February 3rd, 2019
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2309 duties. A new set of images from the robot show operations, working the current workspace in front of the Mars machinery that is very rubbly, with no bedrock that is reachable by the rover arm. Reports Vivian Sun, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, […]
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NASA’s InSight Mars lander has made another deployment milestone in readying the probe for performing an agenda of scientific duties. Following the InSight team finishing fine-tuning the cable position last Sunday — the tether link to the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) now in position on the surface of Mars – that action was […]
A new study estimates that there are 440 to 1.3 billion U.S. tons of water that could be extracted from the minerals in near-Earth asteroids. That’s enough to fill between 160,000 and 480,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. A new study in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, a publication of the American Geophysical Union, suggests there […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now carrying out Sol 2308 tasks. The rover has completed a new drive, reports Vivian Sun, a planetary geologist at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California, and is now parked on top of “Knockfarril Hill” – one of the ridges in the clay-bearing unit. Weekend exploration “One of the mysteries of […]
A meteor has rocked the skies of western Cuba on Friday, exploding mid-air, shattering windows and raining charred meteorite rocks on people’s homes. Before its demise, the space rock was seen flying above Florida. The suspected meteor rained debris in and around the tourist town of Viñales, some 112 miles (180 kilometers) west of […]
Starting in March, Russia’s SIRIUS (Scientific International Research in Unique Terrestrial Station) experiment will simulate a flight to the Moon. The SIRIUS-19 experiment makes use of a six person team and is being staged by the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP). The main objective of the mission: the choice of areas for the future […]
This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11. But there’s one small step, one giant leap being taken to celebrate that milestone – and in a distinct, creative way. “To Touch the Moon” is a production honoring that triumph – but with a difference. It will blend drama and science to foster […]
The Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) and the MIT Media Lab Space Exploration Initiative is staging a February 6-7 workshop: Spaces in Space: Optimizing Behavioral Health and Cognitive Performance in Confined Environments. This workshop highlights the many opportunities to re-think the design of personal environments for their potential to keep us well and […]
NASA’s Curiosity is presently performing Sol 2307 tasks. Ashley Stroupe, a mission operations engineer at NASA/JPL in Pasadena, California, reports that Curiosity is venturing further into the clay unit territory. Several targets are being observed with Mastcam color and ChemCam to try to characterize the chemistry and texture of this new terrain. Also on tap […]
Outpost in Orbit: A Pictorial & Verbal History of the Space Station by David Shayler and Robert Godwin (Executive Editor Gary Kitmacher), Apogee Books, 2018; 8½ x 11, 320 pages full glossy color, $49.95. So often above where I live there’s a marvel of space engineering that flies overhead – a finger-pointing exercise into […]
