March 10th, 2020
Author: 
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2699 duties. Sean Czarnecki, a planetary geologist at Arizona State University in Tempe reports that after Curiosity’s strenuous climb onto the pediment-capping unit last week, the robot is busy carrying out science tasks. Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) will take rasters of “Machir Bay,” “New Aberdour,” […]
Posted in 
A glimpse into China’s readiness to handle samples from the Moon reveals steps to be taken for storage, processing and preparation of the specimens. China’s Chang’e-5 robotic lunar sample return mission is slated for liftoff later this year. That venture represents the third phase of China’s lunar exploration project -returning samples from the Moon. […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2698 tasks. Recently released imagery shows the robot’s surroundings, perspectives from a high perch location:
A pair of telescopes that constantly search the nighttime sky for signals from intelligent life in our galaxy are the first of hundreds of telescopes planned to be installed as part of a project called “PANOSETI” – for Pulsed All-sky Near-infrared Optical SETI. What’s underway is a panoramic all-sky, all-time near infrared and optical technosignature […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now carrying out Sol 2696 duties. Reports Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland: “Kudos to our rover drivers for making it up the steep, sandy slope below the “Greenheugh pediment” and delivering us to a stretch of geology we had our eyes on even before […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover recently discovered thiophenes on the Red Planet. These organic compounds would be consistent with the presence of early life on Mars, reports Washington State University’s (WSU) Schulze‑Makuch and Jacob Heinz with the Technische Universität in Berlin. “We identified several biological pathways for thiophenes that seem more likely than chemical ones, but […]
Axiom Space has signed a contract with SpaceX for a Crew Dragon flight that will transport a commander professionally trained by Axiom alongside three private astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The mission is set to launch as soon as the second half of 2021, with the crew to live aboard the ISS […]
A constellation of nano-satellites is slated to stream real-time and timely videos from space. The service, which will include a freely accessible app for individuals, will be used for monitoring environmental events and natural disasters such as wild fires, floods and storms, as well as monitoring climate change and movement of large groups of […]
There is need for an experiential and multisensory approach in the design of future eating experiences in space. Yes, space food has come a long way since astronaut John Young smuggled a corned-beef sandwich on board the Gemini 3 space mission in 1965. With a series of commercial space flights set to launch in the […]
And you thought dealing with Pluto as a planet was tough. There is an enduring debate over capitalizing the M for Earth’s Moon. Some organizations, like NASA, have it capitalized in their style guide. However, the Associated Press (AP), considered a gold standard for guidelines in print journalism, downgrades our celestial next door neighbor […]
