Insight data offers clues to Mars' deep interior, formation in solar system
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12Marsquake data collected by NASA's InSight lander has allowed planetary scientists to more accurately characterize Mars' deep interior, as well as offered clues to the Red Planet's origins. "Insight has confirmed that our view that Mars is a planet that was once almost entirely molten and separated into a crust, mantle and core as it cooled," Amir Khan of ETH Zurich said Friday during a
China's Mars rover travels 585 meters on red planet
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12China's Mars rover Zhurong has traveled 585 meters on the surface of the red planet as of Friday, according to the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the China National Space Administration. On Friday, the Mars orbiter marked its first anniversary of operation. Now it is about 378 million km away from Earth. The delay of its one-way communication was around 21 minutes, said the
The anatomy of a planet
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12Since early 2019, researchers have been recording and analysing marsquakes as part of the InSight mission. This relies on a seismometer whose data acquisition and control electronics were developed at ETH Zurich. Using this data, the researchers have now measured the red planet's crust, mantle and core - data that will help determine the formation and evolution of Mars and, by extension, the ent
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for the Europa Clipper Mission
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12NASA has selected Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, California, to provide launch services for Earth's first mission to conduct detailed investigations of Jupiter's moon Europa. The Europa Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The total contract award amount for launc
Antimatter from laser pincers
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12In the depths of space, there are celestial bodies where extreme conditions prevail: Rapidly rotating neutron stars generate super-strong magnetic fields. And black holes, with their enormous gravitational pull, can cause huge, energetic jets of matter to shoot out into space. An international physics team with the participation of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now proposed
Hubble views a faraway galaxy through a cosmic lens
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12The center of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is framed by the tell-tale arcs that result from strong gravitational lensing, a striking astronomical phenomenon which can warp, magnify, or even duplicate the appearance of distant galaxies. Gravitational lensing occurs when light from a distant galaxy is subtly distorted by the gravitational pull of an intervening astrono
AI helps improve NASA's eyes on the Sun
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12A group of researchers is using artificial intelligence techniques to calibrate some of NASA's images of the Sun, helping improve the data that scientists use for solar research. The new technique was published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics on April 13, 2021. A solar telescope has a tough job. Staring at the Sun takes a harsh toll, with a constant bombardment by a never-ending
German Space Operations Center commands satellite with software of the future
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12At 11:58 CEST, the command lines on the screen lit up green: 'COMPLETED_SUCCESS'. The software specialists at the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) had been working towards this satellite signal for months. On 22 July 2021, Space Operations at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) succeeded in commanding a satellite using the 'European Ground Segment -
SpaceX to launch NASA's Europa Clipper on Falcon Heavy rocket in 2024
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12NASA on Friday awarded SpaceX the $178 million contract to launch the agency's Europa Clipper mission to study Jupiter's fourth-largest moon. The mission is expected to depart October 2024 on the private aerospace company's Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Europa Clipper will conduct a detailed survey of Europa and use a sophisticated suite of scienc
Scientists unveil European Mars rover's meteorite-hunting instruments
Sunday, 25 July 2021 11:12The ExoMars rover Rosalind Franklin, scheduled to launch in 2022, is tasked with hunting for past life on the Red Planet. Most of the rover's scientific probing will be focused on the first six inches of Mars' crust, but the spacecraft will also be programmed to identify, sample and analyze meteorites strewn across the Martian surface. Mission scientists unveiled the rover's mete
Falcon Heavy to launch Europa Clipper
Saturday, 24 July 2021 14:48WASHINGTON — NASA has selected SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy to launch its Europa Clipper mission to a potentially habitable moon of Jupiter, a choice that appeared inevitable once NASA was no longer required to use the Space Launch System.
Artificial intelligence helps improve NASA's eyes on the Sun
Saturday, 24 July 2021 07:34A group of researchers is using artificial intelligence techniques to calibrate some of NASA's images of the Sun, helping improve the data that scientists use for solar research. The new technique was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics on April 13, 2021.
NASA selects SpaceX for mission to Jupiter moon Europa
Saturday, 24 July 2021 07:26NASA on Friday said it had selected SpaceX to launch a planned voyage to Jupiter's icy moon Europa, a huge win for Elon Musk's company as it sets its sights deeper into the solar system.
The Europa Clipper mission will launch in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, with the total contract worth $178 million.
The mission was previously supposed to take off on NASA's own Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns, with critics calling it a "jobs program" for the state of Alabama where much of the development work is taking place.
NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for Europa Clipper Mission
Friday, 23 July 2021 17:18Court denies Viasat attempt to halt Starlink launches pending legal action
Friday, 23 July 2021 14:32TAMPA, Fla. — A federal appeals court denied a motion from satellite operator Viasat to stop SpaceX from enlarging its Starlink megaconstellation.
Viasat had requested a stay on a SpaceX license modification that allows it to continue building out the low-Earth-orbit constellation, while legal action seeking to compel a thorough environmental review of the broadband network plays out through the court.