April 21st, 2016
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China is supporting a national day of space – a date selected that salutes the country’s first satellite launching back in 1970. April 24th will also note China’s ongoing aerospace activities as it marks the 60th anniversary of progress in that arena. Space station module Meanwhile, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency has reported that the […]
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1317, with all activities planned for last weekend done successfully. Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona also reports that the robot has completed a full wheel imaging session using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). High silica The science team decided to […]
Just in time for Earth Day on Friday, April 22, 2016! A Beautiful Planet Official Trailer #1 (2016) spotlights this HD documentary epic, an exploration of Earth and beyond as seen from outer space. The documentary features vignettes from Scott Kelly’s near-year exposure to space aboard the International Space Station. A Beautiful Planet was made […]
It is tagged as “Breakthrough Starshot” – using an ultra-light vessel made of what are essentially cell phone components and a thin, reflective light sail propelled by an enormous array of Earth-based lasers. The target would be the nearest star — other than our Sun — Alpha Centauri. The plan was largely drafted by […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover is about to enter Sol 1314 on its Mars exploration adventure. The word from rover science planners is that Curiosity has moved into an area where there are no good brushable targets in the robotic arm workspace, so the dust removal tool will not be used. However, tactical planning included a trio […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover is just entering Sol 1307, recently experiencing some power and driving problems. The robot’s drive on Sol 1303 stopped during wheel steering, apparently due to a short in the rover’s nuclear power source. Reports Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona: “On Sol 1305, the rover straightened […]
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is pushing forward on reusable launch vehicle technology. According to ISRO, the winged Reusable Launch Vehicle-Technology Demonstration Program (RLV-TD) is a series of technology demonstration missions for realizing a two stage to orbit (TSTO) fully re-usable vehicle. RLV-TD is viewed as a flying test bed to evaluate various technologies: […]
A new documentary film – Passage to Mars — details the Northwest Passage Drive Expedition, a NASA-supported, multi-stage 750-plus kilometer crewed vehicular traverse on land and on sea-ice along the fabled Northwest Passage in the Arctic. Destination for the expedition: Devon Island in the High Arctic, an otherworldly place known as “Mars on Earth.” The […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1303 as of this posting. A new map has been released indicating the rover’s Location for Sol 1301. The map shows the route driven by Curiosity through the 1301 Martian day, or sol, of the rover’s mission on Mars (April, 04, 2016). Numbering of the dots […]
Now in Sol 1301, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover has pulled up near the edge of the Naukluft plateau, driving across “Stimson” bedrock. Reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona: The over the weekend plan called for a Sol 1300 trio of Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) observations of […]
