March 9th, 2019
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Mixed news from the “mole” probe onboard NASA’s Mars InSight – part of Germany’s HP3 (Heat and Physical Properties Package) instrument. It began hammering into the surface of Mars on February 28. However, the device may have come up against a rock or something else that is proving highly resistant beneath the surface. The researchers […]
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An instrument onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) indicates that water molecules scattered on the surface of the Moon are more common at higher latitudes and tend to hop around as the surface heats up. “These results aid in understanding the lunar water cycle and will ultimately help us learn about accessibility of water that […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2341 science work. The rover is finishing up at the “Midland Valley” outcrop, work that also included inspection of a wide range of new images. “In those images the team discovered a block that allows a unique 3D view of the rocks in the area,” reports Susanne […]
A new study looks into the possibility of searching for black hole starships using very high energy gamma ray telescopes. Louis Crane, a mathematician at Kansas State University, has authored – “Searching for Extraterrestrial Civilizations Using gamma Ray Telescopes” – and underscores the speculative thought that the object Oumuamua was in fact a probe sent […]
International experiments carried onboard China’s Chang’e-4 farside mission are gathering good data, report their principal investigators. The Lunar Lander Neutrons & Dosimetry experiment (LND) is part of the Chang’e-4 lander payload. The LND instrument has two major science objectives: 1) dosimetry for human exploration of the Moon and 2) contribute to heliospheric science as an […]
An audit of the SETI Institute has been performed by the NASA Office of Inspector General. Over the past 25 years, NASA has, according to Agency officials, provided only three grants totaling $1.6 million for research associated with the direct search for extraterrestrial intelligent life through the use of electromagnetic signals, the OIG report explains. […]
Taking the plunge to map potential water resources on Mars is the SWIM project. The Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) effort is cross-cutting. Results can help the ongoing search for signs of life on Mars, as well as identify future landing sites for human expeditions. Mapping products SWIM is a project led by Planetary Science […]
Incoming asteroids may be harder to break than scientists previously thought, finds a Johns Hopkins study that used a new understanding of rock fracture and a new computer modeling method to simulate asteroid collisions. The findings, to be published in the March 15 print issue of Icarus, can aid in the creation of asteroid impact […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now engaged in Sol 2339 science tasks. The robot has performed a full menu of science activities, finishing observations at the “Midland Valley” outcrop, reports Rachel Kronyak, a planetary geologist at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Workspace rock targets Curiosity has primarily used its Mastcam and Chemistry […]
China’s Yutu-2 farside lunar rover has traveled about 416 feet (127) meters within the Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin. Yutu-2, or Jade Rabbit-2, is now taking a “noon break” as the temperature on the lunar surface rises extremely high, reports China’s Xinhua’s news service. The robot is slated to resume […]
