January 14th, 2016
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Back in 1977, the Big Ear Radio Telescope at Ohio State University detected a strong narrowband signal northwest of the globular star cluster M55 in the constellation Sagittarius. At the time, that signal stirred up the juices of Jerry Ehman at Ohio State’s Big Ear effort, prompting him to write “Wow!” in the margin of […]
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Russia’s interest in hurling four macaque monkeys to Mars in 2017 has sparked a protest outside the Russian Embassy in London. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) staged the event today, underscored by a PETA supporter — Samantha Bentley – body painted as a monkey, wearing a space helmet, and lying in a […]
(Update) The Curiosity rover has recovered from a motor controller anomaly, reports USGS Mars scientist, Ken Herkenhoff. Tactical operations are back on track, with a drive to the dune sampling area planned for Sol 1221. Late last week, the rover encountered an anomaly, reports Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center […]
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) comet lander bounced to full stop on November 12, 2015 atop Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The last clear sign of life from the probe was received on July 9, 2015. Since then mum’s been the word. But now planned for January 10th, ground controllers will, for the first time, send a […]
Just entering Sol 2017, the NASA Curiosity Mars rover took another spin of the wheels, traveling over 140 feet (43 meters) toward the Namib Dune sampling location. “That meant that today we had to decide on our final sampling spot, and there were many different factors to consider,” advised Lauren Edgar, a research geologist at […]
A major step has been taken to coordinate U.S. agencies and intergovernmental efforts to respond to future near-Earth objects that threaten Earth. NASA announced today the creation of a Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO). Lindley Johnson, NASA’s current near-Earth object (NEO) program executive will lead the newly established office. The PDCO will reside within […]
Working hard in Sol 1215 mode, NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is partway through the first up-close study ever conducted of extraterrestrial sand dunes. The rover is providing dramatic views of a dune’s steep face, where cascading sand has sculpted very different textures than the wavy ripples visible on the dune’s windward slope. The downwind side […]
The European Space Agency’s ExoMars 2016 mission has drawn closer to the Red Planet – both the Trace Gas Orbiter and Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing craft are now at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ExoMars 2016’s launch window via Russian Proton booster is approaching, opening on March 14th until March 25th. The 1,323 pound […]
Put away your movie popcorn and think of it as “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” – but for real. The Air Force Space Command carried out the ninth Schriever Wargame at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. Taking place December 11-17, the Wargame was set in the year 2025 and explored critical […]
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko back in August 2014. After an initial survey and selection of a landing site, Rosetta unleashed the Philae probe on November 12 that bounced to a full-stop on the comet. Still cruising along with the comet, ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft continues to produce outstanding […]
