March 28th, 2022
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The European Space Agency’s ExoMars rover is confirmed technically ready for launch, and a fast-track study is under way to determine options for bringing the mission to Mars. The ESA-led Rosalind Franklin rover’s 2022 launch window is no longer possible following the suspension of cooperation with Roscosmos due to Russia’s war with Ukraine. In an […]
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Russian and Chinese scientists have blueprinted the concept of an astrophysical telescope to be deployed at a future International Lunar Scientific Station (ILRS). The equipment is planned for Moon landing as part of the ILRS-5 mission in 2035. The concepts were developed by specialists from the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, […]
NASA Missions to Mars: A Visual History of Our Quest to Explore the Red Planet by Piers Bizony; The Quarto Group/Motorbooks (April 2022); 198 Pages; Hardcover: $50.00 This large-format book is strikingly illustrated and offers the reader a wonderful resource in detailing NASA’s exploration of the Red Planet. Space historian Piers Bizony has put together […]
Chinese scientists accurately determined the content of chemical elements in lunar soil samples brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 Moon sample return mission with nuclear technologies. Moon rock and regolith brought back to Earth by China’s Chang’e-5 lunar sample mission suggests that the samples are a new type of lunar basalt, […]
During an interview with the China Radio International (CRI), Russian Space Chief Dmitry Rogozin said the current situation has made it impossible for Roscosmos to continue cooperation with its European counterparts. “In fact, Roscosmos has around 10 carrier rockets that were originally scheduled for launching European spacecrafts. But considering the ESA [European Space Agency] and […]
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) intends to issue the Final Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the SpaceX Starship/Super Heavy project on April 29, 2022. The previous target date was March 28, 2022. The FAA is currently reviewing the Final PEA and completing consultation and coordination with agencies at the local, State, and Federal level. […]
China’s Mars orbiter – Tianwen-1- has taken imagery of dust storms on the Red Planet, of the country’s Zhurong rover, as well as NASA’s Perseverance rover. Released by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on Thursday, the new pictures with a resolution of 0.5 meters were captured by a camera on the probe, which has […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is performing Sol 3424 tasks. From up close, you can admire the nature of those rocks: broken up with sharp edges, reports Susanne Schwenzer, a planetary geologist at The Open University, Milton Keynes in the United Kingdom. “The eagle-eyed geologists amongst you might think they look like ventifacts.” Ventifacts are rocks, […]
Fresh ways of designing and manufacturing large structures on orbit has been bolstered by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Eight teams have been selected under DARPA’s Novel Orbital Moon Manufacturing, Materials, and Mass Efficient Design (NOM4D) program. “Current space systems are all designed, built, and tested on Earth before being launched into […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover at Gale Crater is now wrapping up Sol 3422 duties. Lauren Edgar, a planetary geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, reports that the robot is investigating the different surface expressions of the Greenheugh pediment. Last weekend’s drive put the rover next to some “gator-back terrain.” That’s some […]
