NASA's Ingenuity helicopter survives first night alone on Mars
Monday, 05 April 2021 07:31
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NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter has survived its first night alone on the frigid surface of Mars, the US space agency said, hailing it as "a major milestone" for the tiny craft as it prepares for its first flight.
The ultra-light aircraft was dropped on the surface on Saturday after detaching from the belly of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on the Red Planet on February 18.
Detached from the Perseverance, Ingenuity had to rely on its own solar-powered battery to run a vital heater to protect its unshielded electrical components from freezing and cracking during the bitter Martian night, where temperatures can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius).
Making it through the frigid Martian night was "a major milestone for the small rotorcraft," NASA said in a statement Monday.
Op-ed | Exporting is the final frontier for UK space and other high-tech industries
Monday, 05 April 2021 07:00 Write a comment
The good news is that the industries in which the UK excels are ready to strike new partnerships, forge new alliances, and create new opportunities.
NASA's Mars Helicopter Survives First Cold Martian Night on Its Own
Monday, 05 April 2021 05:36 Write a comment
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter has emerged from its first night on the surface of Mars.
Evening temperatures at Jezero Crater can plunge as low as minus 130 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 90 degrees Celsius), which can freeze and crack unprotected electrical components and damage the onboard batteries required for flight. Surviving that first night after being deployed from where it was attac More potential air leak locations found at ISS
Monday, 05 April 2021 05:36 Write a comment
Russian cosmonauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) have identified another three possible air leak locations in the Russian Zvezda module, a space industry source told Sputnik.
"This week, the cosmonauts found another three possible air leak locations in the intermediate chamber of the Zvezda module," the source said, adding that on Friday and Saturday, the Russian crew patc NASA's Curiosity team names Martian hill that serves as mission gateway
Monday, 05 April 2021 05:36 Write a comment
The team of scientists and engineers behind NASA's Curiosity rover named a hill along the rover's path on Mars in honor of a recently deceased mission scientist. A craggy hump that stretches 450 feet (120 meters) tall, "Rafael Navarro mountain" is located on Mount Sharp in northwest Gale Crater.
The inspiration for the name is award-winning scientist Rafael Navarro-Gonzalez; he died on Jan Skoltech team used mass spectrometry to study composition of meteorites
Monday, 05 April 2021 05:36 Write a comment
Scientists from Russia and Germany studied the molecular composition of carbonaceous chondrites - the insoluble organic matter of the Murchison and Allende meteorites - in an attempt to identify their origin. Ultra-high resolution mass spectrometry revealed a wide diversity of chemical compositions and unexpected similarities between meteorites from different groups. The research was published i Raindrops also keep fallin' on exoplanets
Monday, 05 April 2021 05:36 Write a comment
One day, humankind may step foot on another habitable planet. That planet may look very different from Earth, but one thing will feel familiar - the rain.
In a recent paper, Harvard researchers found that raindrops are remarkably similar across different planetary environments, even planets as drastically different as Earth and Jupiter. Understanding the behavior of raindrops on other plan NASA's Curiosity team names Martian hill that serves as mission 'gateway'
Sunday, 04 April 2021 20:49 Write a comment
The team of scientists and engineers behind NASA's Curiosity rover named a hill along the rover's path on Mars in honor of a recently deceased mission scientist. A craggy hump that stretches 450 feet (120 meters) tall, "Rafael Navarro mountain" is located on Mount Sharp in northwest Gale Crater.
Op-ed | Space Settlement Act should guide Nelson’s NASA tenure
Sunday, 04 April 2021 18:41 Write a comment
As former U.S. lawmaker Bill Nelson awaits Senate confirmation of his nomination to lead NASA, it is perhaps time to recall a policy he voted for some 30 years ago.
As chairman of a House space subcommittee, Nelson presided over consideration of the Space Settlement Act of 1988, which was added as a provision to the NASA Authorization Act, and ultimately signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.
With Air Force funding, Numerica deploys telescopes to monitor space in broad daylight
Sunday, 04 April 2021 16:08 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Numerica, a company that operates a network of ground-based telescopes to track objects in deep space, is deploying new sensors that can observe orbiting satellites in broad daylight.
The telescopes were funded with $3 million the company won in 2019 at a pitch day event hosted by the U.S.
Lockheed Martin makes block buy of launches from ABL Space Systems
Sunday, 04 April 2021 15:00 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Lockheed Martin has signed a contract with small launch vehicle developer ABL Space Systems for as many as 58 launches over the next decade, a deal potentially worth several hundred million dollars.
The contract, announced April 5, covers up to 26 launches of ABL’s RS1 rocket through 2025, and an additional 32 launches from 2026 through 2029.
Crew Dragon moves to new docking port at ISS
Sunday, 04 April 2021 12:20 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft moved from one docking port to another on the International Space Station April 5, marking the start of a busy month spacecraft arrivals and departures on the station.
The Crew Dragon spacecraft Resilience undocked from the forward port on the station’s Harmony module at 6:30 a.m.
Russia continues discussions with China on lunar exploration cooperation
Saturday, 03 April 2021 23:40 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — The Russian space agency Roscosmos anticipates additional negotiations with China at a conference in June, building upon an agreement on lunar exploration announced in February.
NASA's Ingenuity helicopter dropped on Mars' surface ahead of flight
Saturday, 03 April 2021 15:54 Write a comment
NASA's Ingenuity mini-helicopter has been dropped on the surface of Mars in preparation for its first flight, the US space agency said.
The ultra-light aircraft had been fixed to the belly of the Perseverance rover, which touched down on the Red Planet on February 18.
"MarsHelicopter touchdown confirmed!" NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory tweeted Saturday.
"Its 293 million mile (471 million kilometer) journey aboard @NASAPersevere ended with the final drop of 4 inches (10 centimeter) from the rover's belly to the surface of Mars today. Next milestone? Survive the night."
A photograph accompanying the tweet showed Perseverance had driven clear of the helicopter and its "airfield" after dropping to the surface.
Ingenuity had been feeding off the Perseverance's power system but will now have to use its own battery to run a vital heater to protect its unshielded electrical components from freezing and cracking during the bitter Martian night.
Technology race against China a key concern for Pentagon acquisition nominee
Saturday, 03 April 2021 14:19 Write a comment
WASHINGTON — Michael Brown, a veteran tech industry executive who has led the Pentagon’s commercial outreach office since 2018, is President Biden’s pick for the Defense Department’s top procurement job, the White House announced April 2.