November 17th, 2016
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Two Chinese astronauts have entered the Shenzhou-11 reentry module to prepare for their return to the Earth. Space travelers Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong have lived and worked in the Tiangong-2 space lab for 30 days, the longest stay in Earth orbit by Chinese astronauts. Separation process Prior to the separation of Shenzhou-11 with the […]
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During its wheeled treks on the Red Planet, NASA’s Spirit rover may have encountered a potential biosignature of past life on Mars, report scientists at Arizona State University. To help make their case, the researchers have contrasted Spirit’s study of “Home Plate” — a plateau of layered rocks that the robot explored during the early […]
China’s two-person space crew is preparing for a return to Earth, drawing to a close a month-long stint onboard their Tiangong-2 space lab. According to GBTimes, airspace restriction indicates that the Shenzhou-11 return capsule is expected to land Friday, November 18 between 05:33 – 06:13 universal time (00:33 – 01:13 EST / 13:33 – 14:13 […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover is now in Sol 1521 and is “continuing to make steady progress,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. There have been successful drives of the robot “interspersed with plenty of good science,” he adds. In a Sol 1516 plan, scientists started off […]
An impressive roster of papers dedicated to using space resources to facilitate space science and exploration is now available within the pages of the journal, Space Policy. These papers are peer-reviewed versions of papers presented at the Royal Astronomical Society specialist discussion meeting on the topic that was held in London in April. […]
China has successfully launched a satellite to test pulsar detectors. The satellite is slated to conduct experiments on X-ray pulsar navigation. The test pulsar satellite was placed in a Sun synchronous orbit. The satellite was lofted from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, China on November 10th onboard a Long March-11 carrier rocket, which is […]
China’s ongoing piloted space mission is rounding the corner on a month-long mission, with two crewmen living onboard the country’s Tiangong-2 space lab. The 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and 37-year-old Chen Dong went into the space on Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft on October 17th, docking with the Tiangong-2 two days later. Experiments underway Wu Dawei, director, […]
Now in Sol 1514, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover successfully completed a menu of scientific duties throughout last weekend. The robot carried out observations of its surroundings and wheeled itself over 141 feet (43 meters). Science block In carrying out a two sol plan, Curiosity is to start out with a brief contact science block, reports […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1512 After driving over 130 feet (40 meters) on Sol 1509, the Mars machinery is carrying out a 3-sol weekend plan. “There are a couple of good-sized outcrops in the arm workspace, so we’re planning contact science on Sol 1511,” reported Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology […]
Splat attack! More information has been issued as to the fate of Europe’s failed Schiaparelli Mars lander. New high-resolution images taken by a NASA orbiter –the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its super-powerful High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) — show parts of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars Schiaparelli module and its landing site […]
