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NASA’s MAVEN continues to advance Mars science and telecommunications relay efforts
This illustration shows the MAVEN spacecraft and the limb of Mars. Credit: NASA/Goddard

With a suite of new national and international spacecraft primed to explore the Red Planet after their arrival next month, NASA's MAVEN mission is ready to provide support and continue its study of the Martian atmosphere.

MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered the Martian atmosphere roughly a year later. Since that time, MAVEN has made fundamental contributions to understanding the history of the Martian atmosphere and climate. A few science highlights include:

  • Determination that the bulk of the Martian atmosphere has been lost to space through time, driving changes in the Mars climate and the ability to support life at the surface.
  • Characterization of the mechanisms by which gas is stripped away from the atmosphere to space and of the role of solar storms hitting Mars in enhancing the escape rate.
  • There is significant unexpected variability in the loss rate of hydrogen to through the seasons, which has important implications for the history of water.

NASA may change MRO orbit to support Mars 2020

Thursday, 28 January 2021 12:20
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)

WASHINGTON — NASA is considering changing the orbit of one of its oldest Mars spacecraft, a move intended to support the Mars 2020 mission after landing but which could affect both its science and support of other missions.

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Long Beach CA (SPX) Jan 28, 2021
Rocket Lab, the global leader in dedicated small satellite launch, demonstrated the increased maneuvering capability of the Kick Stage during the company's 18th Electron launch, successfully burning the Curie engine for more than twice the standard mission duration and delivering more than 1,700 km of perigee change. On January 20, 2021, Rocket Lab successfully launched a communications sa
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London, UK (SPX) Jan 28, 2021
Two astronauts will undertake a spacewalk to install a revolutionary piece of government-funded technology on the International Space Station (ISS), marking the UK's first major industrial contribution to the spacecraft. Called ColKa for 'Columbus Ka-band Terminal', the UK Space Agency-funded system will revolutionise scientists' ability in the UK and Europe to access the results of their
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Moscow (Sputnik) Jan 27, 2021
The spat of land in question is located near SpaceX's Boca Chica launch site, which according to the company's CEO would be used exclusively for Starship super heavy-lift launch vehicles design for long-duration space missions. SpaceX is locked in a legal battle with Dallas Petroleum Group, which claims ownership of some inactive wells sitting on the same 806-acre (326-hectare) piece of le
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Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Jan 27, 2021
The COHERENT particle physics experiment at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has firmly established the existence of a new kind of neutrino interaction. Because neutrinos are electrically neutral and interact only weakly with matter, the quest to observe this interaction drove advances in detector technology and has added new information to theories aiming to explain myst

MDA appoints new VP of Satellite Systems

Thursday, 28 January 2021 12:13
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Montreal, Canada (SPX) Jan 28, 2021
MDA is pleased to welcome Amer Khouri as the company's new Vice President of Satellite Systems. As the leader for this business, Mr. Khouri will be responsible for all business area activities including successful execution of existing programs and the continued growth of MDA's Satellite Systems business, which is based in Montreal, Canada. Mr. Khouri has an extensive 25-year career in gen
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Washington DC (SPX) Jan 28, 2021
NASA and the city of Rio de Janeiro have extended an agreement to support innovative and collaborative efforts to better understand, anticipate, monitor and respond to natural hazards and other impacts affecting the city. The collaboration leverages the unique attributes of NASA's satellite data and modeling frameworks and Rio de Janeiro's management and monitoring capabilities to improve awaren
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Europa Clipper

WASHINGTON — NASA has issued a request for information for launch services for its Europa Clipper mission, a sign the agency is taking advantage of language in a recent appropriations bill that allows it to consider alternatives to the Space Launch System.

Earth from Space: Lake Titicaca

Thursday, 28 January 2021 09:00
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Ahead of World Wetlands Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Lake Titicaca – one of the largest lakes in South America.

Ahead of World Wetlands Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Lake Titicaca – one of the largest lakes in South America.

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Ariane 6 upper stage heads for hot-firing tests

The first complete upper stage of Europe’s new Ariane 6 launch vehicle has left ArianeGroup in Bremen and is now on its way to the DLR German Aerospace Center in Lampoldshausen, Germany. Hot firing tests performed in near-vacuum conditions, mimicking the environment in space, will provide data to prove its readiness for flight.

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Washington (Sputnik) Jan 29, 2021
The crew on the International Space Station (ISS) has faced unique challenges while producing a new virtual reality documentary although factors such as weightlessness have also provided an advantage, Russian cosmonaut and ISS engineer Sergey Kud-Sverchkov told Sputnik. In December, Russia's Space Agency Roscosmos announced it is producing a documentary series - together with Canada's Feli
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Bethesda, MD (SPX) Jan 29, 2021
America's first astronaut, Alan Shepard, took that first suborbital flight of 15 minutes on May 15, 1961. The expected flight time was so short that NASA assumed no toilet facilities would be needed. However, Shepard had to endure several hours in his Mercury capsule before lift-off due to launch delays. You can imagine the results, but it wasn't pretty. By the time NASA began launching Ge

Remembering Challenger and Her Crew

Thursday, 28 January 2021 06:43
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Washington DC (SPX) Jan 29, 2021
The year 1986 was shaping up to be the most ambitious one yet for NASA's Space Shuttle Program. The agency's plans called for up to 15 missions, including the first flight from the West Coast launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Other important missions included the launch of two planetary spacecraft with very tight launch windows, an astronomy mission to study Halley's Comet,
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Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 29, 2021
With a suite of new national and international spacecraft primed to explore the Red Planet after their arrival next month, NASA's MAVEN mission is ready to provide support and continue its study of the Martian atmosphere. MAVEN launched in November 2013 and entered the Martian atmosphere roughly a year later. Since that time, MAVEN has made fundamental contributions to understanding the hi
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