Daily records of atmospheric temperature with Perseverance
Sunday, 06 August 2023 01:08
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Atmospheric temperature is a meteorological variable of daily concern to humans. Temperature also has a major impact on Perseverance mission operations (e.g. temperature sensors are distributed throughout the rover to monitor its thermal performance). In addition, temperature data are key to the mission's scientific investigations of the atmosphere. The Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA NASA's LunaH-Map mission ends, validates science instrument performance
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NASA's LunaH-Map (Lunar Polar Hydrogen Mapper) mission, a briefcase-sized lunar orbiter that launched as a ride share on NASA's Artemis I mission last year, has ceased operations after successfully demonstrating its neutron spectrometer can detect water and ice at the lunar surface.
The LunaH-Map CubeSat was designed to map ice deposits across the Moon's South Pole as part of NASA's SIMPLE New exoplanet discovery builds better understanding of planet formation
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An international team of scientists have discovered an unusual Jupiter-sized planet orbiting a low-mass star called TOI-4860, located in the Corvus constellation.
The newly discovered gas giant, named TOI-4860 b, is an unusual planet for two reasons: stars of such low mass are not expected to host planets like Jupiter, and the planet appears to be particularly enriched by heavy elements. MSU scientists help discover the highest-energy light coming from the sun
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Sometimes, the best place to hide a secret is in broad daylight. Just ask the sun.
"The sun is more surprising than we knew," said Mehr Un Nisa, a postdoctoral research associate at Michigan State University. "We thought we had this star figured out, but that's not the case."
Nisa, who will soon be joining MSU's faculty, is the corresponding author of a new paper in the journal Physi Webb Telescope unmasks Ring Nebula's cosmic dance
Sunday, 06 August 2023 01:08 Write a comment
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has released exquisite new visuals of the famed Ring Nebula, or Messier 57, to the world. The unveiling was done by a global consortium of astronomers, a team steered by Professor Mike Barlow of UCL, UK, Dr Nick Cox of ACRI-ST, France, and with contributions from Professor Albert Zijlstra of The University of Manchester.
The Ring Nebula, a luminous India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander arrives in lunar orbit
Saturday, 05 August 2023 13:55 Write a comment
India will make its second moon landing attempt in 18 days’ time after its Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft arrived in lunar orbit Saturday.
Astra lays off, reassigns employees as it refocuses on satellite propulsion
Saturday, 05 August 2023 13:34 Write a comment
Astra Space announced Aug. 4 it has laid off a quarter of its workforce and reassigned others from launch vehicle to satellite propulsion development as its cash reserves dwindle.
VA261: Ariane 5 timelapse
Saturday, 05 August 2023 13:00 Write a comment
Video:
00:04:59
The 117th and final launch of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket capped a series which began in 1996. Commercial, institutional and scientific payloads included such iconic missions as Rosetta, the James Webb Space Telescope and Juice. Seen here is the launch campaign for VA261 on 5 July 2023, to close the Ariane 5 book; onboard were German aerospace agency DLR’s Heinrich Hertz experimental communications satellite and French communications satellite Syracuse 4b.
First test images from Euclid space telescope unveiled
Saturday, 05 August 2023 11:10 Write a comment
The Euclid space telescope, launched July 1 on a mission to shed more light on elusive dark matter and dark energy, has reached its destination orbit and on Monday its European operators revealed its first test images.
The star-filled snapshots were taken during the space telescope's commissioning—a phase during which its powerful instruments are finely calibrated—and therefore not representative of its full potential.
But the European Space Agency (ESA) says the tests already show it will be capable of fulfilling its massive mission.
"After more than 11 years of designing and developing Euclid, it's exhilarating and enormously emotional to see these first images," Euclid project manager Giuseppe Racca in a statement.
Apple-backed Globalstar’s revenue jump underlines IoT opportunity
Friday, 04 August 2023 22:57 Write a comment
Globalstar, the operator behind Apple’s satellite-enabled SOS app, posted a 50% year-on-year jump in quarterly sales Aug.
NASA back in touch with Voyager 2 after 'interstellar shout'
Friday, 04 August 2023 21:19 Write a comment
NASA has succeeded in re-establishing full contact with Voyager 2 by using its highest-power transmitter to send an "interstellar shout" that righted the distant probe's antenna orientation, the space agency said Friday.
Launched in 1977 to explore the outer planets and serve as a beacon of humanity to the wider universe, it is currently more than 12.3 billion miles (19.9 billion kilometers) from our planet—well beyond the solar system.
ISS partners seek to maximize use of station through 2030
Friday, 04 August 2023 17:21 Write a comment
While the partners in the International Space Station have agreed to operate the station through at least the late 2020s, the extended use of the station still faces technical and budgetary challenges.
China's Chang'e-7 will deploy a hopper that jumps into a crater in search of water ice
Friday, 04 August 2023 14:00 Write a comment
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese National Space Administration recently published a study in the journal Space: Science & Technology outlining how the upcoming Chang'e-7 mission, due to launch in 2026, will use a combination of orbital observations and in-situ analyses to help identify the location, amount, and dispersion of water-ice in the permanently-shadowed regions (PSRs) of the moon, specifically at the lunar south pole.
Once the Chang'e-7 orbiter successfully achieves lunar orbit, it will deploy a lander and mini-flying probe with both designed to perform in-situ analyses of lunar water-ice while the orbiter is expected to conduct remote observations using a variety of instruments.
The paper discusses how the mini-flying probe, which will be equipped with a water molecular analyzer to collect lunar surface frost water molecules, will be capable of flying from the sunlit regions on the lunar south pole to the dark bottom of the impact craters within the PSRs, which conventional lunar rovers were never designed to do, thus providing an enormous benefit to using this new robotic explorer.
Week in images: 31 July - 04 August 2023
Friday, 04 August 2023 12:05 Write a comment
Week in images: 31 July - 04 August 2023
Discover our week through the lens
NASA selects Axiom Space for fourth ISS private astronaut mission
Friday, 04 August 2023 10:45 Write a comment
NASA has selected Axiom Space to carry out the fourth in a series of private astronaut missions to the International Space Station in 2024.