August 4th, 2017
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Two NASA Mars rovers are on the upswing to start operations after a solar conjunction stand-down. Now in Sol 1776, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is “easing back into mission planning” reports Ken Herkenhoff, a planetary geologist at the USGS in Flagstaff, Arizona. “As the solar conjunction stand-down comes to an end, we are easing […]
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The classified X-37B program is readying the next mini-shuttle for launch, this time atop a SpaceX Falcon 9. According to an FAA manifest, the August launch date and window is yet to be determined. U.S. Air Force spokesperson, Captain Annmarie Annicelli, advised Inside Outer Space: “At this time, I do not have the launch date […]
Vector, a micro satellite space launch company, flew today a suborbital flight of its B0.002 test vehicle, a full-scale prototype of the company’s Vector-R launch vehicle. This flight also marked the first launch out of Spaceport Camden in Georgia, which was originally used by NASA in the 1960’s for ground-based static fire testing of […]
Now in Sol 1775, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has begun to return imagery from the Red Planet. Images for Sol 1774 have been posted from the Front Hazard and Rear Avoidance Cameras. Last month, movements of the planets put Mars almost directly behind the Sun, from Earth’s perspective, causing curtailed communications between Earth and […]
Hawaii is cranking up the volume regarding an International MoonBase Summit. The goal is to create an action plan that will culminate with the building of Moon Base prototypes on Earth, followed by a sustainable settlement on the Moon. An early goal is to develop a prototype Moon Base in Hawaii to further […]
China’s Tianzhou-1 robotic cargo spacecraft has released a CubeSat. The Xinhua news agency reports the test deployment is showcasing China’s intentions to use the country’s future space station to launch more micro/nanosatellites and provide other in-orbit services. Signals from the CubeSat were received by ground technicians right after the release, according to the China Aerospace […]
Get a first-hand, realistic look at many of the technologies and equipment considered for a human missions to Mars. An immersive VR experience is now available from Fusion Media Group (FMG) Labs in New York City. Mars 2030 is an immersive VR experience now available for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Steam PC, with PlayStation […]
Terraforming Mars: A Resource Management Game by Jacob Fryxelius was released late last year and has become a popular game to help tame the Red Planet. The game board features corporations that are competing to transform Mars into a habitable planet by spending vast resources, and using innovative technology to raise temperature, create a breathable […]
With NASA’s Cassini spacecraft set to end its exploration of Saturn on September 15, 2017 by plunging into the atmosphere of that ringed world, it is worth noting how that impressive mission was enabled by the use of nuclear power and how, if action isn’t taken soon, the U.S. may lose the capability to do […]
An observational campaign using an actual close approach of an asteroid will exercise planetary defense preparedness. The asteroid – 2012 TC4 – will be used on October 12th to test, for the first time, NASA’s network of observatories and scientists who work with planetary defense. Vishnu Reddy of the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary […]
