Despite its small size, Space Force plans to have its voice heard in the Pentagon
Thursday, 11 February 2021 22:49
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WASHINGTON — The Space Force is by far the smallest branch of the U.S. military and will have to “punch above its weight” to get its share of military funding and other resources, said Lt.
Timing of next Virgin Galactic flight still up in the air
Thursday, 11 February 2021 21:11 Write a comment
A window is set to open for Virgin Galactic to make another attempt at a rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space, but the company announced Friday it would be holding off on a new effort.
Virgin Galactic said in a social media post that during pre-flight preparations, it was decided more time was needed for technical checks and the team would be working to identify the next opportunity to hit what would be a key milestone as the promise of commercial flights continues to loom.
The last attempt in December was cut short when computer trouble prevented the spaceship's rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing by gliding back down to the runway at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
Over the past week, preparations for the latest attempt included installing the rocket motor into the spacecraft and checking the operation of a feathering system that slows and stabilizes the craft as it re-enters the atmosphere.
The spacecraft also was secured to the carrier plane that will fly it to a high altitude, where it will be released so it can fire its rocket motor and make the final push to space.
Report recommends NASA accelerate space nuclear propulsion development
Thursday, 11 February 2021 18:48 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — NASA needs to pursue “aggressive” development of space nuclear propulsion technologies if the agency wants to use them for human missions to Mars in the next two decades, a report by a National Academies committee concluded.
Week in images: 08 - 12 February 2021
Thursday, 11 February 2021 14:23 Write a comment
Week in images: 08 - 12 February 2021
Discover our week through the lens
Perseverance will make sure it has a safe landing
Thursday, 11 February 2021 12:48 Write a comment
To casual observers, landing a rover on Mars can seem kind of like old news, believe it or not, especially after all of NASA's successes. But many are likely not aware of the so-called "Mars Curse." The fact is, many of the spacecraft that attempt to land there fail and crash.
Next to run the gauntlet of the Mars curse is NASA's Perseverance rover. It'll attempt its long-awaited landing at Jezero Crater on February 18. The people at NASA have given the Perseverance rover some finely tuned tools to get it to the Martian surface safely and to beat the Mars curse.
The Perseverance rover is landing at Jezero Crater because NASA thinks they can do the best science there. The mission's goal is to seek signs of ancient life and collect samples for a potential return to Earth. Jezero Crater is an ancient, dried-up paleo-lakebed. It holds both preserved sediments and a delta. According to NASA, the crater is one of the "oldest and most scientifically interesting landscapes Mars has to offer." Scientists think that if there's any fossilized evidence of ancient life, they may find it at Jezero.
China's Mars probe sends back video of Red Planet
Thursday, 11 February 2021 11:44 Write a comment
China's space agency released video footage from its spacecraft circling Mars on Friday, two days after it successfully entered the planet's orbit in Beijing's latest ambitious space mission.
In the video, published by state broadcaster CCTV, the surface of the planet is seen coming into view out of a pitch black sky against the outside of the Tianwen-1, which entered the orbit of the Red Planet on Wednesday.
White craters are visible on the planet's surface, which fades from white to black through the video as the probe flies over the course of one Martian day, said official news agency Xinhua.
The five-tonne Tianwen-1—which translates as "Questions to Heaven"—includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a solar-powered rover and launched from southern China last July.
Is Brunt on the brink?
Thursday, 11 February 2021 11:15 Write a comment
In early 2019, all eyes were fixed on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, where a massive iceberg, around the size of Greater London, appeared poised to break off. Almost two years later, the berg is desperately clinging on, although current data indicate calving is imminent. A new crack, spotted in images captured by the Copernicus Sentinel missions, now suggests the potential for calving of multiple bergs.
Earth from Space: Valentine Island
Thursday, 11 February 2021 09:00 Write a comment
For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Valentine Island in northern Western Australia.
Research highlights ways to protect astronaut cardiovascular health from space radiation
Thursday, 11 February 2021 08:53 Write a comment
Space: the final frontier. What's stopping us from exploring it? Well, lots of things, but one of the major issues is space radiation, and the effects it can have on astronaut health during long voyages. A new review in the open-access journal Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine explores what we know about the ways that space radiation can negatively affect cardiovascular health, and discusses methods to protect astronauts. These include radioprotective drugs, and antioxidant treatments, some of which are more common than you might think.
Space is incredibly inhospitable. Outside of low earth orbit, astronauts are bombarded with radiation, including galactic cosmic rays, and 'proton storms' released by the sun. This radiation is harmful for the human body, damaging proteins and DNA, and is one of the major reasons that we haven't yet been able to send anyone to Mars, or beyond.
These issues inspired Dr. Jesper Hjortnaes of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands to investigate what we know about the harmful effects of space radiation. "If we want to see human long distance space travel, we need to understand the impact of space-induced disease and how to protect our bodies from it," said Hjortnaes.
How to Get Water on the Moon
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
Given plans for future manned missions to the Moon - and interest in the potential for longer-term lunar habitation - the presence of water on the Moon is of critical importance. Studies over the last few decades have revealed water lurking on our satellite in numerous forms. But how does it get there?
Lunar water has been found locked in ice form in the cold, permanently shadowed craters What Hollywood gets wrong, and right, about asteroids
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
Meet Kirsten Howley, the real-life astrophysicist working to prevent an asteroid "Armageddon"
In the 1998 movie "Armageddon," an asteroid the width of Texas is about to hit Earth. The heroes who stop it in the nick of time are a group of orange-suited Americans, all men.
Life isn't always like the movies.
Not that an asteroid couldn't slam into Earth, mind you. Asteroids - most Precise braking helps China's Tianwen 1 probe enter Mars orbit
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
Precise braking near Mars has helped China's probe Tianwen 1 successfully enter the orbit around the red planet on Wednesday, according to the country's space scientists.
Yang Yuguang, a researcher with China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited, told the Science and Technology Daily that the braking is a key and risky step in the Mars exploration mission, which requires a hi Goddard's Core Flight Software Chosen for NASA's Lunar Gateway
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
NASA is improving a flight software system to help create and certify essential software for the lunar Gateway.
As part of the Artemis program, NASA will send astronauts to the Moon and establish a sustained lunar presence by the end of the decade. The Gateway will provide a waypoint for lunar exploration and allow astronauts to live and work in lunar orbit as well as host science instrume Join ASU Mastcam-Z team for a live watch party of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover landing
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover will land on Mars Feb. 18, 2021. Onboard the rover is the ASU-led mast-mounted camera system "Mastcam-Z," which can zoom from wide angle to telephoto, take 3D images and videos, and take photos in up to 11 unique colors.
ASU will hold a live landing watch party on Feb. 18 beginning at 11:30 a.m. Arizona time (MST) with Mastcam-Z principal investigator Ji SwRI scientist proposes a new timeline for Mars terrains
Thursday, 11 February 2021 06:11 Write a comment
A Southwest Research Institute scientist has updated Mars chronology models to find that terrains shaped by ancient water activity on the planet's surface may be hundreds of millions of years older than previously thought.
This new chronology for Mars, based on the latest dynamical models for the formation and evolution of the solar system, is particularly significant as the days count dow