Russia's Luna-25 probe crashes on the Moon: Roscosmos
Sunday, 20 August 2023 10:12The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing manoeuvres, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday. Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said. According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface".
Could artificially dimming the sun prevent ice melt
Sunday, 20 August 2023 10:12With methods of so-called geoengineering, the climate could theoretically be artificially influenced and cooled. Bernese researchers have now investigated whether it would be possible to prevent the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet by artificially "dimming the sun". The results show that artificial influence does not work without decarbonization and entails high risks. Is there an e
A new approach to reduce the risk of losing solar-powered rovers on the moon
Sunday, 20 August 2023 09:50Luna-25 crashes into moon after orbit maneuver
Sunday, 20 August 2023 09:26Russia's Luna-25 probe crashes on the Moon
Sunday, 20 August 2023 09:06The Luna-25 probe, Russia's first Moon mission in almost 50 years, has crashed on the Moon after an incident during pre-landing maneuvers, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Sunday.
Communication with Luna-25 was lost at 2:57 pm (1157 GMT) on Saturday, Roscosmos said.
According to preliminary findings, the lander "has ceased to exist following a collision with the Moon's surface", Roscosmos said.
"Measures taken on August 19 and 20 to locate the craft and make contact with it were unsuccessful."
The space agency said an investigation would be launched into the causes of the crash, without giving any indication of what technical problems might have occurred.
With Luna-25, Moscow had hoped to build on the legacy of its Soviet-era Luna program, marking a return to independent lunar exploration in the face of growing isolation from the West.
The 800-kilogram Luna-25 probe was to have made a soft landing on the lunar south pole, the first in history.
Russia has not attempted to land on a celestial body since 1989, when the Soviet Union's ill-fated Phobos 2 probe to explore the moons of Mars failed due to an onboard computer malfunction.
Emergency detected in pre-moon landing manoeuvre by Russia's Luna-25 probe
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22An "emergency" was detected on Saturday during a manoeuvre by Russia's Luna-25 probe prior to its Moon landing, Russian space agency Roscosmos said. "Thrust was released to transfer the probe onto the pre-landing orbit," Roscosmos said in a statement. "During the operation, an emergency situation occurred on board the automatic station, which did not allow the carrying out of the manoeuv
The Road to Jupiter: Two decades of trajectory optimization
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22The intricate multi-body dynamic environment stemming from Jupiter and its four prominent Galilean moons complicates trajectory design and optimization. Coupled with the formidable radiation surrounding Jupiter and spacecraft's limited fuel, these challenges necessitate advanced and intricate design solutions. To bridge this gap, a joint study by scholars from Nanjing University of Aeronau
Scientists proposed to adapt a Mars ISRU system to the changing Mars environment
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22Human missions to Mars necessitate an efficient launch system to ascend from the planet and rendezvous with Earth-bound return vehicles. The critical component for this ambitious task? Oxygen. Not only for ascent propellants but possibly also for life support. To facilitate a crew of six astronauts, approximately 30 metric tons of oxygen propellants would be required for ascent. This signi
Rocket Lab inks dedicated launch deal with Japanese EO company iQPS
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22In a recent development in the realm of Earth observation technology, Planet Labs PBC (NYSE: PL) has signed a contract to offer their global daily monitoring solution to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Asia. This high-value deal comes with a seven-figure annual contract value, emphasizing the significance of the collaboration. For those unfamiliar with the industry backdrop, Planet Labs s
Cruising to the Contact: Sols 3921-3922
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22Earth planning date: Wednesday, August 16, 2023: Curiosity had a successful drive on Monday and is now positioned at the transition between lighter and darker-toned materials with a myriad of exciting geologic targets to investigate in the coming sols, including dark-toned float rocks, bedrock near the contact between the sulfate unit and upper Gediz Vallis Ridge, and a cluster of texturally-div
New type of star gives clues to mysterious origin of magnetars
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22Magnetars are the strongest magnets in the Universe. These super-dense dead stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields can be found all over our galaxy but astronomers don't know exactly how they form. Now, using multiple telescopes around the world, including European Southern Observatory (ESO) facilities, researchers have uncovered a living star that is likely to become a magnetar. This finding m
Astronomers find progenitor of magnetic monster
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22A team of researchers, including NOIRLab astronomer Andre-Nicolas Chene, has found a highly unusual star that has the most powerful magnetic field ever found in a massive star - and that may become one of the most magnetic objects in the Universe: a variant of a neutron star known as a magnetar. This finding marks the discovery of a new type of astronomical object - a massive magnetic helium sta
Scientists use FAST to discover a new population of 'dwarf' pulses
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), a research team led by Prof. HAN Jinlin from the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has detected distinct "dwarf pulses" from a bright pulsar PSR B2111+46, and studied the radio emission in unprecedented details and probed the unknown physics in the magnetosphere. Pulsars gene
True Anomaly opens GravityWorks; gains federal clearances for space operations
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22In a major advancement for space access and sustainability, tech firm True Anomaly, Inc. launched its advanced spacecraft manufacturing facility, GravityWorks, while simultaneously securing federal permissions for novel space operations. Located in Centennial, Colo., this new facility positions True Anomaly amidst the flourishing aerospace and defense sectors of Colorado, one of America's
From rice to quantum gas: China's targets pioneering space research
Sunday, 20 August 2023 06:22China's orbiting Tiangong space station is now fully operational and has embarked on a mission that aims to achieve groundbreaking scientific discoveries, according to the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA). This marks a significant step forward as the station enters an application and development phase that is anticipated to last for over a decade. The spokesperson for CMSA, Lin Xiqiang, re