2014 test run of E-MIST hardware. Credit: NASA

  UPDATE:  “Sunday scrubbed. Looking towards Monday now – weather is the issue” – David Smith The Exposing Microorganisms in the Stratosphere (E-MIST) 2015 Flight Mission has a good chance of a balloon liftoff on Sunday, September 27. That payload will be onboard the Long-Duration Balloon (LDB) Test Flight II, departing Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. […]

Mars true-color globe showing Terra Meridiani. Credits: NASA/Greg Shirah

  NASA will detail a major science finding from the agency’s ongoing exploration of Mars during a news briefing at 11:30 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28 at the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.   News conference participants will […]

Credit: Foster + Partners/New York

  The imaginative folks at Foster + Partners/New York noted today that they are amongst 30 finalists for the 3D Printed Habitat Challenge organized by America Makes and NASA. This contest, previously reported by Inside Outer Space, is asking for ideas to develop a settlement on Mars constructed by an array of pre-programmed, semi-autonomous robots […]

NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s HiRISE image of recurring slope lineae (RSL) in Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris. Arrows point out tops and bottoms of a few lineae. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

What are they? Mars-circling spacecraft have spotted at low and middle latitudes on the planet dark, finger-like features that creep down steep martian slopes in warmer months and then fade away in cooler months. These features fade when inactive, and recur annually at nearly the same location over multiple martian years. What’s behind this phenomenon […]

Curiosity Mars rover used its Navcam Left B camera to acquire this image of surrounding and distant terrain on September 20, 2015, Sol 1110. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

  The Curiosity Mars rover has experienced some rough driving. A drive on Sol 1111 was cut short after a little over 15 meters. According to Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center and a member of the Curiosity team, “we were driving over rough terrain and part of the rover’s […]

Future human Mars from using Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology.  Credit: NASA/Langley

Future Mars missions would greatly benefit from using Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology. HIAD-based entry vehicles that generate lift can provide additional mission flexibility. NASA’s is on the hunt for teams of undergraduate and graduate students studying in fields applicable to human space exploration (i.e., aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineering; and life, physical, and […]

China

China’s powerful Long March 5 carrier rocket has been shipped from North China’s Tianjin port. The shipment signals a step toward a rehearsal of the projected 2017 liftoff of the Chang’e 5 lunar mission. The booster has been designed by China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The […]

Credit: Mars One

From the Mars One project, sports and underwear brand Björn Borg’s Spring/Summer 2016 (SS16) show at Fashion Week in Stockholm was a tribute to that project’s human mission to the Red Planet. The catwalk featured a Mars-themed environment with red rocks, dust, and a Martian crater. “It resulted in what is sure to be one […]

NASA astronaut Scott Kelly takes a selfie with the Bahamas from 250 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station. Credit: Scott Kelly/NASA

The White House issued today a message from NASA astronaut, Scott Kelly, now onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The posting from Kelly underscores his midway status in a one-year stint onboard the ISS. Here is that message from Kelly: Heading into the unknown… Almost everything we know about living in space ends at six […]

Artist’s impression depicts the separation of Europe’s ExoMars 2016 entry, descent and landing demonstrator module -- named Schiaparelli -- from the Trace Gas Orbiter Credit: ESA/ATG medialab

Europe’s ExoMars 2016 mission has slipped its launch window from January of next year to March. A problem recently discovered in two sensors in the propulsion system of the entry, descent and landing demonstrator module — Schiaparelli — has prompted the recommendation to move the launch to March 14 – still within the launch window […]