Perseverance now selects its own targets to zap
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52
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Perseverance has continued into Hawksbill Gap, making remote sensing observations of small portions of outcropping rock layers in search of a good place to collect a sample. Since Perseverance is in the Shenandoah quadrangle, we are using target names from Shenandoah National Park.
Some of the names this past week included "Bald_Face_Mountain," "Little_Devil_Stairs," "Sunset_Hill," "Luck_H Asteroid Institute uses cloud-based astrodynamics platform to find and track asteroids
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52 Write a comment
The Asteroid Institute, a program of B612 Foundation, has announced it is using a groundbreaking computational technique running on its Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping (ADAM) cloud-based astrodynamics platform to discover and track asteroids. The Minor Planet Center has confirmed and added the first 104 of these newly discovered asteroids to its registry, thus opening the door for Astero NASA Moon Rover practices tricky drive off Lunar Lander
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Once it arrives at the Moon's South Pole, NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) will need to perform one of the trickiest parts of its 100-day mission: driving off the Astrobotic Griffin lunar lander and onto the Moon's surface. After another successful round of testing this "egress" activity, VIPER is one step closer to being ready for launch.
VIPER has already co A steep but short climb: Sols 3491-3492
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52 Write a comment
Today in tactical planning I was staffed as Surface Properties Scientist, which means I get to put my geology field experience hat on and work with the rover drivers to assess the terrain we'll cross in our upcoming drive.
We'll crest onto a plateau in today's drive, but before we do, we have to finish climbing a small but steep slope. The topography today actually reminds me a little bit Gemini North Telescope Helps Explain Why Uranus and Neptune Are Different Colors
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52 Write a comment
Astronomers may now understand why the similar planets Uranus and Neptune are different colors. Using observations from the Gemini North telescope, the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, and the Hubble Space Telescope, researchers have developed a single atmospheric model that matches observations of both planets. The model reveals that excess haze on Uranus builds up in the planet's stagnant, sl The Sun is spinning round again
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All was amiss with the Sun! In the early 2000s, a new set of data brought down the chemical abundances at the surface of the Sun, contradicting the values predicted by the standard models used by astrophysicists. Often challenged, these new abundances made it through several new analyses. As they seemed to prove correct, it was thus up to the solar models to adapt, especially since they serve as Planet parade to grace the dawn sky this month
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The delightful view of all five naked-eye planets will greet early risers throughout the month of June. While seeing two or three planets close together (in what's known as a conjunction) is a rather common occurrence, seeing five is somewhat more rare. And what's even more remarkable about this month's lineup is that the planets are arranged in their natural order from the Sun.
Throughout MDA deploys a second set of cubesats in space
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52 Write a comment
Building on the successful launch and deployment of its first two CubeSat Networked Communications Experiment (CNCE) Block 1 space vehicles last June, the Missile Defense Agency launched two CNCE Block 2 CubeSats May 25, 2022 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Successful communications with both CubeSats was confirmed on May 31, 2022.
The new mission is a planned follow-on to the Block 1 suc NASA eyes November launch of NOAA's JPSS-2
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 06:52 Write a comment
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are now targeting Nov. 1, 2022, as the new launch date for NOAA's Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite mission. During recent tests of a key instrument designed to collect visible and infrared images, the team found and corrected an issue, which resulted in additional time needed to complete thermal vacuum testing. Plato’s cave: vacuum test for exoplanet detection
Wednesday, 01 June 2022 04:40 Write a comment
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Plato’s cave: vacuum test for exoplanet detection Astrocast buying Hiber to boost funding and expansion plans
Tuesday, 31 May 2022 16:57 Write a comment
Cash-strapped smallsat operator Astrocast announced plans May 30 to buy Dutch connectivity solutions provider Hiber, which scrapped plans for its own constellation last year following failures on its initial satellites.
The post Astrocast buying Hiber to boost funding and expansion plans appeared first on SpaceNews.
Sierra Space to partner with Spirit AeroSystems on Dream Chaser cargo modules
Tuesday, 31 May 2022 15:00 Write a comment
Sierra Space announced May 31 a strategic partnership with aerospace manufacturer Spirit AeroSystems for production of cargo modules for its Dream Chaser vehicles.
The post Sierra Space to partner with Spirit AeroSystems on Dream Chaser cargo modules appeared first on SpaceNews.
Rocket to launch China’s next space station module arrives at launch center
Tuesday, 31 May 2022 12:42 Write a comment
A Long March 5B rocket has arrived at Wenchang spaceport as China gears up to send its second space station module into orbit.
Against Quad? China launches satellite-based Earth observation initiative with BRICS nations
Tuesday, 31 May 2022 12:22 Write a comment
In what appears to be a tit-for-tat move against Quad nations’ launch of a satellite-based maritime domain awareness initiative for the Indo-Pacific region, China has rolled out a similar campaign with its four BRICS partners.
The post Against Quad? China launches satellite-based Earth observation initiative with BRICS nations appeared first on SpaceNews.
A new kind of solar sail could let us explore difficult places to reach in the solar system
Tuesday, 31 May 2022 12:10 Write a comment
Solar sailing technology has been a dream of many for decades. The simple elegance of sailing on the light waves of the sun does have a dreamy aspect to it that has captured the imagination of engineers as well as writers. However, the practicalities of the amount of energy received compared to that needed to move useful payloads have brought those dreams back to reality. Now, a team led by Amber Dubill of John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and supported by the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program is developing new solar sail architecture that might have already found its killer app—heliophysics.
The technique they are using is known as diffractive light sailing. It has significant advantages over existing solar sail technology, including the ability to turn. That is a big problem for most solar sails, which lose effectiveness if they are not directly facing the sun.