June 21st, 2018
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2088 science duties. Reports Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan in Dearborn: “Over the past week or so, Curiosity has experienced increasingly dusty conditions in Gale crater. Unlike her older cousin Opportunity on the other side of the planet, Curiosity is not solar […]
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In the wake of yesterday’s release of a study on the threat of Earth getting smacked by a destructive space rock, you can make a fashion statement. The European Space Agency’s ESAshop is offering planetary defender accessories, “wear and care” items that showcase your protect the Earth status. All items are printed on demand and […]
That new space traffic management policy just signed by U.S. President Donald Trump may not be enough to prevent space objects from crashing into each other. That’s the ruling of Purdue aerospace professor Carolin Frueh. Research hasn’t caught up yet with how to reliably characterize and continuously track everything ranging from satellites and rocket […]
NanoRacks successfully deployed the RemoveDEBRIS satellite today from the International Space Station. Deployment made use of the company’s commercially developed Kaber Microsatellite Deployer. RemoveDEBRIS is the largest satellite to ever be deployed from the ISS – designed, built and manufactured by a consortium of leading space companies and research institutions, led by the Surrey Space […]
Now in Sol 2086, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover continues to probe the Vera Rubin Ridge. Christopher Edwards, a planetary geologist at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona notes that the last time Curiosity drove anywhere was 30 martian days ago. “A lot has happened in these past 30 sols. The rover got its groove back […]
In remarks today before the third meeting of the National Space Council, U.S. President Donald Trump called for “reclaiming America’s heritage as the world’s greatest space-faring nation,” the President said. “The essence of the American character,” Trump added, “is to explore new horizons and to tame new frontiers. But our destiny, beyond the Earth, […]
Experimental demonstration of a small, light-weight wind turbine under simulated current Martian atmospheric conditions has shown that wind power on Mars is feasible. The experiments were conducted in the Aarhus Wind Tunnel Simulator II at Aarhus University in Denmark in the fall of 2010. Follow-up findings stemming from the work are spotlighted by Christina Holstein-Rathlou […]
A European Space Agency (ESA) Council meeting held in Paris on June 13, 2018 has approved steps that could see Europe become a major player in the proposed “Lunar gateway” – a concept that extends the presence of humans one thousand times farther into space compared with today. The lunar gateway was one of a […]
Naval architect Kurt Hughes runs the Seattle-based company, Kurt Hughes Sailing Designs. A recent mission Hughes has launched is to build a line of habitable, Apollo-era lunar landers providing creature comforts with low impact on the land and high amazement factor. External modules An inside visitor will find an open space, with external […]
A new report — Safeguarding the Heavens: The United States and the Future of Norms of Behavior in Outer Space – has been issued by the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. This policy paper has been scribed by Frank A. Rose, a senior fellow for security and strategy in the Foreign Policy program […]
