May 24th, 2018
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A new research paper is flagging the psychological underpinnings of long duration treks to Mars. Bottom line: If humanity hopes to make it to Mars anytime soon, we need to understand not just technology, but the psychological dynamic of a small group of astronauts trapped in a confined space for months with no escape. One […]
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is performing Sol 2061 science duties. “After successfully drilling the ‘Duluth’ target on Sol 2057, the science team is eager to find out what it’s made of,” reports Lauren Edgar, planetary geologist at the USGS in Flagstaff, Arizona. Edgar says the plan calls for drop-off of material to the […]
Now in Sol 2060, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is back in gear in its drilling functions. Reports Mark Salvatore, a planetary geologist at the University of Michigan in Dearborn: “This past weekend, Curiosity successfully drilled into the ‘Duluth’ rock target, generating a beautiful pile of drill tailings! This is a very exciting time for […]
No official word as yet, but new downlink photos indicate that Curiosity did sink its drill into the complexly-layered “Duluth” block. The robot is now performing Sol 2059 duties. Earlier, Michelle Minitti, a planetary geologist at Framework in Silver Spring, Maryland reported the rover was also slated to gather more data from the “Blunts Point” […]
The first phase of China’s bid to make space history by hurling a robotic mission to the far side of the moon is en route to a halo orbit of the Earth-Moon Lagrange Point L2. The Queqiao (Magpie Bridge) relay satellite departed Earth atop a Long March 4C booster on Sunday evening May 20 (May […]
NASA has published a map capturing a cultural perspective of locations in the solar system and points beyond. The map was produced by Bryce Space and Technology under contract with NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate for the Directorate’s Emerging Space Office. Bold and broad This map is unique in that it is not science or […]
There are unopened treasures brought back by moonwalkers, lunar collectibles returned to Earth in 1971-72. A new NASA program has been established – the Apollo Next Generation Sample Analysis (ANGSA). The goal of the ANGSA program is to maximize the science derived from samples returned by the Apollo Program in preparation for future lunar missions […]
China has successfully launched the Queqiao relay satellite, a first step in the country’s quest to land the Chang’e-4 spacecraft on the far side of the Moon. Queqiao is to be positioned in an Earth-Moon L2 Lagrange point – a place in space where the spacecraft can relay communications between ground controllers and […]
Will Mars get the drill? NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 2056 implementing a step-wise drilling of the target “Duluth.” The robot’s Dust Removal Tool (DRT) has brushed a section of the target, prepping it for drilling. According to JPL, engineers have been working for the past year to restore the rover’s […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now performing Sol 2055 science duties. Red Planet researchers are getting ready for re-starting drill activities on Mars. The drill target is “Duluth.” Drill sequence Reports Roger Wiens, a geochemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the Curiosity rover is commencing its drill sequence with a full […]
