April 22nd, 2024
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All is in readiness for the liftoff of China’s next human space outing – the flight of the Shenzhou-18 crew. Over the weekend, a full-system rehearsal was staged at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. This week’s projected takeoff, reportedly on April 25, is the 13th piloted mission of China and the 18th overall flight of […]
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NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is performing its duties at Gale Crater, landing on Mars in August, 2012. “Curiosity continues to make progress along the margin of upper Gediz Vallis ridge, investigating the broken bedrock in our workspace and acquiring images of the ridge deposit as the rover drives south,” reports Lauren Edgar, a planetary geologist […]
Last Monday, NASA shared the agency’s recommendations regarding a path forward for the costly Mars Sample Return initiative, but within a balanced overall science program. The idea of bringing back to Earth select samples from Mars has long been a major goal of international planetary exploration. NASA is now reaching back to government, industry and […]
Earlier this year, NASA announced it had pushed out to 2025 the Artemis II swingby of the Moon by a crew – a practice run to prepare for a follow-on Artemis III “rebooting” of Earth’s nearby celestial companion with humans. One reason cited for the delay was getting to the bottom of re-entry heat shield […]
China’s Shenzhou-18 crewed spacecraft has been rolled out to its launching area atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, stated the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) on Wednesday. The Shenzhou-18 will become China’s 13th human spaceflight and the first crewed mission to visit China’s Tiangong station this year. CMSA said all facilities and equipment to handle […]
If all the reports of mysterious objects buzzing our skies are taken as true encounters, the Earth appears to be under assault. But spoiler alert. For chief leader of the SETI Institute, established to search for and understand life beyond Earth, there’s need to cuddle up to a cup of cosmic reality. Bill Diamond […]
Scientific American: Editor’s Note (4/16/24): This article has been updated to include information about NASA’s completed analysis of the object that struck a house in Florida. Space-Junk Strike in Florida Signals New Era of Orbital Debris – Three years ago astronauts threw out the largest piece of trash ever tossed from the International Space Station. Now […]
The last look at NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars reveals surprises. Mars Guy notes that from the closest vantage point we’ll ever see, the NASA Perseverance rover at Jezero Crater shot some pictures of Ingenuity’s final resting place and then drove away. The imagery, aided by the work of Simeon Schmauß, reveal new […]
GOLDEN, Colorado — There is growing interest by space agencies and the private sector in how to extract resources on the moon to sustain a long-term human presence on that desolate world. Known as in-situ resource utilization, or ISRU, this off-Earth ability involves the production of oxygen and water for life-support, as well as churning […]
China’s reusable rocket engine research is engaged in multiple challenges, including use of various, on the factory floor, manufacturing processes. Chinese engineers have overcome various technical difficulties in developing an engine for reusable rockets, which recently underwent its 30th ignition test. Developing a reusable engine can make a rocket land accurately, be more durable and […]
