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Chandrayaan-3's measurements of sulfur open the doors for lunar science and exploration
Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan rover has traveled 328 feet. (100 meters) and measured the chemistry of the lunar soil. Credit: ISRO

In an exciting milestone for lunar scientists around the globe, India's Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down 375 miles (600 km) from the south pole of the moon on Aug. 23, 2023.

In just under 14 Earth days, Chandrayaan-3 provided scientists with valuable new data and further inspiration to explore the moon. And the Indian Space Research Organization has shared these initial results with the world.

While the data from Chandrayaan-3's rover, named Pragyan, or "wisdom" in Sanskrit, showed the lunar soil contains expected elements such as iron, titanium, aluminum and calcium, it also showed an unexpected surprise—sulfur.

Planetary scientists like me have known that sulfur exists in lunar rocks and soils, but only at a very low concentration. These new measurements imply there may be a higher concentration than anticipated.

Parker Probe’s Path Through Solar Blast Yields Unparalleled Space Weather Insights
Artist’s concept of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Launching in 2018, Parker Solar Probe will provide new data on solar activity and make critical contributions to our ability to forecast major space-weather events that impact life on Earth. Credit: NASA

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has racked up an impressive list of superlatives in its first five years of operations: It's the closest spacecraft to the sun, the fastest human-made object and the first mission to ever "touch the sun."

Now, Parker has one more feather to add to its sun-kissed cap: It's the first spacecraft ever to fly through a powerful solar explosion near the sun.

Amazon empowers Alexa with generative AI

Friday, 22 September 2023 08:35
Arlington, United States (AFP) Sept 20, 2023
Amazon's popular Alexa digital assistant is about to be supercharged with the powers of generative artificial intelligence, the company said on Wednesday, as the tech giant steps into the AI race dominated by ChatGPT, Google and Microsoft. Voice assistants like Alexa or Apple's Siri are often designated as perfect candidates to have their sometimes-glitchy and robot-like technology streamlin

Microsoft to offer OpenAI's Dall-E 3 in Bing

Friday, 22 September 2023 08:35
New York (AFP) Sept 21, 2023
Microsoft on Thursday said it would integrate OpenAI's soon to be released Dall-E 3 image creation tool into its Bing search engine, in its latest effort to use artificial intelligence to compete with the almighty Google. Two versions of Dall-E were developed by OpenAI and presaged the massive explosion of interest in generative AI that came when it released ChatGPT late last year. Dall-

Earth from Space: Scorched Rhodes

Friday, 22 September 2023 07:00
This summer, Europe experienced a relentless heatwave, fuelling wildfires in several countries. This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image shows the burn scars left by fires on the Greek island of Rhodes. Image: This summer, Europe experienced a relentless heatwave, fuelling wildfires in several countries. This Copernicus Sentinel-1 image shows the burn scars left by fires on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Fairbanks AK (SPX) Sep 22, 2023
The first use of a novel method of analyzing Mars' gravitational force supports the idea that the planet once had an extensive northern ocean. In doing so, the method defines the scope of what scientists refer to as the northern Martian paleo-ocean in more detail. The work was published in July in the journal Icarus, which is affiliated with the American Astronomical Society's Division for Plane
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 22, 2023
An Independent Review Board (IRB) looked at NASA's current plans and goals of the first mission to return samples from Mars, and NASA is establishing a team to respond. In addition to bringing home the first sample collected from Mars, this highly complex mission would include the first launch from the surface of another planet, as well as the first in orbit rendezvous at another planet. M
Xining (XNA) Sep 23, 2023
A wide-field telescope capable of surveying the entire Northern Hemisphere sky was put into operation on Sunday in northwest China's Qinghai Province, and its first image - the Andromeda Galaxy, located over 2 million light-years away - has already been released. Developed by the University of Science and Technology of China and the Purple Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of
Laurel MD (SPX) Sep 23, 2023
On Sept. 5, 2022, NASA's Parker Solar Probe soared gracefully through one of the most powerful coronal mass ejections (CMEs) ever recorded - not only an impressive feat of engineering, but a huge boon for the scientific community. Parker's journey through the CME is helping to prove a 20-year-old theory about the interaction of CMEs with interplanetary dust, with implications for space weather p
Huntsville AL (SPX) Sep 23, 2023
Engineers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, conducted a hot fire of a 24-inch subscale solid rocket motor Sept. 14. The test, conducted in Marshall's East Test Area, produced more than 82,000 pounds of thrust and was part of an ongoing series of developmental tests for an upgraded booster design for future configurations of NASA's SLS (Space Launch System) rocket.

New milestones despite tricky boulders

Friday, 22 September 2023 06:19
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 23, 2023
For the past couple of planning sols, Perseverance has been working on a complex navigation out of a boulder field on one of the lobes on top of the fan. The engineering team planned specific maneuvers and utilized Perseverance's autonomous navigation capabilities to navigate around and eventually out of the boulder field. This drive took Perseverance to Mandu Wall, part of the margin carb
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 18, 2023
Earth planning date: Monday, September 18, 2023: Coming in to planning today, we were greeted with another spectacular view back down Mt. Sharp and the distant crater rim visible through the haze (see the image). I am the TUL (Tactical Uplink Lead) today, but my trainee Kathryn is doing most of the work. We are continuing to drive southeast toward our next drilling location. In addition to conta
Pasadena CA (JPL) Sep 23, 2023
After more than two and a half years of driving and exploring, Perseverance is closing in on an eagerly anticipated destination: the margin carbonate unit. The Mars 2020 scientists have been buzzing with excitement this past week as Perseverance makes its final approach towards a special rock unit that played a pivotal role in selecting Jezero as the landing site for exploration. Located in a na
Washington (AFP) Sept 22, 2023
NASA's first mission to retrieve an asteroid sample and return it to US soil is expected to reach a perilous finale on Sunday with a descent into the Utah desert. Scientists hope the material - possibly the most ever retrieved by such a mission - will provide humanity with a better understanding on the formation of our solar system and how Earth became habitable. The US space probe OSI
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