Washington (AFP) July 27, 2022
NASA plans to bring 30 Martian rock samples back to Earth in 2033, the agency said Wednesday - and is sending two small helicopters to help the mission. The Perseverance rover, which landed on Mars in February 2021, has so far collected 11 samples as part of its hunt for signatures of ancient life. But bringing them back for detailed lab study on Earth is proving to be a highly complex

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Jul 27, 2022
It faced the quicksand-like soil in the "sink tank," climbed the "tilt bed," and conquered boulders and craters. NASA's Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER) prototype recently endured the most realistic tests to-date of its ability to drive through the most difficult terrain during its mission to the Moon's South Pole. Engineers tested the latest VIPER mobility engineeri

London, UK (SPX) Jul 25, 2022
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has launched a consultation for the public and businesses to have their say on the assessment of environmental effects made by both Virgin Orbit and Spaceport Cornwall ahead of the proposed launch in Newquay. To launch, Spaceport Cornwall must have a spaceport operator licence and Virgin Orbit must be issued a launch operator licence by the Civil Aviat

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 27, 2022
As NASA prepares for the first integrated flight test of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and the Orion spacecraft to the Moon this summer as part of Artemis, the agency is moving toward a services contract model for long-term SLS hardware production and operations to reduce costs. "SLS is not just a NASA investment, it has been a national investment. Through this contract approach, we

Pasadena CA (JPL) Jul 28, 2022
When a daring team of engineers put a lander and the first rover on the Red Planet a quarter century ago, they changed how the world explores. On a July evening in 1997, Jennifer Trosper drove home from work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory holding a picture of the Martian surface to her steering wheel. Earlier that day, the agency's Pathfinder mission had landed on Mars encased in protective

Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jul 27, 2022
NASA-funded scientists have discovered shaded locations within pits on the Moon that always hover around a comfortable 63 F (about 17 C) using data from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft and computer modeling. The pits, and caves to which they may lead, would make thermally stable sites for lunar exploration compared to areas at the Moon's surface, which heat up to 260 F

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 28, 2022
NASA has finished the system requirements review for its Mars Sample Return Program, which is nearing completion of the conceptual design phase. During this phase, the program team evaluated and refined the architecture to return the scientifically selected samples, which are currently in the collection process by NASA's Perseverance rover in the Red Planet's Jezero Crater. The architectur

Paris (ESA) Jul 28, 2022
ESA's EnVision mission to Venus will perform optical, spectral and radar mapping of Earth's sister planet. But before getting down to work the van-sized spacecraft needs to 'aerobrake' - lowering its orbit with thousands of passages through the planet's hot, thick atmosphere for up to two years. A unique ESA facility is currently testing candidate spacecraft materials to check they can safely wi

Beijing, China (SPX) Jul 27, 2022
The ZK 1A, a new model of carrier rocket, conducted its debut flight at noon on Wednesday at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern China, becoming the country's largest and most powerful solid-propellant rocket. Designed and built by CAS Space, a Beijing-based rocket company owned by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the rocket blasted off at 12:12 pm and soon placed six satel

ESA’s EnVision mission to Venus will perform optical, spectral and radar mapping of Earth’s sister planet. But before getting down to work the van-sized spacecraft needs to ‘aerobrake’ – lowering its orbit with thousands of passages through the planet’s hot, thick atmosphere for up to two years. A unique ESA facility is currently testing candidate spacecraft materials to check they can safely withstand this challenging process of atmospheric surfing.