Copernical Team
Life on Mars search could be misled by false fossils
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Mars explorers searching for signs of ancient life could be fooled by fossil-like specimens created by chemical processes, research suggests.
Rocks on Mars may contain numerous types of non-biological deposits that look similar to the kinds of fossils likely to be found if the planet ever supported life, a study says.
Telling these false fossils apart Celestia STS introduces new approach to spacecraft test and simulation
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Celestia STS, a specialist in ground-based solutions for satellite testing, communications and data processing, has launched MPIP, a multi-purpose interface platform that offers a novel approach to spacecraft test and simulation.
MPIP is a modular, scalable electrical ground support equipment (EGSE) that enables space equipment builders or integrators to test and simulate different electri CERES reconnaissance space system designed by Airbus and Thales launched
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The CERES space system (Capacite de Renseignement Electromagnetique Spatiale or Space-based Signal Intelligence Capability) satellites designed and built by Airbus Defence and Space and Thales for the French Armament General Directorate (DGA) have been successfully launched from the European spaceport in French Guiana, on-board a Vega launcher.
"We are ready to go with the next generation Sino-Russian center for space weather monitoring operational
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A space weather center set up by China and Russia began operating on Tuesday to provide services for aviation operators around the world.
The China-Russia Consortium Global Space Weather Center monitors space weather events including solar activities and releases advisories for aviation operators, said Zhang Xiaoxin, director of the National Satellite Meteorological Center's space weather Russian Military Publishes First Video From Successful Anti-Satellite Missile Test
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Earlier in the day, the Defence Ministry confirmed that Russia had successfully conducted an anti-satellite test on Monday, hitting a long-defunct Soviet satellite floating lifelessly in orbit. The military dismissed claims made by US officials that the test creates thousands of pieces of debris "threatening the interests of all nations."
The Russian Ministry of Defence published a video T Russian MoD: US Perfectly Aware Fragments of Downed Satellite Pose No Threat to Space Activities
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On Monday, State Department spokesman Ned Price accused Russia of "recklessly" carrying out a destructive satellite test using an anti-satellite missile against a defunct Soviet satellite. Washington claims the test generated "over 1,500 pieces of trackable orbital debris" which now "threaten the interests of all nations."
The Russian military confirmed Tuesday that it has carried out a su Russia ready to discuss all space security issues with US
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Russia is ready to discuss the entire spectrum of space security issues with all interested countries, including the United States, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
"We confirm our readiness to discuss the entire spectrum of space security issues with all interested states, including the United States. We are convinced that the launch of negotiations on an interna Musk says first orbital flight for Moon rocket in early 2022
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Elon Musk said Wednesday that the Starship developed by his company SpaceX and selected by NASA for the Americans' return to the Moon would attempt its first orbital flight early next year.
"We'll do a bunch of tests in December and hopefully launch in January," Musk said in a talk for the National Academies Space Studies Board.
"There's a lot of risk associated with this first launch," Planetary defenders: after NASA’s DART comes ESA’s Hera
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The world will be watching the milestone launch of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, DART, spacecraft on Wednesday, 24 November, intended to alter one small part of the Solar System forever.
Alien organisms: Hitchhikers of the galaxy?
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Scientists warn that without good biosecurity measures, 'alien organisms' on Earth may become a reality stranger than fiction.
Published in international journal BioScience, a team of scientists, including Dr. Phill Cassey, Head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Adelaide, are calling for greater recognition of the biosecurity risks ahead of the space industry.
"In addition to government-led space missions, the arrival of private companies such as SpaceX has meant there are now more players in space exploration than ever before," said Associate Professor Cassey. "We need to take action now to mitigate those risks."
Space biosecurity concerns itself with both the transfer of organisms from Earth to space (forward contamination) and vice-versa (backward contamination). While the research points out that at present the risk of alien organisms surviving the journey is low, it's not impossible.
Dr. Cassey said: "Risks that have low probability of occurrence, but have the potential for extreme consequences, are at the heart of biosecurity management. Because when things go wrong, they go really wrong."
The research provides clear evidence of how humans have spread organisms to the remotest regions of the earth and sea, and even into space.