Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 15, 2021
Using observations from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a trio of hot worlds larger than Earth orbiting a much younger version of our Sun called TOI 451. The system resides in the recently discovered Pisces-Eridanus stream, a collection of stars less than 3% the age of our solar system that stretches across one-third of the

Chicago IL (SPX) Feb 15, 2021
A new analysis of ceramic chips embedded in meteorites suggests the formation of our solar system was not as quiet and orderly as we once thought. A new study from University of Chicago scientists builds evidence that the baby solar system likely witnessed wild temperature swings and changing conditions-contradicting the decades-old theory that the solar syst

Moscow (Sputnik) Feb 15, 2021
India's premier space organisation, which is directly overseen by the PM's office, is one of just six space agencies around the world to boast full launch capabilities, the capacity to carry out extraterrestrial missions, and operate large fleets of artificial satellites. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), credited with finding evidence of water on the Moon and successful Mars

Austin TX (SPX) Feb 15, 2021
Slingshot Aerospace, Inc., a leader in situational awareness technology, has announced that the company's Co-founder Melanie Stricklan has been named Chief Executive Officer effective immediately as the company gets laser-focused on space. Co-founder and former CEO David Godwin will remain active within the company as Chairman of the Board where he will focus on expanding corporate development a

Beijing (XNA) Feb 16, 2021
China's Tianwen 1 robotic probe entered orbit above Mars' polar regions on Monday, moving closer to the red planet, the China National Space Administration said. The spacecraft activated its 3,000-Newton-thrust orbital-control engine at 5 pm to conduct an orbital plane change maneuver to enter polar orbit with a perigee of about 265 kilometers above the red planet, the administration said

Washington (AFP) Feb 16, 2021
After a seven-month journey, NASA's Perseverance rover prepares to touch down on Mars on Thursday after first negotiating a risky landing procedure that will mark the start of its multi-year search for signs of ancient microbial life. The Mars 2020 mission, which set off late from Florida in late July, includes the largest ever vehicle to be dispatched to the Red Planet. Built at NASA's

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
On 18 February 2021, NASA will initiate the most precise landing ever attempted on the Red Planet. A spacecraft with the Perseverance rover on board will enter the Martian atmosphere at around 21:38 (CET) at just under 19,500 kilometres per hour. Within seven crucial minutes, the spacecraft will decelerate to zero using its heat shield, parachute and braking thrusters to set the rover - suspende

Tempe AZ (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
By analyzing the occurrences of exposed dusty ice on Mars using data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, ASU planetary scientists Aditya Khuller and Philip Christensen have found the lowest latitude detection of dusty water ice on Mars. The melting of this dusty water ice could have led to the formation of gullies that have eroded into rock and ice at these locations and may provide p

Washington (AFP) Feb 16, 2021
More than a century after the first powered flight on Earth, NASA intends to prove it's possible to replicate the feat on another world. Transported aboard the Mars 2020 spacecraft that arrives at the Red Planet on Thursday, the small Ingenuity helicopter will have several challenges to overcome - the biggest being the rarefied Martian atmosphere, which is just one percent the density of Ea

Boston MA (SPX) Feb 16, 2021
It was tens of miles wide and forever changed history when it crashed into Earth about 66 million years ago. The Chicxulub impactor, as it's known, left behind a crater off the coast of Mexico that spans 93 miles and goes 12 miles deep. Its devastating impact brought the reign of the dinosaurs to an abrupt and calamitous end by triggering their sudden mass extinction, along with the end of