Moon. In a report to the National Space Council, NASA’s Artemis program sets the stage for a sustained lunar surface presence. To do this, the report calls for development of an Artemis Base Camp at the South Pole of the Moon. […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just started Sol 2722 operations. Lucy Thompson, a planetary geologist at University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada explains that the primary focus of a two-sol plan is to prepare the drill bit assembly to dump the remaining “Edinburgh” drilled sample (portion to exhaustion), so that it can be […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has just begun performing Sol 2721 duties. The priority for the recent sol 2720 plan was to drop off and analyze a sample of the Edinburgh drill hole in the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) Instrument Suite. “But we’ve got plenty of remote sensing in the plan too, much of […]
Soviet Space Graphics: Cosmic Visions from the USSR by Alexandra Sankova (in collaboration with the Moscow Design Museum), Phaidon; April 2020; Hardback; 240 pages, $39.95. This book is a well-timed retro-fire into space history – and an absolute wonderful read. The volume offers insight into the Soviet sociopolitical landscape, a behind-the-scenes view of how […]
