Washington DC (UPI) Sep 15, 2021
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has collected four rock samples since July from the planet's surface, in an area the agency considers a top prospect for finding signs of ancient microbial life, the agency said Thursday. The samples come from the rim of an ancient river delta in Red Planet's Jezero Crater. "We picked the Jezero Crater for Perseverance to explore because we thought

Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 16, 2022
As Dr. Abigail Fraeman noted a couple weeks ago, Curiosity is navigating through terrain that is difficult to traverse. At the start of today's planning cycle, Curiosity's operations team received data that informed us that our previously planned drive came up short, only completing 36 cm of a planned ~7 m drive. Curiosity remained surrounded by a mix of large rocks and sand, neither of wh

The ozone layer in our upper atmosphere protects Earth from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. The use of human-produced chemicals in our atmosphere used for many years depleted Earth’s ozone layer. However, the reduction in the consumption of ozone-depleting substances driven by the Montreal Protocol – an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer – has allowed for the ozone hole to slowly recover. This global agreement demonstrates the power of international commitment and immediate global action in protecting our environment.

ESA has been involved in monitoring the ozone for over two decades. Today, 16 September, marks

Intuitive Machines, a company developing lunar landers and related capabilities for NASA and other customers, will go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), it announced Sept. 16.

The post Intuitive Machines to go public in SPAC merger appeared first on SpaceNews.

While much of the Earth-observation industry is seeking higher imagery resolution, EarthDaily Analytics is focused instead on gathering high-quality imagery that can be quickly analyzed to detect change.

The post EarthDaily constellation built for change-detection analysis appeared first on SpaceNews.

There’s a cloud hanging over the industry in the form of geopolitical tensions over the use of anti-satellite weapons and a lack of clear rules on what constitutes threatening behavior in space, in contrast to peaceful commercial activities.

This summer, heatwaves struck Europe, North Africa, the US and Asia with temperatures reaching over 40°C in places – breaking many long-standing records. Images from the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission show the scale of Britain’s heatwave as it baked in extreme temperatures in August.

Registration has begun for the ESA Open Day at ESTEC on Saturday 1 October, open to people with disabilities. ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, will be open from 10:00 to 14:00, giving visitors with disabilities the opportunity to tour this leading European space establishment at their own pace. The event will conclude with a talk by ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer.

U.S. defense and intelligence agencies that increasingly rely on commercial satellites for imagery and other services are discussing how they might compensate companies if their spacecraft is damaged during an armed conflict.

The post U.S. weighing options to compensate commercial companies if satellites are attacked appeared first on SpaceNews.

Washington (AFP) Sept 15, 2022
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has detected its highest concentrations yet of organic molecules, in a potential signal of ancient microbes that scientists are eager to confirm when the rock samples are eventually brought to Earth. While organic matter has been found on the Red Planet before, the new discovery is seen as especially promising because it came from an area where sediment and sal