May 20th, 2024
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China’s now orbiting Shenzhou-18 crew onboard the country’s Tiangong space station have completed the assembly, testing and outside attachment of a second material exposure experiments. The three Chinese astronauts — Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu — were sent to the space station for a six-month mission on April 25. A tribology experiment box […]
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China’s robotic Chang’e 6 lunar farside sample return mission is now in orbit around the Moon, ready to execute a landing attempt. The multi-component spacecraft is currently awaiting optimum illumination conditions in the Apollo basin interior landing area on the farside, with a touchdown generally planned for early June. Prior to that next step, the […]
The folks at Celestis are offering space — memorial capsule space — for its upcoming Perseverance Flight. Billed as the first spaceflight ever to take memorial space capsules into space to orbit Earth and then deliver them safely home again, the mission is to be staged at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. Celestial keepsakes Celestis […]
The long-delayed European ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission to the Red Planet got a boost for its projected launch in 2028. A new Memorandum of Understanding was inked May 16 by the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA, thereby officially joining forces on the endeavor. Two years ago, ESA cut ties with its Russian Roscosmos partner […]
The six crew members of a year-long space voyage passed their half-way point on May 14, isolated for scientific and psychological study under Russia’s Scientific International Research In Unique terrestrial Station (SIRIUS) project. Using a unique scientific facility, life support systems, space activities, medical controls and prevention, crew performance and dynamics can be assessed, as […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now surveying its surroundings. Emma Harris, a graduate student at the Natural History Museum in London, England is studying “Texoli butte” to see very high detail of rocks hundreds of meters away via the robot’s suite of instruments. Curiosity’s Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument has gazed […]
The NASA Ingenuity Mars helicopter chalked up many a milestone during 72 airborne flights before incurring a destructive encounter with a sand dune. That “hit-the-dirt” mishap caused rotor-blade damage that now prevents it from additional aerial treks. Not only was Ingenuity’s flight experience exemplary, the rotorcraft achievements have opened the door for follow-on aerial craft […]
There is increasing interest in defining the military utility of cislunar space. But just how valuable is that “open space” to armed forces of various nations? What is potentially promising, after so many decades of going to the Moon robotically and with humans, is the prospect of an economic kick-back. But what are the implications […]
The National Academies has assembled a new committee to gather and review information for a report: “A Science Strategy for the Human Exploration of Mars.” ”It will identify high-priority science objectives in all relevant disciplines to be addressed by human explorers across multiple science campaigns on the surface of Mars,” explains Colleen Hartman, Director, Aeronautics, […]
Back in December 2020, China’s Chang’e-5 spacecraft returned Moon samples, hauling them back to Earth from the Ocean of Storms. Fast forward to today. The delicate nature of Chinese/NASA cooperation regarding those Chang’e-5 returned collectibles was discussed by Lori Glaze, Director of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate’s Planetary Science Division. Glaze spoke May 13, briefing the […]
