October 15th, 2016
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On Sunday, October 16, 2016, the European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will release its entry, descent and landing demonstrator, Schiaparelli, towards the Red Planet. ESA will livestream this critical and milestone-making event, starting on October 16th at 10:30 AM Eastern Time. Go to: www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Watch_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing Several missions in one […]
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The European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission has made its final pre-arrival orbit correction maneuver. ExoMars 2016 is a two part mission: the Trace Gas Orbiter approaches and enters orbit around the Red Planet, and the Schiaparelli module lands on its surface Next major milestone is on October 16 with separation of Schiaparelli from […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover has officially chalked up over nine miles of driving since landing on Mars in August 2012. Now in Sol 1489, the word is that the Mars machinery has wheeled itself up nearly 330 feet (100 meters) of Mount Sharp. Up and Climbing Curiosity has reached an elevation that is 100 meters above […]
The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, California staged on Friday, October 28th an “All Mars Considered” panel discussion and book signing based on the book and documentary MARS: Our Future on the Red Planet. Joining Griffith Observatory Curator and evening host of the event, Laura Danly, is Leonard David, Rob Manning, and Andre Bormanis. The […]
Call it the Schiaparelli sky show – and if you happen to be NASA’s Opportunity Mars rover, it’s coming to a sky near you. On October 19th, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ExoMars 2016 entry, descent and landing demonstrator module is set to plunge through the Martian atmosphere, descend and land on the planet’s landscape, […]
Mark your calendar for the White House “Frontiers Conference” – an October 13th event that brings together the Nation’s top innovators to discuss how new frontiers in science and technology will help improve lives and shape the future. A featured aspect of the webcast day is “Interplanetary Frontiers” designed to reach out to the “final […]
The secretive mission of the United States Air Force’s X-37B space plane has cruised by 500 days of operation in Earth orbit. The robotic mini-space plane was sent spaceward on the program’s fourth flight on May 20, 2015, orbited by a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, […]
Now in Sol 1485, NASA’s Curiosity rover recently made a drive of over 130 feet (40 meters) up the flank of Mt. Sharp on Sol 1482. After that trek, the rover was in position to explore multiple bedrock blocks within reach of the robot’s arm for carrying out a weekend plan, reports Ken Herkenhoff of […]
China is readying its Shenzhou-11 piloted spacecraft for a mid to late month sendoff. The craft will dock with the recently launched Tiangong-2 space lab, and two still-unnamed male astronauts will stay in the space lab for 30 days before returning to Earth. “This is going to provide evidence of astronauts’ long-term stay in space […]
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Schiaparelli Mars lander is being readied for its plunge onto the Red Planet. Controllers at ESA’s mission control in Darmstadt, Germany have uploaded commands that will govern the lander’s descent and touchdown on Mars. Meanwhile, discussions are underway regarding the best seat in the house for viewing Schiaparelli’s landing – […]
