The UPV/EHU prepares to analyse material from Mars using non-destructive analytical methods
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 15:00
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The UPV/EHU's IBeA research group, which includes experts in Raman spectroscopy, is currently analyzing meteorites with the aim of developing non-destructive analytical strategies for upcoming explorations of Mars materials by the Perseverance rover, shortly due to arrive at the red planet. The strategies will also be used to examine materials collected by the Rosalind Franklin rover and returned to Earth following the Mars Sample Return mission, scheduled to commence in 2026.
The IBeA research group from the University of the Basque Country's Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, is participating in NASA's Mars2020 space mission, which is scheduled to touch down on Mars in February this year. Specifically, the group has participated in constructing and verifying the chemical homogeneity of the templates included on the calibration card of the SuperCam instrument mounted on the Perseverance. "We made a set of pads perfectly characterized in accordance the instruments we have here, in order to enable us to verify that the LIBS and Raman spectroscopy measurements taken by the SuperCam are correct," explains Doctor Cristina García-Florentino.
MESSENGER saw a meteoroid strike Mercury
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 14:36 Write a comment
Telescopes have captured meteoroids hitting the Moon and several spacecraft imaged Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 smacking into Jupiter in 1994.
Einstein@Home reveals true identity of mysterious gamma-ray source
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 12:31
NASA's Perseverance pays off back home
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 12:30 Write a comment
Even as the Perseverance rover approaches Mars, technology on board is paying off on Earth.
A laser-light sensor that can identify bacteria in a wound may sound far-fetched, but it's already becoming a reality, thanks in part to NASA's Mars Exploration Program. The technology is going to Mars for the first time on Perseverance, which will touch down on the Red Planet this month, but it's already detecting trace contaminants in pharmaceutical manufacturing, wastewater treatment, and other important operations on Earth.
Happy New Year on Mars
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 12:23 Write a comment
Five, four, three, two, one…. FIREWORKS! The countdown to a new year is in many ways a defining moment for our lives on Earth. Our age, our seasons, filing our taxes… – all depend on the duration of Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Propelling satellites into the future
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 11:28 Write a comment
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Propelling satellites into the future Is this the end of the A-68A iceberg?
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 11:05 Write a comment
Satellite images have revealed that the once colossal A-68A iceberg has had yet another shattering experience. Several large cracks were spotted in the berg last week and it has since broken into multiple pieces. These little icebergs could indicate the end of A-68A’s environmental threat to South Georgia.
For billionaire Jared Isaacman, the space tourism era begins
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 08:59 Write a comment
Jared Isaacman is not a professional astronaut, but by the end of the year the young billionaire will have shot around the Earth multiple times at the helm of a space mission made up entirely of tourists.
The tech entrepreneur will blast off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, in what will be the first all-civilian mission into Earth's orbit, which he will command and pay for himself.
The mission, named Inspiration4, "is the first step in a world where everybody can go and journey among the stars," Isaacman said with an enormous grin as he explained the project to AFP in front of SpaceX's headquarters in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne.
Starship conducts successful subsonic reentry tests before fireball ending
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
A prototype of a SpaceX rocket the company hopes will one day journey to Mars crashed in a fiery explosion as it tried to land upright after a test flight Tuesday.
It was the second such explosion after the last prototype of Starship met a similar fate in December.
"We had again another great flight," said a SpaceX announcer on live footage that was broadcast online.
"We've just got Iran launches new satellite-carrying rocket
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
Iran's defence ministry on Monday said it has test launched a new satellite carrier with its "most powerful" solid-fuel engine to date, state TV reported.
The test was "the first launch of the Zoljanah hybrid satellite carrier for sub-orbital testing", said Ahmad Hosseini, the spokesman for the ministry's space division.
"This three-stage carrier can compete with the world's current carr Dubai creates 'space court' for out-of-this-world disputes
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
Dubai announced Monday the creation of a "space court" to settle commercial disputes, as the UAE - which is also sending a probe to Mars - builds its presence in the space sector.
The tribunal will be based at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts, an independent British-inspired arbitration centre based on common law.
Space law is governed by international convention Out-of-this-world wine back in Bordeaux after space station trip
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
Twelve bottles of Bordeaux wine and dozens of vine shoots are back at home in southwest France after spending months on the International Space Station (ISS) for an unusual astrochemistry experiment.
The red wine and 320 mature shoots known as canes arrived Monday after their return to Earth via a Dragon capsule operated by SpaceX, the private launching company created by Elon Musk.
They New rocket company Astra plans Nasdaq listing
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
California-based small-rocket company Astra plans a listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange to raise up to $500 million as it tries to capture more of the growing launch business, the company announced Tuesday.
Astra is focused on building small rockets rapidly, in assembly-line fashion. The company launched a demonstration rocket into space for the first time from Alaska in December. It f SpaceX flies, crashes massive Starship rocket again
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:42 Write a comment
SpaceX's test flight of the company's deep-space Starship rocket ended for a second time in a fiery explosion on the landing pad Tuesday in Boca Chica, Texas, after the Federal Aviation Administration modified the company's license to allow the launch.
The rocket, named SN9, ascended to a height of more than 6 miles and performed a flip manuever. But after it descended, its engines appe ViaSat receives $50 million Air Force contract to develop space technology
Tuesday, 02 February 2021 00:05 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — ViaSat, a provider of satellite communications and wireless networking technology, received a $50.8 million contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory to develop a broad range of space systems.
The Defense Department announced the contract Feb.