April 6th, 2017
Author: 
China is pushing forward on a number of space fronts, including milestone making robotic missions to the moon, as well as scoping out an automated Mars return sample mission by 2030. Yulong Tian, Secretary-General of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), spoke here April 5 during the 33rd Space Symposium. CNSA is the governmental organization […]
Posted in 
Now in Sol 1658 on Mars, the Curiosity rover has been busy in a remote sensing science campaign. Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that over the last weekend there was a problem with the Deep Space Network. The DSN transmits commands to Curiosity, “so the […]
Book Review: No Bucks, No Buck Rogers: Creating the Business of Commercial Space by Derek Webber, CP Curtis Press; 2017; U.S. $42.95. This is an engaging, well-written, and fact-filled book regarding commercial space exploration. Webber has long been associated with giving space the business, and his insider looks at how best to build the economic […]
An orbital Mars Base Camp could be circling the Red Planet in 2028, a facility housing researchers to unlock key questions about that complex planet as prelude to a human expedition setting foot on the far-away world. Joystick exploration Circling Mars in a highly elliptical orbit, the six-person Mars Base Camp would make use […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars is now performing science duties during Sol 1654. A three-sol plan has been scripted that involves the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) photo shoot of the first scoop location (OG1). The fine-grained portion of “Ogunquit Beach” Scoop #1 (now named “OG1”). Imaging suites First sol work calls for use of […]
Chinese space engineers are busily readying the country’s Tianzhou-1 – a resupply spacecraft. A Long March-7 Y2 carrier rocket will boost the cargo vehicle into space next month, blasting off from China’s Wenchang Launch Center, Hainan Province. The launch of Tianzhou-1 faces challenges as the rocket’s launch window has to be accurate to a […]
To get a leg up on leaving low Earth orbit, dispatching humans back to the Moon…or full throttle and go for the gusto by sending crews to Mars…or? If you’re seeking advice look no further than the recent 48th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), held March […]
Yes, it’s filed under speculative, space, architecture. But the New York-based Clouds Architecture Office (Clouds AO) has released details of “Analemma” and a system referred to as the Universal Orbital Support System (UOSS). This same group worked with NASA recently to create a Mars Ice Home. Overall, the group’s new concept trump’s Trump Tower! […]
After more than a decade of controversy, the debate over the icy world’s demotion to “dwarf planet” status shows no sign of stopping. The upshot from the vote to downgrade Pluto as a planet to a dwarf planet in 2006 by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) continues to swirl around a major axis […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is busy working science duties, now in Sol 1651. “Sol 1650 activities completed as expected, so it’s time to start scooping,” reports Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona. The plan focused on acquiring Scoop #1 and dropping off a portion of the […]
